REDEFINING SUCCESS

1 billion pitches, 300 million at-bats, and 7 million games scored.

As coaches around the country prepare for the spring baseball and softball seasons,
consider this: the best coaches care about the person inside the player -- knowing that
lessons in teamwork, leadership and perseverance will last long after this season is
over. This must be at the foundation of every coach's mission rather than the
win-at-all-cost approach we see too often at the youth and high school levels.

Let me be clear: I’m not recommending that we ignore wins and losses this season. I
believe competition is an integral part of the game at every level. Instead, I encourage
coaches to redefine success for their players, focusing them on process over results.
Those that do know that the scoreboard will take care of itself.

After 25 years around amateur baseball, most recently as Founder & CEO of
GameChanger, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and observe some of the nation’s best
coaches in action. The most successful coaches shift their team's attention away from
results-based metrics like batting average, RBIs, ERA and strikeouts. Instead, they
focus players (and parents!) on a core set of controllable and measurable activities that
simplify the game.

For example, they teach pitchers to concentrate on first-pitch-strikes instead of

strikeouts. They promote the importance of hard hit ball percentages over batting
averages. They measure quality at-bats instead of RBIs. By setting metrics-driven goals
for controllable processes rather than results, these coaches eliminate the over-thinking
and fear of failure that often cripples young athletes. And then, as a byproduct of this
approach, they get the best performance out of every player and win games.

The following pages demonstrate the power of these metrics and this coaching
philosophy. We’ve analyzed data from over 7 million games scored on GameChanger,
pulling insights and tips that will help you redefine success for your team in 2016 and
beyond.

Ted Sullivan
CEO and Founder, GameChanger

Ted is a lifelong baseball player and lover of the game. He pitched at Duke and in the
minors for the Cleveland Indians. Ted co-founded GameChanger to enhance the amateur
sports experience for coaches and team communities. He also co-founded Headfirst
Camps, and coached Little League in NYC.
FIRST PITCH STRIKE PERCENTAGE (FPS%)
The average pitcher throws a first pitch strike 58% of the time. Here’s why your players
should work on improving their FPS%.

A HIGH FPS% LEADS TO MORE OUTS AND FEWER BASERUNNERS.

.500
OBP% IN A
1-0 COUNT
.322
OBP% IN
AN 0-1 COUNT

Ball one turns batters into Ted Williams (.482). Strike one turns batters into Bengie Molina (.307)

A HIGH FPS% ALSO HELPS LIMIT A HIGH FPS% ALSO HELPS

LEADOFF WALKS, WHICH SCORE PITCHERS THROW FEWER PITCHES
46% OF THE TIME. PER INNING.

14.5
55% 17.2
12.4
10.3
8.2 60% 16.3
2.04
1.74 15.3
1.45 65%
1.15

55% 60% 65% 70% 70% 14.4

FPS%

Leadoff Walk % FPS% Pitches

per Inning
Runs scored from leadoff walks (per 30 innings)
HARD HIT BALL PERCENTAGE (HHB%)
The average batter has a Hard Hit Ball (HHB) in 17% of their plate appearances.
A HHB is either a line drive or hard ground ball.

FOCUSING ON HHB% WILL AND SLUGGING

IMPROVE BATTING AVERAGE. PERCENTAGE.

.297 .309 .348 .389

10%* 15%* 10%* 15%*

.322 .334 .429 .470

20%* 25%* 20%* 25%*
*HHB% *HHB%

PLAYERS WITH HIGH AND THE MORE QAB’S A

HHB% HAVE MORE TEAM HAS, THE MORE LIKELY
QUALITY AT-BATS**. THEY ARE TO WIN.

50%
70

40% 60

50
30%
40

20% 30

20 Teams with 12
QABs win the game
10%
10 60% of the time.

0
5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
HHB
Quality At-Bat % Win %

**A QAB is an at-bat with any one of the following: 3 pitches after 2 strikes, 6+ pitch ABs, XBH, BB, SAC Bunt, SAC Fly.
COMPARING HIGH SCHOOL
BASEBALL PLAYERS BY STATE

AVERAGE EARNED RUN AVERAGE NATIONAL AVG: 3.89

3.97 3.85
4.66 4.52
VT: 3.71
4.02 NH: 3.83
3.9 4.1 3.51 MA: 3.28
4.71 3.81
3.81 RI: 3.15
5.34 CT: 3.43
4.04 3.8
NJ: 3.9
4.16 4.02
4.82 3.79 4.19 DE: 3.61
4.26 4.03 MD: 4.26
5.06 3.71
3.27 4.6 4.07 3.49 D.C.: 3.94
3.6
3.78
4.18
4.11 3.4
4.17 3.96
3.65 3.81
3.53

3.83
3.83
5.0 3.37

HI: 3.35
AVERAGE FIRST PITCH STRIKE % NATIONAL AVG: 56.9%

56% 58%
54.8% 57%
VT: 57.5%
57.8% NH: 57.3%
57.2% 56.5% 57.9% MA: 58.7%
55.7% 57%
56.8% RI: 59.1%
55.9% CT: 57.8%
57.7% 57.1%
NJ: 57.6%
57.2% 56.7%
56.5% 57.8% 56.7% DE: 55.6%
56.8% 57.8% MD: 59.1%
55.9% 57%
57.4% 56.8% 56.8% 57.2% D.C.: 55.7%
57%
57.6%
56.9% 57.7%
57.6% 57%
56.8%
57.7% 56.4%
57.3%

56.7%
56.7%
54%
57.3%

HI: 56%

TOP 10 LEADERS BY STATE

HARD HIT BALL% QUALITY AT BAT% TOTAL BATTING AVG AT BATS PER HOME RUN
RI 21.% D.C. 47.2% CO .330 MT 98.3
D.C. 20.6% CO 46.1% NV .330 WV 101.5
AZ 19.8% RI 45.7% UT .320 AZ 102.5
NV 19.6% AR 45.6% AZ .320 OK 103.3
UT 19.5% NV 45.5% WY .320 NV 109.3
AR 19.3% UT 45.5% NM .320 GA 111.2
IL 19.3% MS 45.3% D.C .310 MS 114.5
AL 19.3% MD 45.3% OK .310 AR 117.1
VT 19.3% LA 45.3% ID .310 IN 117.8
MA 19.1% TX 45.2% KS .310 CO 120.3
COMPARING HIGH SCHOOL
SOFTBALL PLAYERS BY STATE

AVERAGE EARNED RUN AVERAGE NATIONAL AVG: 4.13

3.98 4.21
4.47 6.81
VT: 4.69
4.70 NH: 3.68
3.73 4.1 4.01 MA: 3.62
4.9 3.52
4.26 RI: 2.93
3.09 CT: 4.18
3.64 3.71
NJ: 3.60
4.37 3.96
5.03 4.02 3.75 DE: 4.08
4.81 3.45 MD: 4.29
5.18 3.67
3.58 4.78 4.11 3.33
3.41
3.31
3.87
4.40 3.4
4.59 3.54
3.14 3.40
3.51

4.14
3.38
5.37 3.62

HI: 4.15
AVERAGE FIRST PITCH STRIKE % NATIONAL AVG: 59.9%

60% 61.6%
60% 56.9%
VT: 57.2%
61% NH: 62.9%
59.1% 61.1% 60.2% MA: 63.3%
58.3% 60.5%
60.1% RI: 62.4%
62.8% CT: 61.6%
60.2% 60.7%
NJ: 61.3%
60.5% 56.7%
59.1% 61% 60.6% DE: 58.5%
60.1% 60.5% MD: 56.7%
58.2% 60.3%
59.5% 59.6% 60.5% 61.2% D.C.: 52.1%
60.2%
61.8%
60.8% 61.5%
58.4% 61.3%
58.1%
60.7% 60.3%
61.1%

59.5%
59.4%
58.3%
59.6%

HI: 56%

TOP 10 LEADERS BY STATE

HARD HIT BALL% QUALITY AT BAT% TOTAL BATTING AVG AT BATS PER HOME RUN
MS 22.7% D.C. 47.5% WY .430 MT 52.2
OK 20.9% UT 45.3% NM .380 WV 52.2
UT 20.9% WY 44.4% UT .360 AZ 55.7
NM 20.2% MS 44% CO .360 OK 56.5
HI 20% HI 43.7% ID .360 NV 64.7
NE 19.8% CO 43.7% AZ .360 GA 66.8
OC 19.5% TX 43.6% SD .360 MS 69.7
KY 19.4% LA 43.4% MS .350 AR 69.8
ME 19.4% NE 43.3% AK .350 IN 70.9
AZ 19.3% ID 43.2% WA .350 CO 73.5
KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Redefine success for your players by

focusing on process over results

• Focus on First Pitch Strikes to help pitchers

limit baserunners and throw fewer pitches

• Improve batting average and slugging

percentage by focusing on HHB

• Quality At-Bats lead to more to wins

• Go to gc.com to easily track First Pitch Strike %

Hard Hit Balls, and Quality At-Bats for your team

ABOUT US

At GameChanger, we’re on a mission to help every amateur sports

team be more efficient, informed and connected. So we created a
software platform that changes the way amateur teams collect,
manage and share information.

Our mobile app and website provide scorekeeping, stats and team
management for the coaching staff - plus live game updates, stats
and recap stories for families and fans. Insights in this report were
based on over 1 billion pitches, 300 million at-bats, and 7 million
games scored by baseball and softball players between the ages
of 8 and 18 using the GameChanger platform.

WWW.GAMECHANGER.COM