Thank you all for your insight and experiences. It was a parent who was my son's school summer team coach that confronted me. His oldest son is a senior and also a LHP and he even told that my son already threw harder than his son. However, this same parent gave me the opposite advice during summer ball season. The head high school coach was a LHP in college, but I think he hurt his arm. I will talk to his private instructor about location this week. I don't think there is a "control" problem, but he may not be hitting the locations yet. During the season my son rarely gets to pitch with his instructor anyway because of the schedule and his instructor WILL NOT let him throw if he has pitched two days before or will be pitching the next day. If he has pitched, all we have to do is call and tell the instructor how much he threw and he will either reschedule him or let him come in and hit off the tee awhile if he wants. He does have to rely on the student's honesty. Even before the season starts the first thing the instructor asks when we walk in is how much he threw at practice that day and will only let him throw a few based on that. I truly believe he has my son's best interest and longevity in mind. I know he is making money, too, but I don't believe he would jeopardize any student's arm for the money. He has even sent my son home without charging me if he came in my son was not feeling well.
They don't keep good stats on freshman games, but according to my unofficial records for last season, my son was 6-4, losing the first game of the season with many fielding errors and unearned runs, and one other game we were leading when my son came out. We did beat the other team the next time we played them and my son pitched. The other two losses were against the strongest team in our region. My son had a five inning no hitter against them in the second matchup of the season and then he just got tired. So, I really don't see anything wrong with his pitching. He is still young, will turn 16 tomorrow, and has gone from 52 mph when he first started taking private lessons three years ago to, I'm told, the low to mid-80s now, and still has some maturing to go.
On a side note, when my son was an upcoming freshman he pitched with the school varsity summer team and pitched a five inning shutout against another varsity team in an adjacent county. Of course, he had a good varsity defense behind him, too. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go to this game but it was confirmed to me.
I know my son does have a slight advantage being lefthanded and tall, but he also has a lot of confidence when he steps out on the mound and that has come from depending on his mechanics he has learned and being able to make adjustments. I know, too, that he will have games when other teams will be able to hit him better than others. He has already learned not to let the defensive errors bother him so I can see him maturing every year.
Sorry to ramble, but I'm a proud mom trying to look out for the best interests of my son. I know there are a lot of "wolves" out there that may or may not have his best interests in mind. Thanks again to all.
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