Lawyer | Coach | Former Player (Princeton Ftbl): Playing today’s recruiting game & promoting my sports playing kids Reid ‘28 🏈⚾️, Elle ‘25🏐👟, Rick ‘24⚾️👟
Happy to see that Rick has been voted first team All State on the 2024 Alabama Sports Writers' Association Class 3A All State team. He had a fantastic season, and we are very proud of him. @rickmcbrideiii @MA_Swoops https://t.co/c6DB8YHW4y
@CoachBradley9 For those replying, I think “barrel accuracy” means - at least in part - being “on plane.” If a hitter can get on plane early and stay on plane late, you bet he’s going to have some barrel accuracy!
Choking up comes at the cost of loss of plate coverage, of power, and arguably some bat control in the form of a swing weight change in the bat. Plate coverage can be addressed by moving closer to the plate, but that could come at the cost of strike recognition. Respectful question: do you have your hitters take BP with choked up swings so they overcome these potential issues? In lieu of choking up, would you ever advocate for a hitter to adopt a later swing (ie, “away” approach) by letting the 2 strike pitch travel deeper, thereby allowing more time to recognize off speed but still be in position to hit a FB away?
I agree with this. Baseball is a very mechanical sport, as we know. I’ve seen a lot of gung ho dads take their gung ho young boys and just work them so much that they have better mechanical skills at 10/11/12 that those who don’t work as much. But if any of these gung ho kids don’t have the requisite athleticism to go along with the early polished mechanical skills, they can be passed when puberty hits.
Can’t agree more. It’s a complex decision. We sent our oldest to prep school in ‘24 for a post grad year. We had a tough choice among schools, but ultimately chose @avonoldfarms. While his baseball pursuits didn’t turn out the way we expected, everything else about Avon was fantastic, and our son gained so much from his experience there. So, somewhat ironically, it was a good investment even though the primary objective wasn’t achieved - but only because everything else about Avon was such a wonderful fit.
@Coach_HugginsII Man this is such a great comment. People have no idea how rare a 4.5 runner is in HS and yet they throw that number around like it’s commonplace. As you say, a 4.8 is flying - hell, many times the 4.8 kid is the fastest player on a HS football field.
Tough end to the playoffs for MA & @reidmcbride12 (c/o ‘28, 6-2, 180) on Fri. MA was super young this yr, so young that Reid - just a Soph - was its most tenured player. Huge yr for Reid play-wise (below), but most proud of how he handled being a captain & team leader at age 16. Bright future for MA & Reid the next 2 yrs.
Proud to share that ‘28 SS/OF/P @reidmcbride12 (6-2, 180, 4.7gpa) has helped lead MA to the playoffs for the first time since 2019 w a must-win 2 game sweep of ACA this weekend. In G1, Reid threw a 5-inn CG 3 hitter, w 6 K, reaching 88 (sat 85-86) & also went 3-4 w 3 R & 1 RBI. @PrepBaseballAL@PerfectGame_AL
@ALPreps As to the Private A class, did the AHSAA address whether it will keep its traditional approach of splitting the south regions and the north regions into separate playoff brackets, such that the Private A championship game is a north/south matchup?
@coachzblair10@TJHannam10 Some kids at 12 are studs only bc they’ve hit puberty early. As a result, not all of them go on to be studs in HS once puberty levels the playing field. That’s a separate issue than the one you raised, of course, but a notable one in the context of your reply. Good post.
MA & ‘28 SS/OF/P @reidmcbride12 (6-2, 180) beat 3A no. 6 PCA last week in a huge area series, 2 games to 1. In G2, facing the no 1 LHP in Alabama’s ‘26 class, Reid went 2-3 (3B, 2B) w 2 RBI & 1R, producing all of MA’s runs in a tight 3-0 win. Proud of Reid - his 2 hits below
@PrepBaseballAL@PerfectGame_AL@HallTechSports1@ASharp24@aldotcomSports