Played a couple of 5A teams, but only got to bat three innings in both run rule shortened games, 30 - 1 and 14 - 2. There's a pretty big difference between 6A and 5A, much bigger than I imagined. Biggest inning was 22 runs. It just gets sad after 10 runs. Ouch.

They must have been playing some pretty crappy 5a teams. I've watched plenty of those type of games go back and forth over that last month.

They won all their pre district games in double digit or close to double digit fashion. 77-9 in their five pre district games. 33-6 in the three previous games with all 6 of the runs given up in the last inning or two by too much substitution.

The freshman team looks good also. The varsity is a head scratcher. There is no reason they shouldn't be doing well, but they are lousy. With everything they need to win at their command, they have been putting the wrong kids on the field.

Maybe all those double digit wins were against strange player experimentations also. Things change in district. Coaches do weird things, but they have to deal with and motivate some really, really difficult kids.

7 and 0. Rain shortened game and second game cancelled tonight. First game with only one error and it was committed by the other team with no harm done. Stony Point has a good team. They held a 1-0 lead until the 6th.

Highlight was in the rain delay. Kid in the dugout drew a tic-tac-toe grid on a ball, put an "X" in the middle and threw it to the opposing dugout. A team huddle and three minutes later the ball is returned with an "O" in the corner. Five draws later, a crooked line is drawn and our guys claim the victory. The other team tried to throw the ball out, but it was falling short when a massive gust blew it to where it bounced off the wall and went over. And the dugouts rejoiced.

I drove two hours and forty five minutes just to see the second game which was cancelled. The tic-tac-toe story made me smile.

Not a whole lot to report with my kid. We are thankful that he is going to play with the JV this weekend in a doubleheader (if we don't get rained out). He will at least get some reps beyond the 2 ABs he's had this year and 3 innings on the mound.

The varsity is pretty mediocre with a team batting average around .200. They have some good pitching which keeps them in games, and if the other team puts runners on is walks or HBPs - we play small ball and get a run here and a run there. The bulk of the talent in the program is in the freshman and sophomore classes, but there is some loyalty being shown to some juniors and seniors who just aren't baseball players. They are football players & basketball players trying to play baseball.

Oh well, my kid will get his shot someday, and summer ball should be fun.

The kid got confirmation of his paid emerging leaders S.T.E.A.M. summer internship on the day of his last game. Double bonus, he was walking away regardless. The high school team tries to keep every kid on the hook at the expense of a competent program. Once he decided to walk, it got old fast. At the same time he's getting too much attention from academics. He likes the attention. He's fifteen, life is good. Still, leaving baseball was a very, very difficult decision. Maybe that needs one more "very ".

Baseball was a brilliant experience. But hallelujah! We can ski Spring Break and take summer vacations again! First trip is visiting colleges from Boston to New York for two weeks this summer.

Academics 2
Baseball 1

Walk off walk in extra innings.

I'll throw in my update. Son has just about finished his first year of D3 baseball. I had no preconceived notion that he would get anything more than a few innings this year. However he has now pitched the third most innings on the team (all in relief), and leads the team in ERA (2.41) and is second in K's and K/9 with a 3-1 record. Couldn't be prouder of him. D3 baseball is a heck of a lot of work - and they are now 39 games into the season with at least two more to go.

True, baseball is hard work, sometimes with no return on investment. And congratulations, it's good to see hard work rewarded by results.

In HS, half the kids don't work at all, don't have to try out and are allowed to stink it up on the field without consequence. Ours hates doing anything half way. He won't tolerate those who do.

Maybe we should have named him Woodrow.

Quote:

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In HS, half the kids don't work at all, don't have to try out and are allowed to stink it up on the field without consequence.

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Why?

I have no problem with whatever the coach chooses to do with his program. I do understand how it bothers the kids that put in the work. Why put in the work? Might as well work on something useful.

Sports are crazy in this country. We will certainly discourage his little sister from playing high school sports. Volleyball = baseball for girls, only the crazy starts earlier.

HECUBUS said:

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In HS, half the kids don't work at all, don't have to try out and are allowed to stink it up on the field without consequence.

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Hecubus, this one sentence pretty much sums up this sophomore season for my son, and it's been one heck of a frustrating season for him - and for my wife and me.

My son has suited up with varsity pretty much every game this year, and he has 2 official AB's and 3 innings on the mound. He has played several JV games in the later half of the season, and at least he's getting reps there. The up-and-down has been tough on him, I think, and he just has never really hit a rhythm all season. He's hit doubles in back-to-back JV games now so it seems like he's finally relaxing at the plate and barreling the ball. He's getting some pitching, catching and OF reps on JV and has performed well, in my eyes.

Here's the frustration: there is NO internal competition within the varsity program. There is no quantitative comparisons being done. For example, the starting varsity catcher regularly has a 2.3+ pop time, which is very pedestrian. The back-up catcher is 2.35+. My son is 2.15. But, I don't think the coaches have ever timed them. There are multiple everyday players on varsity batting less than .200 on the year, yet they continue to start game after game. I've watched several varsity games this season, and every single one, I'm upset by the end of the game because of the lack of good baseball (even though we win). And there's only one senior who's an everyday starter, so I don't see things changing next year with a lack of internal competition and no accountability for crappy on-the-field results.

But, here's another problem: we are going to win district again this year. And I guess winning district in a very bad baseball district is the bar, and when the goal is achieved everyone pats themselves on the back and thinks "we're a good baseball team". And then we'll lose in the second round of the playoffs...again...and they'll say "well gosh, maybe next year."

MAROON said:

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Just found out that son made second team all conference as a freshman in college.

Really cool considering he almost quit his senior year because he didn't think he was going to get much playing time. Some kids are late bloomers. Perseverance pays off.

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That is fantastic!

Nice!

Good stuff Maroon!!! Congratulations to your son.

Congrats to your son Maroon!

HS baseball playoffs start tomorrow. Should be fun watching how it plays out.

I've enjoyed reading this - thanks guys!

As I predicted on 4/26, our varsity is done for the year - being knocked out in the second round of the playoffs.

Today was the first summer travel ball practice and my son tested well compared to the other boys who attended today. They tested bat exit velo (off tee), 60 yd. times, IF velo and OF velo. I think he's excited to move forward and start playing.

I hope he has a great summer, and I also hope he hits his last growth spurt soon. He's 6' and 180 lbs today, but if he could grow a few more inches in the next 6-9 months, he'll be in good shape for next HS season. Hopefully they won't be able to keep him on the bench next year, but a lot of that is up to how hard he works this summer and fall.

Exit velocity off a tee? $2.99 phone app picks winners every time.

My son starts high school in the fall, and is about to start practicing with the "pre freshman" team. Will play games in June and July against other pre freshman teams in the Austin area.

That will be great, really hope he enjoys it. My son and his friends got to play together for the first time after always being on different select teams, was great.

Some kids blow it off but it's good for them in building togetherness.

94chem said:

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Exit velocity off a tee? $2.99 phone app picks winners every time.

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I'm just a dumb baseball dad, but I must be missing something here. What's the joke?

I realize that exit velo off a moving (pitched) ball is going to be different than off of a tee, but I don't know how else they would've measured it with just a radar gun. Wouldn't the radar gun pick up the pitch velocity and not the batted ball velocity? I honestly don't know how a typical bat exit velo is measured. And, if all hitters are being measured the same way (off a tee), then it's at least a good comparison tool, right? It just may not translate to be comparable to other measurement methods.

We were knocked out of 6A playoffs last weekend, so on to summer ball which is going to be hectic. Son does not need to gain height but it would be great if he could add strength, a few mph and 10-15 pounds over the summer.

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Son does not need to gain height but it would be great if he could add strength, a few mph and 10-15 pounds over the summer.

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Why does he need to gain weight?

I think gaining weight will be in conjunction with adding strength. If he does not add weight it will suggest to me his gains in strength are minimal.

Wabs said:

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My son starts high school in the fall, and is about to start practicing with the "pre freshman" team. Will play games in June and July against other pre freshman teams in the Austin area.

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Not sure which school you are at, but if things are like they were two years ago those pre-freshman games will be sporadic and during the week. Are yall also playing on a regular select team on the weekends? The level of competition for some of those pre-freshman games was a little lacking, at least if you are at one of the bigger schools. There were some more meaningful games when a couple of the bigger schools were playing, but the rosters are usually inconsistent since most of the kids are also playing on the regular team that plays on the weekend and don't always play.

KT 90 said:

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Wabs said:

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My son starts high school in the fall, and is about to start practicing with the "pre freshman" team. Will play games in June and July against other pre freshman teams in the Austin area.

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Not sure which school you are at, but if things are like they were two years ago those pre-freshman games will be sporadic and during the week. Are yall also playing on a regular select team on the weekends? The level of competition for some of those pre-freshman games was a little lacking, at least if you are at one of the bigger schools. There were some more meaningful games when a couple of the bigger schools were playing, but the rosters are usually inconsistent since most of the kids are also playing on the regular team that plays on the weekend and don't always play.

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Yes, my son is playing with a select team right now, and will do so through mid June. We'll have to combine schedules for a couple of weeks with the pre-freshman team. He will attend a 6A school. Right now, we have about 16 players that have signed up to play, and we expect a few more by the time we start. Everyone is required to submit their availability through July, and the hope is that we'll have enough to play the games (with vacations, select teams, etc.). Myself and 3 other dads are coaching the team, and we'll split time according to our availability as well. For example, my son and I will not be available for a week in June - we're headed to Omaha for the CWS....

Figure I better check that box before HS (and select) baseball next summer...

Quick note for my own future reference, but also for parents of future high-schoolers.

My son played in his first "showcase" this weekend, and it was a really good experience. His summer team played in the V Tool Showcase in Houston which was held at Premier Baseball of Texas out off of Grand Parkway / 99.

First, I'll endorse V Tool for doing a great job organizing the tournament, promoting the tournament and promoting the teams and players who were there. If your son plays on a summer team, getting into a V Tool event would be highly recommended. There were dozens of teams there, and some very good talent as well. V Tool has a very active online presence and staffs each game with workers who score the game, video and make notes to highlight stand out players. They post videos on Twitter and promote kids who had big games.

My son wasn't highlighted, but I thought he had a good tournament. He hit .300 with a .417 OBP and a .817 OPS. His one extra base hit was about 3 feet short from being a HR, so it was only a double. He caught one game, DH'd two games and pitched 2.2 innings in the fourth game. He threw out 2 baserunners at 2nd in his one game behind the plate. He did pitch in one game and it didn't go so great. He just doesn't have the velocity right now, and he may never. He mentioned to me after the game he pitched that he feels like his days on the mound may be over. They may be for now, and if he has a shot at playing beyond HS, it'll be at catcher anyway. I know there were better catchers there this weekend, but we didn't see any in the four games we played.

Overall, fun weekend and we are headed to Dallas this week/weekend for another V Tool event up there.

The V Tool Event in Dallas was a great tournament, but my son struggled some. He didn't pitch and struggled at the plate going 1-9.

This past weekend we were back in the V Tool event hosted by Sam Houston State. He had a much better weekend, and his bat is waking up and he pitched well on the mound. At the plate he was .500/.583/.800 with 4 RBI in 12 plate appearances. He had one triple, and a game-tying 2-out double. It was so nice to see him have some success.

He also pitched in two games - one in relief and one in a brief 3 inning start. 4.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's. His secondary pitches were his out pitches. He's only throwing 77-80 on his fast ball, but when he's mixing in his curve and change, he gets outs.

We are headed to Indianapolis this week for the 16U ABC Championships. It should be an interesting week against unknown competition, and I hope we have some fun and make some memories.

My 9 year old son recently finished his first year of kid pitch, 10U. It was his sixth season of tee ball/ baseball. He had an go ahead RBI double in the top half of the last inning and then initiated a game ending double play in his last game of the season. I don't keep stats, etc. on him because, well, he's nine. He's a decent athlete for his age and is usually one of the top two players on his team. He doesn't "love" baseball like he does football, basketball, and soccer, but he's stuck with it so far. I don't know if he'll continue to stick with it or not but I sure hope that he does. He's not a superstar or anything, but he plays everything he does with maximum effort and his coaches usually take notice of that. He's also a smart kid (missed 1 question on his 3rd grade STAAR Reading test and had a perfect score in math) so her catches on to strategy, etc. pretty quickly which the coaches also usually like snout him. (Kid takes piano too, so he's pretty well rounded.)

Anyway, I've enjoyed reading about everyone's kids on here so thought I'd add mine to the watch list.

Looking forward to following this thread and hopefully adding to it for years to come.

On this first day of HS baseball practice, it's time to resurrect this thread and continue this journey.

It's been a tumultuous last 6 months for our family with many life changes and challenges.

Quick recap of the summer season: my son had a good, but not great summer with his summer ball team. He was one of the leaders on the team and one of the better players, but the team was not an elite-level summerball team and the gap between elite and good is tremendous. We saw several kids over the summer who were already committed to D-1 schools, and there was always a clear difference.

The highlight of the summer was ending the summer at a team camp at the US Military Academy in West Point, NY. What an incredible and beautiful place. My son played well and in my biased Dad eyes, he was the second best catcher there out of about 20. He also pitched the final game of the weekend and threw a tremendous 6 innings with a strike percentage of 77% on four pitches. But, it's all about the radar gun and a kid throwing 80 isn't going to get much attention. So we ended the summer still very far away from his dream of college baseball.

So where are we now?

We decided to move back to the small country town where we were living before moving to the Houston area. My son and other kids were very excited to get back to the smaller school and back to their friends that they had to leave. Because it was a smaller school, my son decided to play football for the first time since 8th grade. He's now a junior. Things were progressing well and he was relearning how to play and how to be physical, and then disaster struck in the regular season finale. He tore his ACL on a kickoff coverage.

So, he had ACL reconstruction on 11/22 and will be rehabbing most if not all of the spring. It's very doubtful that he will get to play any HS baseball this year which sucks. He's working hard at rehabbing and putting in extra physical work to get bigger, stronger and faster. Maybe he will be released for summer ball, but we are going to have to find somewhere for him to play. I'm not sure how polished he'll be since he will essentially have been "out" for the last 10 months once he's cleared.

Good luck to all of the kids and dads who are starting their HS seasons today. I hope to read some great updates and if anything noteworthy happens, I'll be back to update, too.

Wow, sorry to hear that CinchAg. As you said hopefully he can play this summer.

Maroon, where is your son playing D3 ball? And is he still liking it?

very sorry to hear the update from CinchAg. I'll just say that my son missed his entire sophomore year in high school with a stress fracture in his spine, so recovery is for sure possible.

Son has been practicing for about two weeks now in college. He broke his wrist (still haven't heard the true story of how that happened) in his throwing arm the first week of the fall semester so he missed all of their fall workouts. His pitching coach was not worried about it, but I know it set back his conditioning as he had a cast on that forearm for six weeks. He tells me he is throwing pretty well - struck out the three batters he faced earlier this week, but has had some arm fatigue, which all pitchers have at the start of throwing off the mound. He plays at Sewanee: The University of the South. Program in the middle of rebuilding. Year four for the coach and he has made huge strides already. Son feels they will be pretty good this year and they all expect to be above .500 for the year and in conference. This team won 3 games the year before last, and were 19-23 last year, so that would be huge.

I'll chime back in..... #1 son begins senior yr of college baseball and this kid has a true love for the game... college is a grind and he has laughed thru 3 yrs of college ball and now gets his senior year.... what a great time this will be...... #2 lettered as a sophmore last yr..... he too loves this game, however he has already decided college ball isnt in his future so we go into this jr yr with a weight lifted..... playing for college is not easy so we have 2 yrs of fun ahead of us now!!! PLAYBALL!!!!!!

It's been almost a year since our son decided to walk away from baseball. He didn't know he was supposed to keep playing for his parents.

As fun as it was, not having baseball seven days a week, fifty two weeks a year is fantastic! The boy is just as insanely competitive at everything, so life is treating him well.

We had the Astros at the perfect time. Good luck to all still in the game, and their crazy parents.