Quote:
Originally posted by James V
Last night I had a U-12 FP game where the pitcher hit six batters within three innings and was constantly and consistently throwing inside to right handed batters. Her velocity was quite good for an 11 year old. I honestly believed that the pitcher was not throwing intentially at the batters, she was just wild inside.
I told the manager that he should remove the pitcher if she hit another batter as I was fearing retaliation from the opposing team, although this was not readily apparent. I heard quite a few comments from the parents in attendance from the team that was being hit.
The manager refused to remove the pitcher.
How should I have handled this situation?
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The first most important thing to remember is that this is 12U girls' fastpitch softball. The vast majority of the players are playing softball for the very first time and are just learning the game. The skill of the players at this age level will be all over the spectrum from very good to very bad. Unless something has already happened in the game that would lead you to believe that the pitcher was deliberately trying to hit batters there is nothing you can do. You even said yourself the you believed that the girl was not trying to hit any batters. The fact that she did not have very good control is not your concern. The pitcher was wild and her coach may not have had any other girl to take her place so he/she was just doing the best coaching job possible given the circumstances. It is not a sports official's job to tell a coach that his/her pitcher is not cutting the mustard and that you want the pitcher replaced.
Furthermore, this is not a safety issue as some people in this thread have put forward. I am sure that there are many officials reading my post and thinking that I am doing a flip-flop on a safety issue but I am being consistent with my beliefs. The rules of the sport define the safety issues and a pitcher who does not have good control is not one of them. And the thing you should absolutely not do is what IRISHMAFIA has suggested. The girl is wild, let it alone, her coach will deal with it in his/her own way.
After all, we do not take kindly to a coach telling us that we are not doing a very good job, so I would not suggest telling a coach that his/her pitcher is not doing a very good job either.