u/mrgorporp

Two days ago I posted this! https://www.reddit.com/r/Homeplate/s/mUsmiRbsOJ

For context he just turned 9 and it’s his first szn of kid pitch fall ball.

I love a good update post, and I got such great feedback. Felt like I owed everyone an update. He is a major nerd with severe ADHD and a very adult-affected way of speaking but ball is life.

He struck out the side on 10 pitches the first inning. The next inning the opposing coach told his boys “we aren’t hitting this kid” and to stop swinging completely. He then walked a bunch, got in his head, had a verbal altercation with the ball on the mound, cried. Lots of 3-2 counts and his mechanics fell apart. He hit his pitch count and skipped the 3rd inning.

He then told his coach “I will show them how to swing”, and lined one well into the grass and to the wall in left and ran the bases for a little league home run. One of like 4 kids who made contact.

He still wants to pitch. His coach wants to try some other kids Saturday which I am very much in favor of for arm health, personal growth and we love the team. He hopes to have a better outing next time and to be seen as “more than just a batter”.

My kids first game of the fall is Tuesday. He and his team just moved up from 8U coach pitch to 10U kid pitch and are probably the youngest kids. He turned 9 end of July. He’ll be the first kid on the mound.

He worked hard July/August (his request) with a coach learning to throw off the mound and has gotten up to the 50s and is throwing a good number of strikes (and HBP too of course). He is tall and pretty heavy set (but not really obese) and has this going for him. He is a good hitter.

He doesn’t feel stress like a normal kid as he has very severe adhd mild asd, I don’t think he realizes pressure. He kind of just vibes. We speculate it’s either gonna be 9 straight Ks or a total mound melt down disaster. He feels his feelings.

Any advice from the dads on here on how to handle Tuesday? And practically, what’s y’all’s warm up routine at this age day-before and same-day.

Thanks for all the help on here r/HomePlate!

My kid just turned 9. My son is a good player and very big for his age. He’s worked hard all summer getting ready to pitch (obligatory because he enjoys it) and plays first base for us usually. He looks great as a pitcher tho it did not come naturally. He has a big arm, and fixed his wildness … mostly.

His team is moving up from coach pitch 8U to kid pitch 10U this fall. They won their rec league last year but due to a few kids moving away and a few Non Baseball Injuries, they’ve lost like 1/2 their good players. Including the one kid who was going to catch, who broke his ankle.

Of course his coach is now asking can he also catch on non pitching days. He thinks catching is a big position and he’d say yes, he would jump off a bridge if he thought it would help them win. But it’s gonna be hard on his knees (he’s 5ft and 100lbs), hot as hell and it’s gonna be a pressure cooker. Plus I gotta buy the equipment.

Is it even possible to be any good in 2 weeks? How would we even try to get him ready? What equipment should I buy? Or do we just say no and let some other kid be the dude.

We are comparing for a summer outdoorsy family vacation the Huntley Lodge or getting an upscale Airbnb.

Anyone have any takes on this? We are a family of 5 with 3 young kids.

Our league has an all star competitive team. All the other local leagues use May 1 as the cutoff but this one uses Aug 31 to match little league league-age. It is coach pitch.

It means he’s not allowed to play in the 8U all star tournament. I get it but I did not want to play him up without all his second grade friends with 10 year olds (and older because people hold their kids back, I guess just like me) in 4th. I was unaware of the age restriction for all stars to LL league age.

I know it totally doesn’t matter but he would have loved the extra month of baseball and the competition. He dominated batting (obviously off his coach of course) and first all year. He even hit a coach pitch off a 200ft fence lol. He would have grown much more in kid pitch and we should have played him up.

Thats all just venting. Alas he loved it and his friends think he’s the goat.

Our league has an all star competitive team. All the other local leagues use May 1 as the cutoff but this one uses Aug 31 to match little league league-age. It is coach pitch.

It means he’s not allowed to play in the 8U all star tournament. I get it but I did not want to play him up without all his second grade friends with 10 year olds (and older because people hold their kids back, I guess just like me) in 4th. I was unaware of the age restriction for all stars to LL league age.

I know it totally doesn’t matter but he would have loved the extra month of baseball and the competition. He dominated batting (obviously off his coach of course) and first all year. He even hit a coach pitch off a 200ft fence lol. He would have grown much more in kid pitch and we should have played him up.

Thats all just venting. Alas he loved it and his friends think he’s the goat.