A Software Review

by Brent McLaren

There has to be a better way!

Watching the software grow

Katy was responsive to the demands made on her by the beta testers. Requests for better interfaces between Score-It and other popular stats packages were developed, the whole screen changed to accommodate the bar menus and the roster was completely rethought and recoded. Tiny bugs, inevitable when trying to implement software across so many different systems, were resolved quickly. With the release of version 2.2 a very solid standard for computerized baseball statistics packages has emerged. No wonder the many major tournaments elected Score-It as their software this past season.

What are some of the features found in Score-It?:

• extremely easy to use.
• screens are point and click, with choices provided.
• game manual scoring sheets easily printed
• effective roster management
• Score-It generates box scores automatically.
• after a game is scored, these stats are immediately available.
• works with other stat packages: currently TurboStats and MojoStats.
• instantly see a batter's performance during the game
• generate complete statistics including:
  • Batting: batting avg, at bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, walks, strike outs, RBIs, sacrifices, at plates, stolen bases, caught stealing, on base, on base %
  • Fielding: assists, put outs, errors, fielding %
  • Pitching: wins, losses, saves, # batters, innings pitched, earned runs, ERA, hits, strike outs, base on balls, hit batters, total pitches, total strikes, total balls, strike pitch %

• Spray Charts : show you where a players hit the balls against different pitchers.
• Summary Player AtPlates: print out the score boxes for each player.
• Team Summaries: how is one particular team doing? You select the game types.
• Internet and press report ready. You can output the box scores for the internet already formatted in HTML code or in a generic "text" base for importing into news articles and releases.

For this tournament we used two scorers, one manually scoring the game on sheets generated by Score-It and the other scoring directly into the computer. The two scorers conferred on the more controversial scoring judgments. It became obvious that one area that must be kept very clear when using a computer are substitutions to the lineups. Unlike the pros, at this age level substitutions can happen fast and furious, almost on every pitch. The computer is not as forgiving or as fast as the pencil and eraser.

Thirty minutes before each game each coach was provided with game summaries, team summaries and splatter diagrams for their own team and for the competition. Within minutes of a games conclusion a "draft" score sheet was in the possession of each team's manager for perusal and corrections. Other copies were instantly printed for the press to refer to.

How did the system perform?

Currently Score-It retails for $60.00 but an internet special price is available for $45.00 if a user downloads the package. The internet copy will display "unregistered copy" until the user registers their software. Additional information can be had by emailing : kday@tucadvan.com.

• plan for working with a computer. As strange as this sounds thinking through using a computer at a game or tournament will ensure most of the snags are eliminated. Make sure the operator has the rosters or lineup cards well in advance. You can change the lineup right up until game time but inputting it on the fly in the seconds before a game starts can be difficult.

  Hint: I keep two generic teams one with players 'A','B' etc. the other with '1','2', etc. When this happens I load my generics, declare the pitchers and start recording. At natural breaks in the game I will edit the original roster (adding first the player's numbers, then their names) by the end of the game I am usually caught up.

  Think about power, breakers, space, wires, etc.. In scoring a game, like buying a house, location is everything! The lighting in the area of the computer will can be a source of frustration. Check this carefully.

• gain control of the substitutions. Coaches love to walk out after each play and switch batters. There are two ways: either ask the coach to make all his changes at the start of an inning unless absolutely necessary -or- even easier is for the scorer to simply note offensive entries into the game as though they occurred at the start of the inning whenever possible. Since Score-It insists on recording who was on each base at the time of a mid-inning substitution considerable time can be saved here.

• ensure your scorers are protected. Crowd noise, announcements, music, many items can limit the ability of the scorer to do the best job possible. Particularly when dealing with substitutions or hearing instructions from the plate umpire it is necessary for the officials to be able to communicate.

• make use of the notes function often. Rather than try to enter on the fly it is easier to write the changes down on a notepad or in the software "notes" function. corrections can be made sequentially at the end of the game.

• the rule books all say that no scoring is final until 24 hours has past. Often tiny errors are discovered, some errors not so tiny. Giving out a stats sheet immediately following a game can correct these human faults. Everyone has to know this.

Game Scoring By Inning: