Special Rules For League with Beginning Pitchers

Question
Hello Larry,

my name is Ken McLemore and I'm a little league softball coach (Coach pitch).   This year we're trying to give some of our young girls (7,8,9 year olds) a chance to pitch, hoping this would better prepare them as they move up.   
This pitching experiment is new to us (for girls of this age), coaches will be do the majority of the pitching but we're trying to work the girls in somehow (e.g. pitch to one batter per inning).

We're looking for some rules we can use to encourage these new pitchers (and not penalize the batters), I was hoping you might have some suggestions, or could point me to someone that might.   At this early age we very much trying to be keep the game fun for the girls (we don't want to lose them) so any tips you can provide would be appreciated.

Oh, the first half of our season is "grapefruit" so the rules could be a little more relaxed, then when we move into the regular season we could keep the rules "as is", or make whatever modifications seem appropriate.  Keep in mind that the majority of pitching will be done by the coaches (or machines), the girls would pitch occasionally to give them (and the batter) experience with live pitching.


Thanks, Ken

Answer
I think you have a good idea. The rule should be simple and fair to each batter and pitcher, perhaps 1 or 2 pitches per batter by the player then the rest by the coach.

It would also be a great to sponsor a couple of pitching clinics during the season, have all the girls attend, pitchers will surface.