3 Up/3 Down/3Pitches

#1

My 14 year old son started the second game for his team in their State USSSA tournament this past Friday. He had a fairly efficient first inning, but it was no where near as good as his second.

Second inning: first batter - slow roller to second; second batter - fairly hard grounder to short; third batter - little pop fly to second. That’s right, three up, three pitches, three down.

He actually got the first kid up in the 3rd inning on a single pitch (another grounder) before the third base coach yelled at his team that they didn’t have to swing at every pitch, even if they were strikes (which they were). He threw less than 30 pitches over his three innings in that game and came away with a win.

I’ve seen a lot of youth baseball games in my time, but I don’t think I have every seen this before. I’m sure it happens - and probably fairly frequently at the younger/lower levels - but I really wonder how often. How about you guys? How many times have you seen this and at what level?

#2

I’ve seen it at all levels. Since my particular area of expertise is at the major league level, I’ve seen it more often there. I’ve seen plenty of pitchers dispose of opposing batters like that, and let me tell you, it is not as infrequent as one would suppose. When a pitcher is really on his game, it will happen. 8)

#3

thats awesome, i did that this year, in the first inning the leadoff kid got a hit on the first pitch, doubled him upon the next, liner to third to end the inning, 3 pitches, 2nd inning, first batter makes an out on the first pitch, 4 outs/4 pitches, i was in shock haha went on to win in 5 innings, CG, one run

#4

believe it or not i pitched a full game. 7 innings in our league.

We use pitch count. Anyways we lost the game 3-2. I only threw 52 pitches in 7 innings. Thats rougly around 7 an inning. Same thing happened to me though. These kids would crush a fastball, but they sucked crap at hitting a curveball. If it wasn’t for my outfielders dropping 3 routine fly balls i would have won that game, in probaly around 40 pitches.

#5

I envy your being able to experience such exhibitions…keep enjoying, film as much as you can…

#6

Yeah Zita, I figured it happened fairly frequently, I had just never seen it… or maybe I had just never noticed it (I was watching this one pretty close). Congrats to BarryBonds 999 and pitcherman95 on their efficiency as well. 7 pitches an inning is awesome, even in a loss. And I love the way that pitcherman made it tough on himself - actually put a kid on base and THEN got them out in three. That’s a good inning.

“These kids would crush a fastball, but they sucked crap at hitting a curveball.”

It’s funny you say that. My kid actually started the first game on the following day and was having a great outing through the fourth. He struck out the first two batters in the fifth and then started having some problems. Bloop single, error, walk, etc.

The other team’s #4 hitter was up (for the third time) and my kid’s coach comes out and talks to him and his infield. Tells him that this kid can’t hit off-speed and that’s what they are going to throw him. Apparently he learned how to hit it since his last at bat as he deposited the the first change up well over the right field wall for a 3 run homer that tied the game. My kid held his head up and handled it well, but he was pretty disappointed. Luckily he helped his own cause the next inning with a double and we went on for the win.

JD, it’s great to hear from you again. I haven’t spent much time here lately as KCDawgjr hasn’t pitched much with his elbow injury last year and then the broken finger this year. But, he’s back on track the last month or so and has really had some good outings. This is his first year with this team in a higher division and many of the parents didn’t even know he pitched. When he got the win in his first start against a pretty strong team, a bunch of them were stunned. “I had no idea he could pitch like that,” was a common refrain. No one expected the 5 foot seven kid to throw about as hard as the 6 foot 3 kid.

I’m going to try and get some video here in the next couple of weeks to see what you and the rest of LTP think.

Thanks.

#7

My son threw in the USSSA State Tournament in Illinois this past weekend.

Any chance we played each other?

We were up 3-1 headed to the bottom of the 7th, three outs away from the championship game. We had the kid on the mound we wanted and gave up 3 runs to lose 4-3.

It was a heartbreaker.

#8

That does sound like a heartbreakers.

My son’s team is actually in Missouri, so no way we crossed paths. He did play in the same tournament as Buwhite’s son, although they never did get to play each other.

His team is a 14 u AAA team and they finished in second place with a 5-1 record. We just ran out of pitching for the championship game.

How did your son’s team do in the end, munster7?

#9

It does happen once in awhile. However, it shouldn’t. The third hitter should be taking a strike.

#10

Happen to me at the college level. Not sure that I have a 3 pitch inning, but I threw a 7 inning complete game (conference doubleheader from rainout) threw 68 pitches with 61 fastballs and 7 curveballs giving up only 1 run in a 4-1 win. Goes to show how effective throwing low in the zone is.

#11

Happened to my son at the Illinois State tournament this past weekend. However, after throwing the third pitch, he had to pick a runner off first. He was playing 12u AA in Champaign.

#12

Steak dinners for all! I tell all mympitchers on the varsity team that if they have a 3 pitch inning, I’ll buy them a steak dinner! Hasn’t happened yet in two years :slight_smile:

#13

Never had the 3 pitch inning, but I had 3 innings in relief with only 13 pitches. I love defense making plays for me, it makes me a better pitcher and I don’t have to try and get strikeouts with perfect pitches.