Because we’ll be making up our game
against Parkway Central at home on Tuesday, we’ll have four games this week,
two at home and two (far) away (Pattonville and McCluer North -- which, for the
record, didn’t exist when I did my student teaching in that district).
I will be posting the tentative
lineups for the first two games, along with some explanation of what goes into
the process of making those lineups at the JV level.
Pattonville is a league contest;
although technically there is no conference championship for the JV, games
against conference opponents (Pattonville, Parkway North, Ritenour, Summit, and
Kirkwood) carry more weight in the “important to win” category, if for no other
reason than we want the girls in those programs to expect to lose (and ours to
expect to win). While I always have a plan to play every girl at least some in
every game, those plans are subject to in-game decisions and my assessment of a
player’s chance for success. Additionally, when games last fewer than 7 innings
or are low scoring, fast encounters, like our last two, there are fewer at bats
available or fewer innings to dole out.
The JV program has two important
goals:
1) To feed the varsity, both this
year, when necessary, and next year. The coaching staff consults together to
determine the varsity’s future needs and we make decisions accordingly. Quick
anecdote. A few years ago I moved my freshman shortstop to second base for her
sophomore year. She was still my best shortstop and her mother demanded to know
why the switch after a game. I had already told the player and she (at least
said she) was in agreement on the plan: the varsity would need a second
basement her junior year and wouldn’t need a shortstop, so we decided to get
her ready for the spot she could likely fill. Player parent communications
often have hurdles that are not overcome, but in this case it didn’t matter
because Mom never really listened to my answer anyway, although her daughter still apologized for her. It is still too early to know or project about next year for the freshmen, incidentally.
2) To provide a great athletic
experience for our players, to improve their skills, to introduce them to the
rigors of interscholastic competition and all the advantages that endows, and
to develop a strong work and team ethic. These are season long goals that may
not always be easily quantifiable in the short term. With one exception (and
she played in 22 of the 23 games), every girl averaged at least one plate
appearance per game, and we had an 18-member team. Only four girls of the
eighteen played in every game. It’s a long season. What I think constitutes our
best lineup at the beginning never matches up to my thoughts at the end. We
will designate several games (including Tuesday’s match-up with Parkway
Central, a team that beat us 6-5 last year) as “non-starter starts” to make
sure every player gets some playing time on a regular basis. I’m concerned that
neither Hazelwood West nor Nerinx has made much, if any effort to reschedule,
but that is out of our control. Finally, each player is guaranteed a full game
in each tournament at the end of the season. We especially like the Hancock
Tournament at Affton AA on October 4, because we exercise the option to
"bat the lineup," something few of the other teams do.
Below is our projected lineup for
tomorrow’s tilt against Pattonville. Below that is what we plan for Tuesday at
home against Parkway Central. We are optimistic we will have our full 14-player
squad available by Wednesday, but we’re waiting for a final medical clearance
to make out that lineup, as well as the chance to assess performance in Monday
and Tuesday’s games.
This may be more than you cared to
know, but I don’t come with the Staples Button.
vs. Parkway Central
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