Co-ed lineup

[schizbomb]

So I've basically taught the 5 co-eds how to field as well as they will ever. I have to play 4 in the field, and I play them at 3B, C, RCF, and 2B. This works out really well for us, as our last 3 games have held the other team to 8 runs or less, after giving up 21, 14, 18 in the first three.

My problem is our offense. All 3/5 girls on my team are batting .000--- they are INSTANT outs. The other two are hitting decently but can't hit over the outfielders playing in, so they bat like .300. I have told them to just hold the bat to draw walks, but they strike out almost every time this way, and then they have no fun (this is rec after all, so fun has to be had). So this strategy is out, they will be swinging if they feel like it.

We must bat a girl every 2 guys. The 5/6 guys we have are all good hitters, and we are all hitting above .800. The other one is slow as hell and gets thrown out on balls hit to center.

For the first 6 games I have been using this order: M-M-F-M-M-F-M-F-M-F-F

This is just not scoring enough runs as innings end quick or the girls hit into DPs.

Is this just a fact of life that my girls are going to drag my lineup down, or can you guys think of any creative ways to maybe "spread out" the instant outs to keep innings alive?

Thanks!

 

[spos21ram]

I hate coed softball. Awful Awful sport. But anyway...Most leagues make you alternate every batter. M, F, M, F.....I actually think this gives you the best strategy as well.

 

[Rega17]

I think you're just out of luck. I play with a coed team sometimes for tournaments and they all can hit so it's fun and i have no remedy for you.

 

[hollywood9826]

If you are goin FF at the end thats two out in a row. You have to spread them out to at least give a chance that inning.

Maybe M-F-M-M-F-M-F-M-F-M-F.

That way no girl follows a girl. And it takes a little pressure off the guy that bats in front of the two girls to not be last or first out.

But if they cant hit at all you are screwed either way. Just enjoy yourself and if you win thats a bonus.

 

[3rdFoul]

Get good looking girls with yoga pants...just have fun.

 

[schizbomb]

All the girls are fine as hell, just 3 of the 5 can't bat for crap. The other two just don't have the power to get it over outfielders playing in. I have tried to coach to hit it on the ground, but with no power, they never hit it hard enough to get by anyone.

I figured I was just SOL, but I think I am going to try a new lineup to shake things up.

 

[kj13]

I think you're just out of luck. I play with a coed team sometimes for tournaments and they all can hit so it's fun and i have no remedy for you.

That was awesome lol

 

[-Six-]

All the girls are fine as hell, just 3 of the 5 can't bat for crap. The other two just don't have the power to get it over outfielders playing in. I have tried to coach to hit it on the ground, but with no power, they never hit it hard enough to get by anyone.

I figured I was just SOL, but I think I am going to try a new lineup to shake things up.

pictures or gtfo

 

[Debo03]

If you are goin FF at the end thats two out in a row. You have to spread them out to at least give a chance that inning.

Maybe M-F-M-M-F-M-F-M-F-M-F.

That way no girl follows a girl. And it takes a little pressure off the guy that bats in front of the two girls to not be last or first out.

But if they cant hit at all you are screwed either way. Just enjoy yourself and if you win thats a bonus.

This is probably your best line up as far as splitting up the girls and not putting them back to back. Also Definitely put your best hitters at the top of the order. A lot of games it may not make a difference but in the long run you definitely want your best hitters getting the most at-bats.. Don't worry about trying to line up RBI's for your best hitters and such, that rarely works with any consistency and definitely doesn't outweigh taking at-bats from your best hitters.

Only other advise I would give is tell your guys to leg out doubles and triples AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. That way it takes away the ability for girls to roll into Double plays.

 

[Pdpwally]

For the first 6 games I have been using this order: M-M-F-M-M-F-M-F-M-F-F

Thanks!

try this order: M-M-F-M-M-F-M-M(slow guy)-F(best of the bad ladies)-F(bad)-F(bad) you should be able to get some runs in before the "bad" part of the line up and hopefully you can start at the top of the line up every new inning. Also maybe only bat 10 instead of 11

 

[Mitch]

Get them girls some BP and show em how to rake!!!

 

[SouthSTLOF]

try this order: M-M-F-M-M-F-M-M(slow guy)-F(best of the bad ladies)-F(bad)-F(bad) you should be able to get some runs in before the "bad" part of the line up and hopefully you can start at the top of the line up every new inning. Also maybe only bat 10 instead of 11

This order is definitely worth a try. Hope to stack enough runs through your 6 guys and 2 girls to offset the 3 guaranteed outs in a row. If your girls actually had productive outs, IE, moving the runners up by hitting backside, then you could change it up a little bit.

You're a patient soul. I wouldn't play coed if I didn't have girls that could hit and field, I'm too competitive and would not have fun.

 

[xethicx]

I hate coed softball. Awful Awful sport. But anyway...Most leagues make you alternate every batter. M, F, M, F.....I actually think this gives you the best strategy as well.

Your manliness impresses us all, thanks for chiming in.

 

[xethicx]

Ive been coaching co-ed for over 10 years, our league is a 7-3 league. A huge benefit is getting a girl that can pitch which in the 4-10ft arc leagues is easy as pie since that style of pitching could be taught to a monkey. Having a girl on the mound, another at C and another at R (rover or if you prefer LC/RC). If I have a guy on the mound, 2B is where my 3rd girl usually goes. A lot of team think 1B is the place to put a girl but honestly I think that's just irresponsible with most girls. I see girls at first making errors constantly and it's basically giving the other team free hits so I put a guy there.

Batting order wise it really depends on your league and your girls. If you have a MFMFMFetc rule then it's obvious but if not then it depends on the ladies. For me, all of my girls have played competitive fast pitch their whole lives so it's not a big deal where I put em in the order but I NEVER put a girl in the 10 spot which is another thing a lot of teams do. But by doing so, you essentially take your lead off hitter right out of the game because his speed will be bagged by the girl on the bases in front of him. For me, I have a girl in the 2 spot that I trust, then in the 5 to insulate my clean up guy and then in the 8 spot.

 

[12345]

Ive been coaching co-ed for over 10 years, our league is a 7-3 league. A huge benefit is getting a girl that can pitch which in the 4-10ft arc leagues is easy as pie since that style of pitching could be taught to a monkey. Having a girl on the mound, another at C and another at R (rover or if you prefer LC/RC). If I have a guy on the mound, 2B is where my 3rd girl usually goes. A lot of team think 1B is the place to put a girl but honestly I think that's just irresponsible with most girls. I see girls at first making errors constantly and it's basically giving the other team free hits so I put a guy there.

Batting order wise it really depends on your league and your girls. If you have a MFMFMFetc rule then it's obvious but if not then it depends on the ladies. For me, all of my girls have played competitive fast pitch their whole lives so it's not a big deal where I put em in the order but I NEVER put a girl in the 10 spot which is another thing a lot of teams do. But by doing so, you essentially take your lead off hitter right out of the game because his speed will be bagged by the girl on the bases in front of him. For me, I have a girl in the 2 spot that I trust, then in the 5 to insulate my clean up guy and then in the 8 spot.

I'd rather have a girl at 3B as opposed to 2B or 1B.

 

[pontiacfb78]

It can be really tough in co-ed leagues. I play in 3 co-ed leagues (2 summer, 1 fall) with 6-4 and 7-3. Its pretty typical to get a few players changing every season. Just make sure everyone is on the same page with respect to the goal of the team. If you have girls that suck, and you don't plan on giving anyone the boot, then you are doomed to be a 'fun' team. When we started, our slogan was 'moral victory' because we got killed ~25-2 every game for 2 years, but still had fun. Everyone knew we were there to have fun and play softball. A few years went by and some people got better, and some people didn't. Our coach got all frustrated and pissy because we were 3 years in and some of the girls still sucked. No one else said anything because we all thought it was supposed to be a 'fun' team, and we didn't mind losing. So, long story short, the coach drafted extra players (ringers) which just happened to mean the bad players got less and less field time, and drama ensued. Moral of the story, if you want to be competitive, start or join another team. Don't try to mold the current one, because **** will hit the fan, and no one will have fun. If you have a competitive team, you have the power to say 'you are not good enough' to anyone.

 

[pontiacfb78]

I'd rather have a girl at 3B as opposed to 2B or 1B.

3B is a longer throw to 1B, and if a girl can't hit, she most likely can't make a decent throw to 1B for an out. You will get more easy 2 base hits with the ball out of play than you will outs.

 

[MN03]

I know this is most likely an Indian not the arrow situation but I have a story like this from my Co Ed team. All of our girls except one can hit real well. The one who can't hit well is a studly first base so she's a benefit to the team. But you can always use more hits. So over the winter her bf who also plays on the team picked her up a 34/24 -10 fastpitch bat for her to swing. And well. I wouldn't say she can blast the ball. But she's no longer hitting dribblers in front of the pitcher every at bat. Seems like if anything else the weight has helped. And having her own bat might have given her a confidence boost. I don't know for sure. Just what I've seen.

 

[xethicx]

I'd rather have a girl at 3B as opposed to 2B or 1B.

The two girls I put on 2B are both experienced fastpitch infielders though...

 

[rainbow warrior]

Maybe it's a so cal thing, but the co-ed teams here consist of two types--) 5 tournament guys with:

1. hot, fast girls that can get on with the occasional swinging bunt. (fun teams to play on but cannot ever win a title)
2. girls that really do not resemble females in any way, shape, or form. (those teams do fine)

Impossible to win in co-ed without at least 2 decent girls.......

 

[exccsracer]

This is my second year with my g-f's work coed team. It's bad, no, real bad. But, we've had our best luck running guys at 3b, ss, lc, rc, and pitcher. We're force to alternate m/f/m batting and alternate runners with the same gender so we're pretty much screwed there. It's a web development firm so naturally we're 0-15 from last Fall until now. Luckily it gets me warmed up for my Men's D game on the same nights.

 

[redneck1991]

Best method when dealing with a fun team is to just relax and realize your not on that team to win championships. Some tricks we use is put two guy outfielders in the middle and squeeze the girls to the lines which gives them less space to have to cover and as long as they can stop a ground ball you can stop triples and anything deep the guy just has to get on his horse. I usually put the girls shallow and then I have a clear path to cover deep. If you have a girl that can handle 1st you are ahead of the game but that rarely happens in these fun teams so you put a girl on 2nd and 3rd. most girl infielders can handle 2nd and if you have a ss with range you can give the 3rd base girl a smaller area to have to worry about and therefore just hope she can make the throw to first but if she cant then just have her hold it and hope for double plays or at least force play at 2nd. The most important thing on a talentless coed team is to hold the ball and not give extra bases due to the ball going back and forth from one fence to the other. Now for the line up I dont care about a girls hitting ability unless I have some that can hit but if they are all lousy I play base speed. Go with your fastest most consistent guy to lead off and then the fastest girl second. this allows her to hit a little dribbler and depending on the guys hit either move him to second or third and with his speed on the bases he can make the other team rush and make mistakes allowing her speed to get her on first. Then follow her with a consistent hitter with good speed and then your second fastest girl and then slow cleanup guy followed by slower girl and then try to use the remaining players to transition from slower to faster and then when you get to the bottom of the order you will have enough speed that leadoff guy doesnt have to stop because of slow people in front of him. You are going to have a lot of outs but a lineup this way will allow you to string together enough runs to get by and hope for someone to get lucky and keep it going. Good luck and remember its FUN and if you have an ego and cant stand losing leave the team and let them have fun without you.

 

[Dirt27]

All the girls are fine as hell, just 3 of the 5 can't bat for crap. The other two just don't have the power to get it over outfielders playing in. I have tried to coach to hit it on the ground, but with no power, they never hit it hard enough to get by anyone.

I figured I was just SOL, but I think I am going to try a new lineup to shake things up.

If this is the case, who cares if they suck.

 

[SouthSTLOF]

If this is the case, who cares if they suck.

I care if they suck.

 

[schizbomb]

Well last night I ran out this lineup:

M-F-M-M-good F-M-F-M-slow M-F

And we scored the most runs yet. Lost by a run, but I think I may have solved a puzzle or something. None of the bad females got on base, so it's not like I was lucky, I just managed to spread out their damage, as there was only one situation where one could have rolled into a DP.

 

[Chimpy]

So I've basically taught the 5 co-eds how to field as well as they will ever. I have to play 4 in the field, and I play them at 3B, C, RCF, and 2B. This works out really well for us, as our last 3 games have held the other team to 8 runs or less, after giving up 21, 14, 18 in the first three.

Thanks!

I FEEL for you but consider yourself lucky. In my coed league, it HAS to be boy-girl-boy-girl. There's no 2 guys hitting back to back.

I have a girl pitcher who's tremendous which is great, it means I can put a guy at an important position. But I have one girl who's been with the team since the beginning who DEMANDS to play 3rd. She has zero business playng the position. She started out as a catcher and was great but now being the senior girl on the team thinks she should be able to play where she wants and she's terrible at third. Cant' field, can't make the trhow, can't take hard throws from the guys - it's kiling us. This weeks' game I'm moving her, I just can't take it anymore. she's probably going to get mad but I just can't put here there.

But at least all my girls have some hitting ability. When this team first started out we had TWO POSs who has zero business playing softball. I try to be nice but once the first season ended, there was no way I was having them back, they killed us.

 

[Dirt27]

I care if they suck.

I see what you did there...lol!

 

[TheKid33]

I FEEL for you but consider yourself lucky. In my coed league, it HAS to be boy-girl-boy-girl. There's no 2 guys hitting back to back.

I have a girl pitcher who's tremendous which is great, it means I can put a guy at an important position. But I have one girl who's been with the team since the beginning who DEMANDS to play 3rd. She has zero business playng the position. She started out as a catcher and was great but now being the senior girl on the team thinks she should be able to play where she wants and she's terrible at third. Cant' field, can't make the trhow, can't take hard throws from the guys - it's kiling us. This weeks' game I'm moving her, I just can't take it anymore. she's probably going to get mad but I just can't put here there.

But at least all my girls have some hitting ability. When this team first started out we had TWO POSs who has zero business playing softball. I try to be nice but once the first season ended, there was no way I was having them back, they killed us.

No offense dude but you need to remember were talking coed here. Unless it's tourny ball I don't think you need to be calling a female a p.o.s. Or kicking people off a team. Coed is about having fun, not winning. The girls who suck in my experience are always the best, nah mean dude?

 

[TheKid33]

Lol btw it's never right to call a female a pos ^ lol

 

[schizbomb]

My good female asked why one of my bad females hit in front of her

Explaining it to her was rough