Blog: Sadie Armstrong Talks “Apples to Apples” or the Value of Playing Up or Staying Down

Cassadie “Sadie” Armstrong, a 5-foot-10 pitcher/infielder who plays for the Central Mass Voodoo 14U team and is a 7th grader (Class of 2023) from Portland, Maine is 12U age but has played up at 14U and trains with an 18U team.

So is it better to stay at your own age and compete with your peers or move up to play tougher (i.e. older) opponents to improve your game?

The Maine athlete has done both and in her second blog for Extra Inning Softball talks about the pros and cons of each.

An accomplished fastpitch player already, Sadie’s honors already have included being named a 2017 All American by USA Softball 12U, a member of USSSA Elite Select Futures and chosen as a Pre-Season Rookie by Under Armour Softball Factory thanks to a 62 mph screwball and a 61 mph dropball with consistent ball exit velocity speeds in the high 60s to low 70s.

In 2016, Sadie was named the Maine State Champion Pitcher for both Little League and USA Softball. She plays basketball for the 2017 AAU State Champion Firecrackers and off the field was her school’s French Student of the Year and is an honors violinist.

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It was going to be a rough at-bat for me, according to everyone who spoke to me (by the way, thank you, everyone for the, ahem, “help”).

The pitcher I was about to face was verballed to a Power 5 school and every time a parent or player spoke to me, they told me how fast she threw and, invariably, the quoted speed was a little faster each time the story was told.

By the time the speed calculation was repeated throughout the day, my opponent in the circle was going to be 6-foot-2 and weigh 250 pounds and have a fast ball that was approaching Monica Abbott’s epic numbers.

I needed to calm down.

After all, she was only 15 years old, at most, since this was a fall 14U showcase. “You’ve got this,” I told myself as I took a few cuts in the on deck circle.

“Gigantor” (my nickname for this supposed monster of a pitcher, who was kind of averaged sized at best) was not nearly as fast as the rumors.

She was no faster than I had seen in the best Sunday games up north. So why was everyone making such a big deal about this girl? Sure, she was older, but she was hittable. I knew I had her timed up and I was not going to let the legend get into my head.

And then in happened…

“Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime” bellowed the opposing coach. I looked over to the direction of the bullpen and saw this behemoth of a player saunter out to the circle. I swear the ground shook beneath her feet with each step and her knuckles were dragging on the ground (okay, I am exaggerating, but you get the picture).

She was enormous: not just tall like me, but she had a total woman-bod. Her arms were jacked and as she pushed off the rubber, her leg drive accentuated the obvious musculature in her over-developed quads (which you could see right through her pants). THIS was the girl that I had been warned about, not the starter!

She only threw two pitches for warmup. Neither was epic or intimidating. I started to settle down and had a little swagger of my own as I approached the box.

Her first pitch was a ball. At least that is what the umpire said. This pitch was twice as fast as her warmup…I assume.

Ball 2.

This time, I felt a little heat as it passed. I never took the bat off my shoulder, but not because I was disciplined. I did not have time. Now, I was in a hitter’s count and I decided to be aggressive so that if (when) she struck me out, I could go down in a spectacular blaze of glory.

I turned my back foot in, to shorten my swing, and I did not step. I blindly swung as she finished her arm circle, and I fouled that thing off right down the first base line, nearly decapitating the first base coach in the process. I have to admit, that was a proud moment.

Eventually, she got me, but I made her work. And, there was my victory.

As I left the field for the day, the umpire asked me if I had ever seen a 70 mph fastball before. I responded “No sir, and I still haven’t since that ball moved so fast I couldn’t pick it up!”

I am not sure if he thought I was trying to be funny or realized that I was just being honest, but he couldn’t stop laughing and shaking his head as he left.

I had just celebrated my 12th birthday, by the way. And I participated in a well-known showcase with a top 14U team as a guest player.

I knew I was a better player for having faced this toughest of competition. I knew I had stretched my limits in some ways just by receiving and scooping the ball at first when it was thrown by players whose overhand velocity exceeded my own.

I learned a few things about dugout etiquette, and everyone was thoughtful of what was said around me so that I did not overhear conversations that were too mature (something I will remember when we have younger guests around).

I also knew that I was not being watched as a 2023 playing with kids who were graduating as soon as 2020.

My first year as a real softball player was 2014 when I played majors for Portland Little League. I was the youngest player and I played with girls who were as old as 13 while I was only nine.

I also started playing travel ball that year and I played first year 10U with a group of second year 10U. Basically, I began my softball career with older kids and have always had the benefit of their influence on my softball experience and level of play.

Nonetheless, there are certain factors that could make the decision of whether to play with your age group versus playing with older kids a really big deal.

One factor for me was that, even playing within an age group, there are huge variations so that a 10U could be any age up to 11 depending upon her birthdate. When I moved to 12U with the team I first started playing travel with, I was 11 and some girls were teenagers but I should not have played with tiny girls as I was already over 5-foot-9 at that point.

The question many people have is whether this is the right type of experience for a player.

I was humbled and I was inspired at the same time. Some players may not benefit from not being top dog. It is something to really think about before playing with older kids.

A year of dominating in your own age group is nothing to turn down lightly. Really, this “playing up” seems to be largely a Northern thing, or so I have been told.

I winter train with an 18U team and my regular season team is 14U while I am a true 12U, and this is not terribly unusual for dedicated players.

I guess this, like most everything, should be a decision that meets the needs of a specific individual.

In figuring out if it meets an individual’s needs (my own), I found it would be useful to consider the following:

PLAYING UP WITH AN OLDER GROUP

As you are deciding whether to play up or not, the real decision should be based upon what you intend to take away from the experience.

Like everyone, I want my cake and to eat it, too.

For me, the way I managed to do that is: I am playing on a 14U team that regularly competes with 16u teams during the regular season and with 16U and 18U players during winter training, but when I showcase I will showcase with kids graduating the same year as me.

I want to make sure that the coaches evaluating my play are comparing apples to apples instead of apples to… an older apple!