First things first – what is coach pitch and tee ball?
Coach pitching is when the kids that are playing are still too young to pitch themselves. The coaches are therefore required to pitch the ball for their small batters. It is often quite difficult to maintain pitches of constant speed and height so a big pat on the back for all the coaches who work so hard to maintain the pitch.
Tee ball is very similar to golf in that both use a tee. Except that for golfers the tee is tiny and pressed into the earth. The tee of tee ball is at a child’s waist height and balanced on the floor. The coach carefully lines up the batter, adjusting position and stance and then encourages the batter to swing for the ball (usually a tennis ball).
As soon as the bat connects with the ball, sending it bouncing across the floor the batter drops the bat and runs for first base, in this case cardboard diamonds affixed to the floor, while the rest of the team scrambles for the ball.
This is a way to introduce the children to baseball in a way they can manage and Saturday the kids had tons of fun in the Chestermere Recreation Centre rink, hitting the ball and running after it. Hopefully there will be more to come.
Let’s play ball!
