Hi all, my son just started his first season of little league at age 11. A little late, I know. At any rate, his coach noted a knack for throwing accurately and asked him if he’d like to pitch an inning here or there in actual games to which my son agreed. His first outing went way better than expected. 1 inning, 2 strike outs and a pop up. No walks or runs. Of course our son was overjoyed and was excited to pitch again which happened a couple days ago.
Warming up seemed okay. He was putting it down the strike zone pretty consistently. Once he got on the mound it all went to poop. The first batter hit a blooper back to the mound and my son panicked on the throw to first. Then, with a man on base he plunked the second batter in the back. From there his confidence was shot. You could tell he felt awful for hitting the kid and he had to be consoled by the coach. I’m proud of the fact that I’m not raising a sociopath in how he reacted to hitting the kid, but from the on he threw scared. He was outside the strike zone, his velocity dipped as it seemed he wasn’t throwing as hard and he was generally just shaken. 5 runs later, the inning mercifully ended. Throw in going 0-3 at the plate, it was a quiet ride home.
Today, he has another game. We woke up and I commented how beautiful today was for a game and he kind of groaned. I feel like his outing a couple days ago really messed with his confidence and enjoyment of playing. What can I do or say to help him through this?