12U house ball update: I might’ve found a diamond in the rough pitcher!
Throw it over the plate. I don’t care if they hit it 400 feet.
On the way to the park last night, my pulse was racing. Screencaps Jr. knew it because I kept verbalizing that I’m not sure we have enough arms to get us through a 2 ½ month season when I know for a fact that families will take well-deserved week-long vacations and pitchers will come and go.
I need arms.
During warmups, I went to my 12-year-old sequoia first baseman and asked if he’s pitched before. He has.
Would you be available if I’m in a pinch?
Yeah, I can do it.
Perfect. We’re rolling. The kid is six-foot and reminds me of kids I grew up with who were called country strong. He’s just built differently.
I’m thinking he’s a closer.
Then, to my surprise, a 12-year-old catcher – my Varitek – came to me saying he’d been throwing with his father and expressed interest. It was the as if the baseball gods were speaking to me.
OK, let’s see what you’ve got.
After 15-20 pitches, I knew. He reminds me of the boy last year who said he wasn’t interested in pitching only to learn that he was a top 3 arm in the league.
This 12-year-old catcher might be my secret weapon. He just needs coached up. Positive reinforcement.
Slow down, get it over the plate, don’t overthrow.
He wants so badly to make his father proud, but I already know that his father is a stand near the dugout parent,. I have my work cut out for me, but I can see it in this boy’s face that he wants to get better and compete. He’s my project.
Pitching staff observations:
- My No. 1 and 2 are set. I have my Billy Wagner and my Tom Seaver ready to roll. I’m very excited about my Wagner. Absolute nails as a ballplayer. He shows up ready to battle. Like I mentioned about Seaver, his arm strength is up. The ball is exploding out of his hand as his body matures. The mechanics are already there. He’s ready to roll.
- My No. 3 is an 11-year-old lefty who comes to me via travel ball. I’m concerned with his mechanics and that’s not because I’m at war with travel ball and I have to say something condescending about travel ball. He’s a leaner. Falls off to the right which is affecting his accuracy. The ball naturally runs away from righties, but with him falling so far to the right, he’s missing too far off the left side of the plate.
- With the emergence of the 12-year-old catcher, my No. 4 might not see much time on the mound, but that doesn’t mean I’ve given up on him. His grip was a mess. I’m hoping with a new two-seam grip, he’ll see more success.
- Varitek and Sequoia are likely to see quite a bit of time at No. 3 & 4 as we move along, especially because there are innings limits.
Overall observation: we are going to compete with other teams
Last night, I dismissed the boys to finish practice. 6 Stand on second base. 6 At home. We're going to see how many bastards these boys have in their system. Are they ready to fight this summer?
Let's compete.
The men at home base are hitting doubles. The boys on second base are trying to score with a base hit.
Direct confrontation.
Grrrr!
The boys started getting excited to cheer on their team. The boys were roaming the field, not what I expected just three practices into the season.
Next…GOOOOOOO!
Emotions began to rise. Ask who won. Sequoia called out. He's in the chase and hoping for a bad win. He's next, and he's a beast you can't beat. He is also a soccer player. He is 6 feet tall and fast as a light.
So I pitted him against an 11-year-old boy who played shortstop. Let's call him Woody. You want your shortstop to be awful every night, even after spending all day in the pool. I want Woody to think like Sequoia and go into the game with the intention of just outsmarting the other team. Woody is an athlete.
Gooooooooo!
Woody almost caught him.
The boys are completely insane. The energy was unbelievable for a house ball practice.
Next…GOOOOOOO!
And so it continued until the direct confrontation ended. We met on the pitcher's mound, and the boys were smiling and full of positive emotions. Looks like they had a lot of fun.
On the way home, Screencaps Jr. admitted that he had a lot of fun practicing.
Mission complete.
- I’m hoping the boys will feed off the high-energy of the practice, and it translates to their approach at the plate. I have too many who are just trying to put the ball into play during batting practice instead of exploding through the ball. I’m convinced that will change as we continue to drag the competitive fire out of them.
- We still haven’t taken a full infield. Last night, it was work at 3B and SS. Next week, we’ll go to a full infield and outfield and go over our cutoff positioning.
- I’m praying for no rain next week because we also need to do a full game simulation and a scrimmage. I have 11-year-olds who have never led-off a base.
- What other practice competitions can I use to keep the energy level high where kids aren’t standing around that will stimulate their brains?
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
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That's it for this morning. We know this isn't your typical edition of Screencaps, but we know you all appreciate these updates.
After this today, I'll be heading to Detroit for the NFL Draft to see what the superfans are up to. The only other draft I've ever been to was in Cleveland a few years ago, and it was raining heavily. It should be nice weather in the low 50s in D tonight.
Keep your energy levels high and take on the next challenge in life. Oh, and don't forget to mow if you don't participate in the draft.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
