Sammy, it just slays me how anyone could not (A) see that kid in the discussion leaving the ground, it is obvious to me and others and (B) not see an obvious replant, meaning pushing off a second time.
I guess some misinformed people think a pitcher could run all the way to the plate as long as their hands have separated...lol
My DD's travel team once faced a big time leaper, similar to this. When the umpire was asked if he was going to call it, his reply was the classic "she's not gaining any advantage"! So our coach requested that our pitchers be allowed to just pitch from 35', since that's where this pitcher was pitching from! Point made, but didn't get any brownie points!!
Being a pitcher's dad and watching female pitchers for many years, it's not that hard to distinguish the legal from the illegal. Watching a few years of college games, you see it in a heartbeat. It's like playing a drum - a drummer can easily distinguish a single stroke roll from a double stroke roll - but to most people any drum roll sounds like all the rest; a buzz.
I think a lot of the problems we see in Ohio is the subtle intermingling of teaching men's pitching mechanics with women's. They are quite different, and the rules reflect those differences. Unfortunately a lot of girls are being taught illegal mechanics from day one. The pitching style in these videos are classic men's style fastpitch mechanics. Female pitching mechanics will more resemble teaching of good hitting/throwing mechanics; landing on a flexed front knee and "getting the backside through" for instance.
