My 11yo had his first AAU scrimmage yesterday. It was great being out there again and seeing old friends and making new ones. We have a talented group of ball players and a great mix of parents. It should be a fun season.
The team has a lot of pitchers and the coach used 6 for this game. He also moved every player to at least three positons during the game. My son played the first two innings at RF. He pitched the 3rd inning, caught the 4th & 5th and finished at 1B.
I wasn't concerned about RF, 1B or his hitting, but I was concerned about his catching and pitching. This was the first game that he has caught since one game in minors two years ago and he has not been on the mound in a game since last July.
The first batter he faced pitching was one of those tiny speedsters with virtually no strikezone and he walked him on 4 pitches. The 2nd batter dribbled one to the 2B and the 2B bobbled it for an error. The 3rd batter dibbled one to 2B again and the 2B threw him out at 1B. The 4th batter dribbled one to the SS and he threw him out at 1B. The 5th batter dribbled one back to my son and he threw him out at 1B. All the balls were hit so slowly that they couldn't turn any double plays. He worked very hard for the last several months throwing long toss and concentrating on creating more spin. All of the coaches were talking about the movement on his FB and you could see that the ball wasn't where the hitters thought it was going to be.
He really LOVES catching and did a lot better than I expected. Only one ball got by him and his blocking mechanics and set-ups looked very solid. He had a throw to 2nd and just missed throwing out the runner. It was a bang bang play and could have been called either way. No other runner tried stealing.
He went 1 for 2 with 2 walks batting and scored two runs.
It was so much fun being at the park again and I really enjoy being a spectator rather than a coach. Tonight, he has his first Rec scrimmage and I will be coaching. I am going to pitch him for 2 innings and give him some more work behind the plate. Should be a blast!!
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