Pitching and Pitchers Discussion Thoughts on Legal Pitching

[default]

Older dd 14 has subed this year in asa, and usssa tournaments.
Younger dd 12 plays 14b rec. - older dd on roster if they ever got short handed.

Played end of year tournament 14b rec. Both dd's playing only have 9.

We make it to the championship game, ?face a team that brings in a girl that my older dd says is the fastest throwing girl she has faced this year. ?I would say high 50's , maybe 60.

I was coaching first.

When she threw her back foot pushed off the rubber, her toe was 1 1/2 to 2 inches off the ground and she traveled at least a foot towards home before her back foot touched dirt, or the release of the ball. ?Is that an illegal pitch?

I said something to the head coach and he told the ump, there was only one. He said he could not see it so ,no call was made. The head coach also told the tournament director who was watching and he did not make any judgement on the pitch.

First let me say the pitcher was good and even if she drug her toe, most of the rec girls on our team could not hit it. I dont think this pitcher should be playing at this level, but I chalk it up to a good experience for the girls to face a top notch pitcher.

We did not say anything to the girl pitching or the opposing coach. We dont need to go there to win a game. Just thought she was fast enough with out the extra leap and speed advantage.


My question is does this get called very often? ? Should anything be said to the opposing coach?

Maybe Bretman or select coach's can say what would be the right way to handle this.



Thanks
Straightleg

 

[default]

I think you handled right. If the ump won't call it, there's nothing you can do.

 

[default]

An illegal pitch for the reasons of crow hopping or replanting is seldom called in my experience. In the 7 or 8 years I have coached travel, rec and school ball I have seen it called maybe 4 times out of the hundreds of games I been involved with and some pitchers were so obviously replanting or crow hopping it was amazing they never got called on it. I thought Mowatt of Arizona was striding outside the 24" pitchers plate often during the WCWS but was never called. As long as the rules are not enforced some pitchers will use the non call to their advantage.

 

[default]

I think all softball associations should take the illegal pitch section out of their rule books. The ump's never call it even if it is so obvious, plus it isn't fair to the girl's to all of a sudden to start calling the illegal pitch. Some of these girl's have pitched this way for years and it has never been called. Arizona's pitcher had it called once, she laughed and continud to pitch the same way the rest of the game. My dd played with straightlegs dd's and didn't complain very much, i think straightleg and the head coach handled it the right way.

 

[default]

straightleg,

When you only have one umpire working the game, the only thing on the illegal pitch that he can see is if she is "out of the lane" (the 24&quot. He can't possibly see the leap or hop and watch the pitch. He is also not going to see 1st and third base runners leaving early and possibly the plays at 2nd and 3rd base on a steal. He/she is just one person with one set of eyes.

It is just one of those things that happens when you have only one umpire.

Now, the real question is: "Why is this girl pitching in a rec league?" Is the coach that hard up to win a championship?

 

[default]

wvanalmsick

I wanted to ask the coach how many games she pitched for them this year at 14b rec league.

I know the answer - she is on the roster


Our girls face 35 - 45 mph. during the season. Some times 50 when you have an A team playing down.


The outcome of the game was determined in the first inning.



Straightleg

 

[default]

They won't call it, even with two umpires. It seems to me that the illegal pitches are perfectly legal anymore. I think that if all the softball associations crack down on it for one full year the problem would be fixed. The reason being is that once the girls are called, they either have to fix it or not pitch. My dd was call on crow hopping a few years ago (the only girl I've seen called). I had no problem with her being called, I just wish I would have known beforehand that she was pitching illegal. Her new pitching coach has worked wonders in fixing it. But ultimately our daughters are the one's that have to put in the hard work and extra practice to pitch correctly. ?She corrected it because the coach wouldn't put her in until it was fixed. I guess in a way, she is a much better pitcher because of it.
An illegal pitch should be no different than an illegal bat or any other form of cheating to get an advantage. Crow hopping and leaping are like pitching from 35-37 feet instead of 40.


Maybe all the umpires have daughters that pitch illegal.