LLWS: Let's go - Pennsylvania
- Thread starter Nitwit
- Start date
This kid is rattled. He is on the mound basically in tears and the coach is letting him in. Pathetic
Do you have any experience as a LL coach? Their top 4 pitchers are not eligible to pitch. Kramer pitched Wed (85 pitches) so he can't pitch until tomorrow, by LL rules. Wagner threw 85 yesterday, so he can't pitch for 4 days. Henline threw 85 pitches today, so he can't pitch for 5 days. And Krauss started today's game, and you can't pitch twice in the same day. They came out of the winner's bracket so they were in pretty good shape for the weekend, provided their starters went deep in the weekend games. Krauss not going as long as expected forced Henline to enter earlier than hoped for. Most teams run into this problem in the LLWS Championship game, unless their starter has a great game, or they have an unusually deep pitching staff.
I think there are rules about how many pitches a kid can throw before having to rest for a few days. I think PA came into the game with limited choices.
You can use other players is my understanding, when the coach came out to talk to him everyone saw the kid was pretty close to tears. he should have been yanked. We forget these are still only KIDS
Who are you going to bring in? The TOP 4 pitchers on the team can't be used because of pitch count limits. Sure, you can bring in someone else.... who if he hasn't pitched much doesn't solve anything. We faced this exact situation in our local little league, which uses all the same rules... best pitchers already out due to pitch counts... down to #5 (at best) after #4 went 4 innings in a great effort. We were up by 5 going into the last inning but couldn't jold the lead because a kid who had pitched maybe 3 innings all year was on the mound. He threw strikes... they hit them. Only made xtra innings when our 2b (my son) made a diving catch with the bases loaded. Who to send out there for the last inning? coaches were actualyl considering my son, who hadn't pitched a single inning all year! Chose someone else (who may have pitched an inning or two, i dont recall) and we lost on a walkoff HR.
It isn't as simple as "kid might cry, let's go to someone else".
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Red Land had a great season and are US Champs.
Tough break for them that their pitching depth got sorely tested. Seems waiting one more day to refresh the players should be considered for these young players. They are kids, not pros.
Sigh-onara guys.
Thanks for an exciting run.
Yeah, why would you want to embarrass a 12 year old on TV. The KID was broken, I don't care who you put in, and that time you go to say, hey these are only kids out there.
If I had to guess on the increased home runs I would put it on illegal bats(rolled). Some of the swings and the distance that followed make me very suspicious. At the Pony 14 World Series last year, they tested the bats and confiscated I believe over 20. The team I coach actually played Japans 14U Pony World Series representative about 3 weeks ago. They didn't hit anything like that and we were using the Pony 200 ball which should go more than a little league ball. The Japan team won the little league World Series when they were 12. They only had 2 bats at the game. What was actually impressive was their pitching. Their pitchers threw hard and located the ball at the knees the entire game and only came up to the waist if they fell behind in the count. They were usually trying to hit about a ball below the knees and get the call which they did. We have a very good hitting team but their pitching kept them in the game. We won 6-5 on a walk off. Very fun experience for our boys. The Japan team were true Gentlemen. Their coach before the game took both teams through a Japanese practice and we were floored on the precision and energy. It was very impressive.
Sorry Nate.....putting another kid in who's never pitched isn't the answer. How do you think he'd feel coming in and walking everyone or getting hammered. Heck, he wouldn't even know how to protect himself from a line drive back up the box.
IMHO - The number of home runs is directly tied to the number of games played in Williamsport.....used to be 8 teams, now 16. More games, you're best pitchers aren't always available. Just like MLB, the quality of the pitching staff drops off dramatically after #1 and #2.
