This is a catch 22 if there ever was one.

First off you have to keep the kids interested, which is really hard to do these days.

Plus you gotta keep kids coming out. Just because a kid doesnt make the all star team when he is 9 years old doesn't mean he potentially couldn't go on to be all state when he gets in high school.

Then you got the scenario of kids being overworked on the mound, which little league finally put in a rule on pitch count this year (86). Not to mention the IDIOT coaches who have kids throwing curve balls in little league. You might as well send your little leaguer across the middle against Brian Urlacher. STUPID STUPID STUPID. In the big picture it doesnt matter if your team goes undefeated if your pitcher won't be able to pick up a baseball by the time he 14.

but to get back to your question, there is no answer it depends on the kids and the league. If the kids are having fun and there is no risk of a young pitcher (or catcher) getting injuried from being overworked there is no set number of games that you should or should not play. That being said, as a kid begins to mature they should play in more and more games each year, something that really hurts highschool kids in the VH$L. We get in 26 games if you make it to the state tournament. Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, etc gets in atleast 35 before there conference tournament even begins. And I think this hurts kids the most trying to make the transition from highschool ball to college ball/pros in Va.

As far as pitching machines are concerned there great. We used them at Kelly (one for fastballs and one for breaking stuff) and we used them when I was playing college ball.

I see nothing wrong at all in having a few intersquads a month where all you see is the machine. This saves pitchers arms, you can play a 7 inning game in about an hour, and you can work on every aspect of the game (besides stealing).

In all honestly I have never hit off of a pitching machine that threw it the exact same spot every time, it really depends on the ball you stick in there. But as long as you are getting some cuts in, and surrounding yourself in a game-like atmosphere I think it can do nothing but help.