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SoxIn7 posted:

I had the opportunity to take my family to watch Clemson play opening weekend and sat around a lot of the parents. There were a couple freshman that played on the Saturday game and could only imagine how proud their parents must have felt. 

All the parents actually.  What  great moments. Also got the opportunity to talk to a parent from Maine.

Congrats to all your kids AND to the parents. Lots of time and commitment. Nothing like seeing your child succeed in their dreams.

That's awesome! I hope that you get a chance to go watch another game at Clemsom.  

After a rough start to the season, the JuCo team my son is a volunteer (student assistant) coach for has hit a hot streak.  They've won their last 6 games. The last four they've averaged 16 runs while only allowing 10 runs total (2.5 runs per game).  They've won 7 of their last 8.  They were 5-8 in the first 13 games and are now 12-9.  Swept the first two games of a 4 game (non-conference) series 17-0 and 10-1 today.  Their ace pitcher pitched his second no-no of the season in the first game.

The  kid is on needles and pins.   JV season has ended.  Varsity is on Spring Break trip. After their last JV game, the JV players were finally told what the plan for them is.   They  will be either called up to Varsity or given a handshake and told to come back next year.   They made it clear that only a few are likely to be called up, based. largely, on what the Varsity needs.  JV season was sort of an extended try-out, in effect. 

The kid did well in the limited JV season. He  hit .350, with .533 slg and .444 obp and played very solid defense.  But the varsity OF is SO crowded with upperclassmen and all but one can really play, according to him and also from what I myself have seen, that seems right.    Plus if only one  JV OF'er is called up, it  will almost certainly be another kid, he believes, who  flat out hammers the ball consistently.  (probably lower BA and obp, but awesome power numbers)  

I'm trying to encourage him to keep his chin up and keep working, no matter what happens from here on out this year.   But it is really hard on him.  I think the main thing is that  the  JV guys didn't know until right after the last game that they would be disbanded as a unit and either called up or shut down for the rest of the season. 

Frankly, from this distance,  it does seem like a pretty cold way to treat them.  I know my guy is finding it really hard to deal with.  He is somewhat disenchanted with the school's approach to younger guys. Only one frosh pitcher and one frosh position player are getting serious Varsity PT.  The rest are on JV, though JV pitchers are double listed as JV and Varsity -- which seems to mean they suit up for Varsity home games, just in case they are needed but don't travel -- though I don't think a single one of the double listed pitchers has gotten a single varsity inning. 

None of this was  fully spelt out to him or to any of the other guys, it seem.  

I actually don't think I've ever seen him this discouraged about baseball  - even with all the injuries and setbacks he suffered in HS.    The upside is that he  hasn't loss his self-belief and he has worked  his butt off from day 1 since setting foot on campus  (and even before).    Nor has it changed his basic personality.  He's the  do  what you can do,  keep working to try to get better, don't complain type.  And he hasn't lost his self belief.  He knows what he is capable of. He believes that he can be a solid and consistent offensive contributor and an outstanding defender.    What he has lost is the confidence that he will be given a chance to really show what he can do. 

I'm trying to keep his chin up, trying to get him to appreciate that waiting isn't  always a bad thing.  Good things can come to he who is willing to wait for his moment and seize it when it comes.  

The most promising thing to me is that by the time his cohort becomes juniors, there will be only one senior OF ahead of them  (the only sophomore OF currently on the varsity, who is himself getting almost no PT.)  Plus he is clearly the best defender and one of the two best  hitters in his OF class.  So I do believe that his day will come, maybe not this year,  and maybe not even next year, when there will be  6  senior OF'ers still in the program.  But eventually.  

Hard getting him to fully embrace that thought and trust that the coaches really see and appreciate his talent and his work, though.   He feels like the program is so focused on winning now and brings in so many guys every year -- both freshmen and transfer -- that they aren't really concerned with development.   Help us now, or be thrown aside, because we can always find somebody who can help us now.  At least that's how it feels to him. 

Brutal stuff, but  the way of the much of the world. 

 

Last edited by SluggerDad

Hey everyone, hope all is well and the season is going great.  Proud dad moment today.  Son got his first start.....he's thrown in relief 4 times....2 went great, 1 he got hit pretty hard and another just so-so.  Today was different   4.0 IP (had a pitch count), 2 hits, no runs.  Out-dueled a 2015 17th round draft pick and his team took home a 4-0 win.  Didn't get to make it, but did see it on streaming video.  Hopefully this may earn him the weekday starter spot....I guess we'll find out next week!   Had a great time here over the years....will have to do some catching up as to how all of your sons are doing this season.   Have a great spring everyone!!!

2nd win yesterday.  Only threw 3 as it was a game against a local D2. They had decided that he was only going to throw 50 pitches so he could be available for he weekend.  Found out that there is an NCAA rule (I assume designed for the Northern kids and crap weather) that the starter can get the win without throwing 5 innings if he was on a preset pitch count and leaves with the lead.  He wasn't so concerned with the win, just happy to be throwing well.  He was a SS/P in HS, so up until the last week (2 starts), getting warmed up and ready to pitch was an issue.  It's unreal how much different he looked yesterday after getting his "traditional" starter warm up routine in.  Looks like a completely different pitcher than when he was relieving a few weeks ago.  Weekday game next Wednesday against a Power 5.....he's hoping he's earned the start in that one.  I guess we'll see.

Last edited by Buckeye 2015
Hunter10 posted:

Freshman got to go in relief in the 5th inning vs. Clemson last night at Fluor Field. Wow, That was fun. It was a great game, though we lost 9-7. We gave Clemson a challenge. It sure was fun watching him pitch in that atmosphere. #Blessed

OMG, son is student p-coach at Clemson. Taylor Harbin his former teammate, listened to the game last night.

Go Tigers!

MMM1531 - that's just awesome.

Son sent an exciting text this afternoon.  He's a student assistant (volunteer coach) for the JuCo he once played for.  The team swept a regional doubleheader over last years region champs 4-0 (9 innings) and 14-4 (5 innings).  Both starting pitchers went the distance.  The series concludes with a single 9 inning game tomorrow.  Said they are going for the sweep and since the entire bullpen is available they won't hesitate to change pitchers if the starter gets in trouble.  Back when my son played for this JuCo, they only managed to win once each year against this regional rival.

He did say the opposing catcher hit one bomb in game 2.  The ball cleared the LF lights, hit in the middle of the street that goes behind LF.  They found the ball in a yard across the street.  They estimated it was a 450'+ bomb..........

Well, eventually it had to happen I guess.  Every pitcher has "that day"...and today was my son's.  He's thrown really well so far this spring...ERA 2.66 going in to today....only 1 run the last 4 apprearances....over 11 innings.     

Came in today to start the 7th in a 1-1 game....opponents had 1 hit at the time.   10 minutes later.....6 runs, 6 hits and only one out...and his day was done.   4 blooper singles (2 within 6 inches of being foul) a double that was fair by about a foot, took a crazy bounce to the right and ended up against the fence in foul territory down the RF line....and a grounder up the middle when the infield was in.   He only threw 4 balls out of the 7 batters he faced....just seemed like they stuck the bats out and balls blooped to places you just couldn't get to if you had 12 outfielders.  Surprisingly he took it pretty well.  After the game he said "what could I do....they just stuck their bats out".   As they say.....That's baseball 

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