I feel bad for me 4 years ago * turned into updates on my son's baseball

[Flasch186]

Just venting a bit. Aiden's turned it on since the decision although the hot start has drifted back to average which TBF I'll take. He's been hitting the ball and he's actually done a good job pitching although sans Velo. He has not gotten aggressive in the OF yet. He is nerous when charging sharp grounders/liners because (I'm assuming some PTSD from 11u when) a few in the same game went under his glove to the fence. Anywho, he's on the MS team which overlaps with the Club team, the one he chose to slide to the B team for spring to build confidence. The MS team is comprised of 8th graders who miss games if JV games conflict, 7th graders inc, Aiden and a handful of 6th graders. At the begging of the season the coaches were still clearly figuring out which Aiden was here. Well he's done really well: he's the top 7th grader when it comes to OBP and he's batting .360 which is the 2nd highest 7th grader (8/8/8/7/Aiden).

On the B club team he's been equally good: He's 2nd in avg (.375). He's been a leader and his pitching has been a surprise: WHIP 1.615, 7W, 5K, P/IP 15.2, <3% 58.46, and a S% of 54.82. For a kid that has not gotten into serious pitching I'm impressed. HE is going to work the next few years adding size, muscle and velo but I digress.

Here's the problem and rub (for me anyways). He's given up 11R but only 3 have been earned. It's just such bad baseball behind him when he's on the mound. We're talking error fest '97. its crazy. Yesterday he was staring at an 8 pitch inning and it ended up being 23 with a bunch of runs scoring. He keeps his chin up and I know that there's a lesson in there about not piling on, not getting down no your boys, etc. He's done a great job of leading, laughing and not pointing fingers. I do NOT think that that could've happened without moving teams and schools. He's so much more confident (gotten a GF of all things) that it's affecting everything.

Here's what ticks me off. They've been leaking the potential of a change in roster with Aiden coming up, the kudos and proud of yous are happening a lot. So Aiden's been floating awaiting a chance to play with the A team. Another kid on the B team has always been a med. player for advanced baseball in the area however he's immobile. He can only pitch and play first and at both he's a liability in the field. That being said, getting to know the dad for a few weeks I grew to learn that think that their son is tremendous! He only left his last advanced team because they wanted to make him a PO (duh) and he didn't want to be a PO so here they are, I guess insulted being on the B Team. So he doesn't show for the last few practices or games. I'm thinking he quit or something. Well come to find out... he's on the A team because the dad brought in bullying sensitivities from school, the coach not understanding (but also not knowing) this, the parents not liking the coaching style and then between you and me they want to be on the "A Team." Well I wanted Aiden to get some reps there as well but I want him to earn it. You wonder why the kid is overweight and lazy (IMO).

I truly hope that the coaches can keep the momentum of building Aiden's confidence and thus in turn play. I'm afraid that if he languishes for too long he'll begin to doubt himself again.

So here we are, Aiden's got MS playoffs this week and hopefully he continues with the confidence so the coaches think he warrants a call up.

[Flasch186]

DH'd last night for MS and went 1-2 (ROE) with a BB against a terrible team. I think they didn't play him the field because he pitched 25 pitches Saturday and about 50 Sunday so no throwing today and likely none tonight either although they may stick him in the OF. Big game tonight against a rival in the Semis. I was told the MS has never made it to the championship so that would be nice if they win tonight and then go against our big time rival Bolles (where Chipper went)

[Flasch186]

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[tarcone]

Dude I just posted a thread looking for you. PM me

[Flasch186]

Sent


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[Flasch186]

Aiden continues to do great on the b team while a call up seems elusive during this season. It just sends that the stars aren’t aligning. The one kings parents complained and got their kid “called up” taking potential reps from Aiden and conflicts between even the two teams play seem to happen a lot AND the B team can’t afford to lose him (see picture).

We are not doing this again though. The Rukab kid is the one who’s parents complained and he got removed and the top kid stats wise just guest played and apparently his parents refuse to pay for baseball anywhere so he just jumps around from team to team that’s willing to let him play for free.




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[Flasch186]

Aiden’s been called up to pitch Friday night for the A team as they’re looking for a soft lefty. Aiden has not developed velocity yet but hopefully soon. Anyways he’s also going to stay The weekend as a part of the team and if there’s a role spot for him to get involved he will but no promises. The coach admitted that he didn’t want to tick off any parents who’s kids are currently there and I can understand that. Here’s to hoping he can fill it up Friday night.


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[Flasch186]

Aiden pitcher against the number one ranked team and I thought it was going to go amazing after the first inning. He threw 14 pitches total in inning 1. He went 2-2 but hit batter one. Then he picked him off at first except when he threw over the kid went. The first baseman threw it to the shortstop to lay down the tag but the ball came out. Then he got some weak pop outs before the catcher threw out the kid trying to steal 3rd👍 great inning.

But, plot twist. We’re kind of being quiet that Aiden hurt his back this past week. I’m talking ice, tens unit, ibuprofen, stretching all week to be able to go. So perhaps in the break between innings it tightened up even more. When he went out in inning two he couldn’t really bend over to grab the ball off of the turf. Anywho he isn’t here to throw hard but just throw strikes. He did not accomplish that in inning two.

He walked some batters and hit one and next thing you know it’s bases loaded with only 1 out. In with a relief pitcher and he didn’t fare any better. We ended up losing and I’d say Aiden ended up doing medium if you average them out. With the back I think he did great. Not sure what happens when they find out today or tomorrow that he’s injured. Hopefully he gets kudos for bailing but sometimes it goes the other way where they’re not as happy about that and would’ve wanted to know so they could’ve made a change. We’ll see

I just know Aiden was pitching as long as he could stand up and he could.


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[Flasch186]

Aiden attended a Florida Gators baseball camp this past weekend which comes in the middle of a summer weight lifting program at his school. At the beginning of the summer lifting he started to show the coaches that he is a grinder/hard worker. He can lift with the best of them and always shows up consistently. Coaches have singled him out positively.

He continues to also hit with his coach after lifting a few times per week. And the coach, while speaking with assistant coaches or peers, has been vocal about Aiden’s work and hitting (with a few dayum moments) with the other coaches thus lifting Aiden’s confidence. He has said occasionally that when Aiden first came to the school he had doubts baseball wise but Aiden’s starting to give the coach confidence again.

This is good and bad but all Aiden’s own making. Aiden, of course, in his first full year showed some of his emotional and self defeating tendencies. Surely less than in the past but occasional nonetheless. Those moments seem to far out last positive moments in their heads so it’s like he has to overcome his own poor mentality moments all of the time.

Even now, with assurances that he’ll be on the A team this fall, they’re couched against, “unless someone showed up and completely outplays him.” I’m certain this is the equivalent of a coach saying, “No spot is guaranteed,” which is what I preach to Aiden but it stinks that his positives and determination and growth always seem to now be under an umbrella of, “who’s the real Aiden?” He did it to himself though.

We asked the coach if we should try it for multiple teams or if we were ok leaving all our eggs in one basket, the basket Aiden wants to be in and he replied that he didn’t see any reason that Aiden wouldn’t be with him this fall. But he left the caveat to protect the over promise. It’s hard though because Aiden’s given me such trepidation this time of year.

This was a new team with about 1/3 that have played together and he needed to come in and show them that he belonged and he didn’t make that crystal clear. Statistically he should but it’s more than that. It’s mental, it’s confidence, it’s grit and determination and while that’s showing up now it’s later than it needed to be to have a smooth glide path.

The path to reaching his goals are always harder the way he chooses to go about it. That being said he has recognized that all of the warnings I gave him about his bullshit would make things harder some day and here we are a few years later and they are. He’s said it out loud that he can see it now but it seems, for the time being, to have lit a fire under his ass.

Anyways he’ll just keep grinding and I tell him don’t let yourself get out worked.


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[Flasch186]

Glad I only vented here. Today after lifting, Aiden had a lesson with his coach again. At this session, the head of the program showed up, and said to Aiden hey Aiden, I’ve heard about you. Then he said something along the lines of I’ve heard you’re starting to blow up in a good way. After the head of the program left, his coach said to him do you know who’s been talking about you right? And Aiden said no, sir and the coach said me. And then that coach said keep grinding son. I heard later that my son has earned the nickname Nastyboy for his work effort. I think that’s a good thing.


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[Flasch186]

And suddenly things seem to be looking up

This is from his coach




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[Flasch186]

This from his coach today in addition to Aiden telling me the head of the program was there today ‘watching’ him (he felt like)…




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[Flasch186]

Fun little story:

On an invite, Aiden and I went to the local field to hit live off of a kid Aiden used to be teammates with when he was in his slump.

This was great for me because I haven’t seen him hit in months and especially since hearing all of this feedback.

Aiden comes to the plate and Holy crab. Aiden destroyed the ball and I mean everything: fastballs, curveballs, changes, all of them.

I couldn’t believe it. Line drive after live drive. It was great to see and it was great to see it for myself and not in the cage.


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[PilotMan]

You have every reason to be proud to see all that work paying off on the field.

[Flasch186]

Aiden has his tryouts this morning and he was very good. He took what he learned from the Florida gators camp and brought it to the tryouts. He hustled everywhere, he was the second fastest kid in the 60, he hit tanks, he fielded well and he hustled and hustled.

The head of the program said something to Aiden along the lines of

“I see you Aiden”

He left the tryouts feeling really good about it


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[Flasch186]

He got the call and made the A team

Also in weights today apparently he impressed by squatting 225 which the coach said was insane for his age and size. I dunno

Regardless he’s seen the hard work paying off

The coach simply said he’s proof but he absolutely does not want to see him playing scared at all


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[Flasch186]

An incredible summer of work has led to the narrative changing…. They’re now looking at him wondering what the F they have here. He’s first one at the field and the one giving it his all. Today I overheard an assistant coach telling an upper chessmen that that kid (Aiden) worked so hard this summer it’s like he’s on steroids (he’s not). He followed it up with, “outfielders are going to come in on him and he’s going to launch it over their heads.”

Additionally I heard from another assistant the other day that Aiden threw a bullpen in front of the head of the program and the head told the assistant that Aiden was impressive, ball movement and location were great!

He’s hitting the ball hard and incorporating adjustments from coaches fast and one called him a sponge.

His confidence is off the charts and they all love it right now and I think they’re confused as to what they have here considering the first impression Aiden gave them.

[flere-imsaho]

Good stuff!

[Flasch186]

Aiden said that the coach let him know that he’ll be starting for the high school jv team on Thursdays game. It’s been so long since we actually played a game so I said, “that’s cool, do you know what position?”







Pitcher


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[PilotMan]

oh........

[Flasch186]

Then this craziness happened today at practice and I’m learning of it from this text I just got from the assistant coach on varsity.




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[Flasch186]

First game

He did pretty well:

1ip
1h
1bb
0r

A ground ball back to Aiden and he hit the ss at second for the start of a double play

He threw a kid out coming home from second. Aiden threw him out at home from CF.

But

He froze at the plate and struck out twice while looking like a deer in headlights. Hopefully he thaws out again for games. It wasn’t what we would’ve liked to have seen at the plate in games.


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[Flasch186]

At Dodgers practice today Aiden did well but one thing that was cool is that on PFP and pick offs aiden was at first base and he was not doing things correctly. Eventually, the coach said, "I forget you haven't played here much" and went out and showed him what he needed to do, and Aiden got it down (the flip).

Then it was Aiden's turn on the mound and his head coach (whos the assistant coach to the Varsity school team) said, "Aiden you did this really well during the game, it was very impressive."

Just hope he doesn't feel the nerves at the plate and freeze... that kills him.

[PilotMan]

Sounds like maybe he's doubting himself at the plate but not in the field with the new oppo. Feels pretty normal for now.

[Flasch186]

Aiden told me a story that earlier this week the Head Coach of the Varsity, of the program, told Aiden after ractice or near the end of practice that he had his eye on him.... Aiden, being 13.5 didnt know if that was good or bad. The next day however that coach told Aiden that when he has his eye on someone it means he sees something great in them. That was pretty cool. Still need better mental approach at the plate. Aiden has his first Sports performance Therapy appointment on the 28th... The guy says that in 4-5 sessions Aiden will be equipped to handle that section of his game. We shall see.

[Flasch186]

Aiden had a hitting lesson with his coach today before a practice that was ultimately canceled due to rain and Aiden told him that he was feeling all of the nerves at the plate. The coach said he wasn't worried about that and that it would go away. He said he saw that Aiden was late to swing though, very late so he threw him gas and Aiden eventually caught up to it and that's where they want to focus on things with him. Getting him on time.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

He said he saw that Aiden was late to swing though, very late so he threw him gas and Aiden eventually caught up to it and that's where they want to focus on things with him. Getting him on time.

Sounds like some pretty solid coaching work right there.

[Flasch186]

The program and coaching has been life changing as has the school itself. Got this email from the head of the middle school yesterday:




With examples above him in every class and on the field he is learning so much. The other day he said that he loves the grind, the lifting, and the sweat.

SMH this kid just has to let himself unlock and the skies the limit.


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[Flasch186]

Aiden played today and they’re definitely still shaking off rust. At the plate he was 0-2 but swung the bat which is good. He earned two walks fouling off a bunch of pitches. He made a few plays in the outfield including one really good catch in CF on the run.

His pitching was great. Gave up a bloop single but then coaxed a double play. He’s pitched 3 innings in 3 games/scrimmages and has gotten 3 double plays.




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[Flasch186]

Aiden had his first appointment with a sports performance coach (head coach) regarding his confidence and mentality at the plate. Their summary at the end was that he still subconsciously thinks about the risk of getting hit again even though it may not be fear per se. He also thinks that Aiden has no tools or anything to lean on to prepare himself for the plate. He’s had a lot of coaching to swing but no coaching, or minimal, to mentally prepare himself to be a participant in the fight at the plate. He thinks with Aiden’s smarts, determination, and willingness we could see a big difference in 4-5 sessions. Aiden really wants that. He expressed a hate of the feelings he feels when he steps in the box and after when he lacks belief and the results are as he feared they’d be.

We shall see.

To me, it’s the only thing holding him back from evolving there.


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[Flasch186]

4 ABs today and he’s swinging!!!!!

But because this is f’n bullshit he was way too far from the plate so they were all crap grounders off of the end of the bat.

His coach let him have it, cut him down to size with this new confidence that isn’t present at the plate.

Told him he better bring it at the plate because they’re not going to tolerate this bullshit since they have high expectations for him.

Aiden just doesn’t get it until someone punches him in the mouth. He likes to make things as hard as possible for himself before then trying to grow out of the shitter.

I hate this for him but he does it to himself. I told him that he would run out of time before they start to discipline him over this shit and that day has arrived.

I assume he’ll drop like a stone in the lineup and then he’ll get upset and I’ll say, you did it to yourself.

It stinks to be his biggest fan and watch him self sabotage.


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[Flasch186]

About done with the Fall Ball travel season and I can say that this has been the weirdest Travel ball season in a while. He's back on the A team but the team truly is "extra Reps" for the school team. Anyways... Aiden's been doing very well but he's in a very tough spot. It's his own doing. Because of the narrative, he tells about himself through his actions in the past and sometimes through emotions, he's made his path to success so much harder. I envy the parents of the kids who are just studs day in and day out and if they have a bad day they get tons of slack.

Last Saturday Aiden had a terrible game in the field. He was just completely absent-minded. Throwing to the wrong people, missing a fly ball, etc... The coach called him out repeatedly but Aiden couldn't get his head on straight. Found out that he was fighting with his GF and she ended up breaking up with him right after the game. Anyways... he got some hits but that was completely overshadowed.

In the tournament this weekend he had a really bad first game at the plate (0-2 & hit into a DP) but then went on to bat 3-5 with a walk and didn't commit any errors in the rest of the games. That being said it's as if he did nothing because they lost all of the games. He batted the entire weekend at the bottom of the lineup even though the rest of the team literally got no hit or close to it. He was great on the base paths too.

He mentioned to me that after the second game Saturday one of the coaches mentioned to him that they wanted him to be more consistent and of course, we all do but he's not even 14 yet and baseball is hard.

Currently, he leads the team in Avg (.385), 2nd in OBP (.556), & 2nd in OPS (.943), RBI (4), 2nd in PA/BB, 2nd in BB/K, 1st in HHB, 1st in LD%, 1st in BA/RISP (.500), 2nd in least LOB.

He is outworking everyone too but the coaches and parents complain about the lack of energy in the dugout my son says that he's not that guy yet on the team (there's a leader but he's not a great leader and doesn't give his all but others follow him).

The above stats are on top of him also doing well in the JV games (8th - 10th graders).

Its just like they have the narrative about him and even though he's changing it (and if you've been following along you know what a long hard road its been to even change it some so far), it seems like the path is just so much harder for him.

This summer they were so high on him in anticipation and potential and then he got into some games and wasn't used to the live pitching yet, was nervous, etc. I got him to talk to a sports performance guy about 4 times and now he's doing great but the image they have is the what bad could happen versus what good he's doing.

Thanks for listening.

[JonInMiddleGA]

On the bright side, perhaps getting the gf out of the way will help matters all the way 'round.

(presumably this is the same gf you've mentioned previously, who sounded like an albatross frankly)

[Flasch186]

Indeed indeed


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[AgustusM]

So I just retired after 40 years as a football, basketball and baseball coach. Mostly at the high school level but also some college and a lot of youth (when my four kids were young - they are all graduated now) I played in college as did my oldest son.

I have literally seen it all and I can say the years I spent on the board of the local PONY (baseball) league I witnessed some of the most obnoxious behavior of parent\board members who went to extremes to make sure their 7-8 year old teams “won” It wasn’t everybody, but it was a surprisingly high number.

I am not the old get off my lawn guy, but youth sports really were better when I was a kid and we played sports everyday at the park with little to no adult supervision. With each passing year as a high school coach I saw first hand how players started to come into high school with less and less fundamental skill in their sport, next to no real understanding of the game and more and more selfish attitudes. I don’t blame the kids, it is the parents who micromanaged this nonsense and created this problem. We were able to “fix” it on the majority of my high school teams. But we have really lost sight of what youth high school sports is supposed to be which is (IMO)

1. Learn to be a part of a team and contribute to something bigger then themselves (I was always a team sport guy, so can’t really speak on more individual sports like tennis or golf) this to me is #1 and crucial. Learning to achieve a common goal with others some who look and think you and some who look and think completely different than you do.
2. Learn to be accountable
3. Learn resilience and the next play attitude (single best helps your whole life out of sports skills)
4. Build friendships, many of which will last a lifetime (everyone of my 40+ year old friendships started as teammates)
5. Learn discipline and the value of hard work
6. Learn to win AND lose with class, dignity and sportsmanship.

I could probably go on to list 100s of others - but you get the idea.

Bottom line and my meandering point to the topic - as a parent seek out the coaches and organizations who do it the right way. Avoid those who value winning at any level about high school varsity (we mandated our freshman and JV squads job was not to win, it was to prepare their players fort varsity)

And please do NOT do it because your kid is going to get a scholarship (I have coached dozens of those) but the reality is MOST wont - the numbers don’t lie. but they can learn a whole bunch of life lessons and have fun along the way. If you really want to play for college deposit all the money you would into all the travel expenses from 5-18 and you can pay for any college in the world.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by AgustusM

So I just retired after 40 years as a football, basketball and baseball coach. Mostly at the high school level but also some college and a lot of youth (when my four kids were young - they are all graduated now) I played in college as did my oldest son.

I have literally seen it all and I can say the years I spent on the board of the local PONY (baseball) league I witnessed some of the most obnoxious behavior of parent\board members who went to extremes to make sure their 7-8 year old teams “won” It wasn’t everybody, but it was a surprisingly high number.

I am not the old get off my lawn guy, but youth sports really were better when I was a kid and we played sports everyday at the park with little to no adult supervision. With each passing year as a high school coach I saw first hand how players started to come into high school with less and less fundamental skill in their sport, next to no real understanding of the game and more and more selfish attitudes. I don’t blame the kids, it is the parents who micromanaged this nonsense and created this problem. We were able to “fix” it on the majority of my high school teams. But we have really lost sight of what youth high school sports is supposed to be which is (IMO)

1. Learn to be a part of a team and contribute to something bigger then themselves (I was always a team sport guy, so can’t really speak on more individual sports like tennis or golf) this to me is #1 and crucial. Learning to achieve a common goal with others some who look and think you and some who look and think completely different than you do.
2. Learn to be accountable
3. Learn resilience and the next play attitude (single best helps your whole life out of sports skills)
4. Build friendships, many of which will last a lifetime (everyone of my 40+ year old friendships started as teammates)
5. Learn discipline and the value of hard work
6. Learn to win AND lose with class, dignity and sportsmanship.

I could probably go on to list 100s of others - but you get the idea.

Bottom line and my meandering point to the topic - as a parent seek out the coaches and organizations who do it the right way. Avoid those who value winning at any level about high school varsity (we mandated our freshman and JV squads job was not to win, it was to prepare their players fort varsity)

And please do NOT do it because your kid is going to get a scholarship (I have coached dozens of those) but the reality is MOST wont - the numbers don’t lie. but they can learn a whole bunch of life lessons and have fun along the way. If you really want to play for college deposit all the money you would into all the travel expenses from 5-18 and you can pay for any college in the world.

Great post.

I think that so many resources go into individual training, a lot of the teamwork and accountability have gone away.

[Flasch186]

I got some tidbits eavesdropping sitting in the stands at the last half of practice today:

Aiden’s team left 42 on base in 3 games… Aiden only left 2
The team can’t swing it but Aiden can

Then said directly to me:

He got dropped in the Liberty to the bottom because in the girlfriend game, when the coach was redirecting him in the outfield (I’m being polite: yelling at Aiden) Aiden threw his hands up in frustration and sulked. That’s not acceptable.


~~~~
So at least it wasn’t nearly what I thought was going on and they’re still seeing him and hopefully potential.
He was destroying baseballs in practice and was doing so in bp off of the head coach of varsity.

Fwiw, I’m not thinking about college. My goal for Aiden is for him to be able to play baseball as long as he wants to; that there’ll always be a place for him to play if he wants to. I also use baseball as a carrot to slickly get him an awesome education. There’s way more jobs around baseball but not on the field than on so if he has a passion for the game then perhaps he can be a doctor or lawyer for a team or whatever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


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[Flasch186]

Aiden played in a varsity jv mix 9 inning game against Bolles (of Chipper Jones fame) and he made one routine catch in RF although he caught flak for not calling ball, ball, ball. After the game he told me that the 9th grade 2nd baseman was running towards him yelling “call it” he assumed but it kind of sounded like ball and he didn’t want to upend a kid older than him. I gave him crap for that and told him that age doesn’t matter, and it’s his bail versus a kid running away from home plate to make a catch.

He went to the plate once and swung and missed twice, took two balls, and then went down looking on a pitch off of the plate. While disappointing it didn’t look too bad in that all of the 8th graders struck out except the tank who hit one deep in the hole at short and yet still got thrown out at first cuz he’s slow. That looked worse I think.

But then the highlight, he pitched:

Medium grounder to 3rd off his glove (e5)
Struck out the next kid
Weak grounder to SS that went under his glove (e6)
A ball hit to the the first baseman off of the bag and Aiden sprinted to cover, the throw to him at full sprint was hard and he just couldn’t catch it and get the foot down…got discombobulated, and just missed the catch. We talked and he now knows catching it is always the first priority and the bag second… so not sure but maybe e1
Then a medium grounder to 3b who sailed it over the 2b but the RF backed up and threw out the kid running for 3rd
Then a weak pop up to 1b

So I think no hit perhaps in front of the varsity team and coach

Not bad- the defense is not typically this bad do everyone has an off night in some thing

Wish he’d hit more lol


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[Flasch186]

Slowly earning the trust back

Betted lead off yesterday

Ended up 1/5 but also two walks and was truly dialed in everywhere: base paths, field, dug out…

The varsity coach was there and coached Aiden to the side about a problem in the swing: he’s ripping his hands with his hips versus sending his hands to LC. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I dunno what that means and I’m not sure he does either so I told him he should ask for clarification.

His travel ball coach (assistant varsity) said he just begs to swing harder.

These directions aren’t clear enough to make change but the seasons almost over so we’ll get lessons with him to figure it out in the off season.


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[Flasch186]

AF continues the trend of gaining credit and kudos in the offseason. Hopefully he forgets the part where he likes to blow it all in the first few weeks that the season is back up and running.

This winter he was the only 8th grader to go to the Arm Camp that the head of the program puts on ANd he's the only 8th grader to attend morning weights. they love his grind and work ethic and they've nicknamed him "The Professor" which I may have mentioned before. the upperclassman seem to like him.

This past Saturday we attended a Saturday baseball camp from Colby halter, a Uf alum that was drafted recently and couldn't believe all of the very good coaches and people there. There was this guy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-shepherd-48866343/ Hitting Coordinator for the Mets in the DR who really seemed to Like aiden. This guy: Justin Viele for the Giants and he said Aiden had a beautiful swing and then a bunch of D1 players etc. It was not widely attended because they didn't do the best job marketing it so it was pretty awesome to learn from those guys. Aiden was also the only 8th grader from the school to attend.

Weirdly, the other 8th graders aren't seeing these opportunities to learn from great coaches like I am and Aiden is. Odd for sure but we just continue to grind and show up. I always have said that Aiden may not be the best player on the field talent-wise but he's going to outwork anyone. I instilled that in him through many fights along the way.

I cannot wait for this season to start and when it does I'll post the youtube channel that I stream the games to here.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/211958745306964

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

Weirdly, the other 8th graders aren't seeing these opportunities to learn from great coaches like I am and Aiden is. Odd for sure but we just continue to grind and show up.

I'm reminded of something a veteran administrator told us some years ago, one of the few positive/useful recollections I have of the miserable middle school years.

Essentially she said that it takes a while for "the switch to flip" with some more than others, that the transition to when their thought process goes to the next level/phase is one of the harder things to predict (she was a believer that you knew roughly what range a student would fall in overall by around 3rd grade ... which makes it frustrating to see those who have higher ceilings be slow to have that switch flip about things like habits, work ethic, etc)

[Flasch186]

Aiden had his first practice with the spring and summer travel ball team. Looks like he’s the only lefty and got reps at first finally. Team looks decent enough and the coach seems driven to make the kids better. This is his weekend and summer team.


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[Flasch186]

The HS team had their first BP yesterday and the staff asked if I could do more Video of it and I was able to get this:

Bullpen - Ensell Stratman Coffey Denault Dantzler Sunderhaus Williams Rodgers Hodges - YouTube

Bonus, near the end, alum Brad Hodges pitches on a visit back to the school. He's playing D1 for the Cavaliers.

at :49 minutes in, while Hodges is pitching, Aiden and Cooper hit the field for some long toss after basketball practice. Aiden is the one that stays in the frame.

[Flasch186]

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[Flasch186]

A great weekend analysis and clearly there’s mechanics issues in his pitching and throwing motions that they’ve given him stuff to work on and he’s determined to. One of the biggest ones is that he needs to break from his glove much smaller and direct versus sweeping so much to a reverse W. The reverse W is too pronounced and is causing a disconnection.

Another thing which is way harder is he just simply needs more mass so they have him a nutrition plan.

I’m not so spun to think that he’ll be able to play baseball in a college that matches him academically but being good in high school makes the experience more fun versus sitting the bench or not even making the team so… we stay the course and I support his dream of playing in the World Series some day.


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[Flasch186]

Aiden got in trouble at school yesterday

In his group of friends, during math class, he drew in pencil on his friend’s sweatshirt that was seated in front of him. He drew a penis to get laughs from the other kids.

This is a k-12 private school so he got hammered.

This morning I had to meet with the dean and head of middle school, he had to write a letter to the teacher and the student, he had in school suspension today, he misses his first day of practice with the high school team this afternoon, his baseball coach is going to give him an adjustment AND his history teacher, that is also his jv coach, had nominated him for honors… he’s withdrawing that nomination.

Tough lesson right here folks 🤦‍♂️ maybe an overreaction by the school but Aiden gave up control of the effects of his joking and that pisses me off at him. The school can react however they want to.


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[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

Aiden got in trouble at school yesterday ...

Tough lesson right here folks maybe an overreaction by the school but Aiden gave up control of the effects of his joking and that pisses me off at him.

One parent to another, I'll offer you a bit of encouragement. Anecdotal but still.

Around this age, best I recall, is when Will got in fairly hot water with me. Could have been much worse than it was, ultimately he avoided any repercussions except for his parents being pissed off.

However, the encouraging thing I'll offer you is this: it was, no joke, the last time he ever got in major trouble with us again. He dodged worse, and most importantly IMO, he knew it could have been worse. Lesson learned.

I ain't promising that'll be the case for Aiden here obviously, but it IS possible. It's as much as anything about whether that switch flips in his head or not.

In this instance, the school busting his chops pretty good (but without long-lasting consequence best I can tell) might turn out to be the best thing possible.

[Flasch186]

Well he’s on the field practicing with varsity in a live bp




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[Flasch186]

There was an intrasquad scrimmage today, the first one and Aiden brought back the Aiden we’ve been seeing recently before the blip.

While most if not all of the other 8th graders sat on the wall Aiden was up on the rail ready to go whenever there was an opportunity. For example, any time a senior got a walk they would add a batter to the base paths and let the upper classman get another AB. Aiden was on first like lightning running the paths with the varsity team. Whenever they needed an outfielder to fill in a blank for the varsity Aiden was out there in a flash. It was so evident one of the dads of one of the other 8th graders pointed out to his own kid through the net that Aiden was being assertive and that he needed to as well.

When Aiden got his AB he faced off against a reclassed freshman and he took a ball and then swung at the strike earning himself a Texas leaguer single to left. The seniors went crazy and when the inning ended with Aiden on second base, the senior CF (Kyle Boylston) (https://www.perfectgame.org/players/...aspx?ID=531303) ran up and bear hugged Aiden. He’s really taken to Aiden.

In the afternoon Aiden asked me to go to the cage so he could work on his stride foot staying closed along with keeping his hinge.

It was a very good day for him.




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[Flasch186]

During BP on the field, Aidan implemented the adjustment (get more hinged at the plate and it’ll reduce the opening front gate & slight step out. It’ll also make his swing more Ferris wheel and it’ll help him swing more connected… all from the hinging at the waist more) and hit a bomb with a -3 and it dropped about 5-0 feet from the warning track. The coach watched it and said, “naw you’re not hitting your first one off of me” (it was medium coach toss). Aiden was very happy and then said he needed to practice his fielding. Once again I simply said the quickest improvement to fielding in the attitude is 100% concentration to get a better jump on the ball… which makes the fielding generally easier. We shall see.




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