[Nathans_Dad]

Ok guys, here's the situation:

I am the head coach of my son's 7 year old baseball team. This is coach pitch baseball. This season our team has done really well. We are currently 7-3 and in 2nd place in the league with 2 games left.

So far in the regular season I have a rotation set up where the batting order rotates each game so each boy gets to bat in the top, middle and bottom of the order equal amounts of time. In the defense, I usually rotate kids between infield and outfield. Everyone gets to play each position, but the kids who can catch and throw reliably play pitcher and 1st base the most. Usually the games have gone where we get a decent sized lead by the 4th inning or so and I then play the weaker fielders in the key positions to get them experience. I have heard nothing but good feedback from parents with this system.

Ok, now here's the question. The league has a tournament at the end of the season. All 18 teams play and it is single elimination. Your seeding is based on your regular season record. The top two teams get trophies from the baseball league.

Do you think it is reasonable to focus more on winning during the tournament? In general I have tried to get everyone experience and keep them having fun. I have tried to balance this with keeping the team competitive during the games too. I am trying to decide whether to go to a stricter system of the good fielders in the infield and the weaker kids in the outfield as well as setting up the batting order the way you would in a competitive baseball game, better hitters at the top of the order, weaker ones at the bottom.

What do you think?