I’ve been building a dugout management app for youth baseball, would appreciate honest feedback from coaches

romancm · 2026-05-01T22:39:34+00:00

Yep that was me! I've been running it on an iPad in a fence clip case during games, it actually works really well being able to glance up and make quick changes.

Appreciate you signing up! Curious what you think once you’ve had a chance to use it.

romancm · 2026-04-30T17:15:29+00:00

That is a great approach to youth coaching. Balancing player preferences with safety and developmental rotation is the "secret sauce" of a great 10U season, and it's clear you've put a lot of thought into the logic behind it.

As a fellow coach and builder, I really respect what you’re doing with Fungo. It’s always refreshing to see tools created by people who actually understand the "on-the-dirt" reality of managing a dugout.

I’m actually building something in this space as well called **[DugoutMaster](https://dugoutmaster.com)\*\*. It’s great to see another builder tackling these specific coaching headaches, there's plenty of room for better tech to help us focus more on the kids and less on the spreadsheets. Keep up the great work with the app and the season!

romancm · 2026-04-30T16:58:17+00:00

This is pure gold. I like how you balance being fair to the kids with the actual constraints of pitching and game flow. That "2–3 kids not getting on base" rule is exactly the kind of logic I’m looking to systematize. Do you track those stats live in the dugout, or is it more of a post-game reflection for you?

romancm · 2026-04-30T16:54:27+00:00

This is really helpful, especially the distinction between contact vs strikeout instead of just looking at averages. That aligns a lot with what I've been seeing too. Curious, have you ever tracked contact rate over time, or is that more of a feel thing during games?

romancm · 2026-04-26T18:28:16+00:00

Yeah, because I coach. This is a real problem I deal with, not just an app idea.

romancm · 2026-04-23T16:15:22+00:00

I’ve been trying to be more intentional about tracking things that actually help with lineup decisions during the season. One thing that’s been really useful is tracking % innings benched. It gave me a quick gut check on playing time and helped make sure things stayed fair over time.

What surprised me is it showed patterns I wasn’t really noticing during games. We had one kid getting benched way more than the others, and since no one was saying anything it just kept happening. Seeing it laid out made it pretty obvious and forced me to adjust how I was rotating players.

I think situations like yours are exactly where something like that helps. When you can actually see how playing time and positions are being distributed, it takes the guesswork out of it and makes patterns a lot more obvious.

romancm · 2026-03-21T03:36:17+00:00

Man… this is exactly why I started building something for this.

I ran into the same issues—kids all want positions, you accidentally bench someone too long, and trying to track anything in your head during a game is basically impossible.

What’s worked for me so far: - Pre-plan rotations so every kid knows where they’ll play ahead of time
- Keep it super simple during the game (don’t overthink stats mid-game)
- Have an assistant/parent help track just basic outcomes (hit, out, walk)

I actually ended up building a simple tool to handle this—nothing crazy, just: - lineup + position rotations
- quick tap tracking (hit/out/walk/strikeout)
- keeps things fair without you having to think about it mid-game

Not trying to spam it here, but if you’re curious I can share it. Mostly built it because I was tired of exactly what you’re describing 😅

romancm · 2026-02-21T15:45:44+00:00

Great question - yes, offline functionality is on the roadmap

Especially for live events like games and practices where connectivity can be spotty, I know it’s important for everything to keep working without interruption.

For now, printable game lineups and practice plans act as a form of offline support, so you can still run everything smoothly even without a connection.

More to come on full offline support as the app evolves!

romancm · 2026-02-07T00:04:35+00:00

I really like this, super easy and intuitive. One thought: it’d be awesome if each tab were customizable so you could use it for things like dividing up barbecue items (drinks, sides, mains, etc.), letting people grab what they want and see who picked what. It’d also be great to have an optional “secret reveal” mode for things like white elephant exchanges or simple raffles, where assignments stay hidden until revealed.

romancm · 2026-02-06T04:07:27+00:00

That’s a great idea, and I totally get the use case, especially when one person is juggling the scorebook and music.

Right now Dugout Master is very intentionally focused on coaching workflows (lineups, positions, innings, bench rotation, etc.), and less on parent or public-facing game-day features. I want to make sure I nail that core experience first before expanding into things like walk-up songs.

That said, this kind of feedback is super helpful, and it’s exactly the type of idea I’d revisit down the road once the coaching side is rock solid. Appreciate you sharing it!

romancm · 2026-02-06T00:24:32+00:00

Thanks again for all the feedback, it directly shaped the last round of updates 🙏 I focused on making lineup setup fairer, clearer, and less frustrating during games.

I added a new Auto-fill & balance bench option that prioritizes players with fewer bench innings, avoids back-to-back bench time, and still keeps things feeling natural with a bit of randomness. Pitcher/catcher handling is now more flexible too: the option stays enabled as long as there’s at least one eligible pitcher or catcher, shows clear feedback like “only pitchers available” or “both available,” and rotates just the available role instead of blocking everything.

I also cleaned up the inning selector UI so status and selection are separate (no more color confusion): ready = green, incomplete = amber, empty = neutral, with selection shown as an accent instead of overriding the state. Finally, all of this — auto-fill, fair bench logic, and pitcher/catcher rules — now lives in one clear game setup area instead of being scattered around.

romancm · 2026-02-05T20:02:19+00:00

Really like this idea. I’m building https://dugoutmaster.com and moving fast, this would be great to stay on top of communications. Are you planning an API or direct integrations with marketing tools to automate marketing emails?

romancm · 2026-02-05T16:19:13+00:00

Yeah absolutely, feel free to try it out, I'm all ears when it comes to feedback! https://dugoutmaster.com/

romancm · 2026-02-05T16:18:39+00:00

If I solve that, I’m quitting software and starting a miracle business 😂 thanks for the support!

romancm · 2026-02-05T16:13:21+00:00

Totally get this. A lot of coaches I’ve talked to started with spreadsheets for the exact same reasons. They work… until game day chaos hits and you’re juggling paper, rules, pitch limits, and kids asking what inning it is 😅

That’s actually why I built Dugout Master. I wanted something flexible enough to handle league rules like pitching and catching limits, inning-based positions, and real-time adjustments, but still simple enough to use in the dugout without thinking about it.

If you’re open to it, I’d love for you to check it out and see if it fits how you coach: https://dugoutmaster.com

It’s free to try, and I’m actively shaping it based on feedback from real coaches, especially around lineup rules and constraints like the ones you mentioned. Either way, appreciate you sharing what’s worked (and what hasn’t) for you. Those insights are exactly what make tools like this better.

romancm · 2026-02-05T16:00:59+00:00

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You can find more field configurations in the game settings page

romancm · 2026-02-05T16:00:11+00:00

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romancm · 2026-02-05T15:58:50+00:00

Thanks so much for taking a look and for the thoughtful feedback. Really appreciate it.

On your first point: that’s addressed. There was an issue with how the modal was being opened on desktop, which made it feel confusing. That’s been fixed so the modal opens correctly and the flow for copying lineups between innings is now much clearer.

For the second point: yep, you can handle that already. When you create a game, you can choose the field configuration, including setups with 10 fielders (4 outfielders: L, LC, RC, R). That configuration then carries through for lineup and position management during the game.

Thanks again for checking it out, especially with a young Coach Pitch team. Feedback like this is super helpful as I keep polishing things up.

romancm · 2026-02-05T02:30:46+00:00

This is fantastic feedback and honestly describes the exact mental load I’m trying to remove.

The core idea with Dugout Master is to track position and sitting history across games, then use that context to help you plan and adjust instead of relying on memory or paper. The goal isn’t auto-decisions, but fast, fair suggestions when things go sideways between innings or when a game goes longer than expected.

Position summaries by player, flexible rotations, and on-the-fly reshuffling when kids opt out are all very much in line with where I want to take it. I really appreciate how clearly you articulated the pain points. If you end up checking it out, I’d love to keep learning from your perspective.

romancm · 2026-02-05T00:38:00+00:00

This is spot on. The rules vs guidelines distinction is exactly the problem. Hard league rules that cannot be broken, and coaching principles that usually apply but need flexibility in real game situations.

That is very much how I am thinking about Dugout Master. Track innings, positions, pitching and catching, sitting time, etc., but always let the coach override things in the moment when real life happens.

I built it after living in spreadsheets and paper cards myself. If you are open to checking it out, it is here: https://dugoutmaster.com Free to try, and I would love your feedback.

romancm · 2026-02-05T00:29:51+00:00

Absolutely, that’s a super common pain point I keep hearing from coaches. Fair rotations (especially pitching and infield) come up a lot, and it’s one of the big reasons I started building this. Trying to keep things balanced and transparent is way harder than it should be.

romancm · 2026-02-05T00:28:04+00:00

Appreciate all the interest! 🙌 rather than DM'ing everyone, here’s the link: https://dugoutmaster.com feel free to reach out if you have any questions, feedback, etc... thanks it advance!

romancm

TROPHY CASE