Nobody said she couldn't hit. What if she gets injured base running? Is it easier to replace her hitting or pitching?
If your job was in the line what's in your best interest.
Again, Coach Allister has her hit. Philosophy...
Nobody said she couldn't hit. What if she gets injured base running? Is it easier to replace her hitting or pitching?
If your job was in the line what's in your best interest.
oh my - I had no idea that hitting and running the bases were so dangerous.
Nobody said she couldn't hit. What if she gets injured base running? Is it easier to replace her hitting or pitching?
If your job was in the line what's in your best interest.
At the D-II level, I saw a lot of pitchers who also played another position and hit. I know on my dd's them, they had a couple early on. As an FYI, when some of the staff was struggling BB went to coach and told him she could pitch and do really well. He responded that out of the 18 girls on the team, BB was 19th on the pitching chart. LOL
If my job was on the line, I would recruit the best players, and if that means finding a great pitcher who is also a great hitter, I'd sign her up in a heartbeat. Patty Gasso and Tim Walton (among MANY others) seem to understand this. Apparently a few less successful coaches have a different philosophy, which is why they lose out on some of the best recruits, resulting in LESS job security. Any coach who has an absolute rigid philosophy that pitchers don't hit is an idiot loser. Period. End of story.
That is what we are hoping for!
We lived in Sioux Falls, SD and went to many Augustana softball games. Augustana (Augie) is a D2 powerhouse with numerous WCWS appearances. Anyway, for 4 years we watched Jenelle Trautmann (she graduated two years ago). 4 time All-American. Ace pitcher with one of the best earned run averages in the country, and she finished her career #2 on the all time homerun list for D2. Look up her stats. Incredible pitcher. Even better hitter. Laughable and moronic to think that some coaches would have demanded that she give up hitting. Positively insane, actually.
Now if you have a generational once in a lifetime talent then you could argue that. Those a rare.
You are quoting outliers. Surely you understand that there are very few starting pitchers available. By exposing them to hitting and playing other positions you are exposing them to unessacary risk of injury?
I would consider a coach negligent if they had their number one pitcher injured by running the bases.
Now if you have a generational once in a lifetime talent then you could argue that. Those a rare.
It's simply a risk based judgement on the business you are running. If you think that's "insane" then there is no starting point for a discussion.