The Kelly Barnhill Thread

[BB875]

Moving the rubber back to 46' would only promote more HRs IMHO. Whatever happened to the exciting 1-0 small ball games that made fastpitch so fast and fun to watch? When we went to 43', that's when...Just enforce the rules the way they are written.

 

[MattM]

Players that are the most flagrant (KB) are replanting the entire bottom of their shoe or their cleats on the ground allowing force to be transferred up from the ground. In other less flagrant cases just the bottom of very front portion of their shoe (Cat) is replanting but you can see that some portion of the bottom of front toes are touching the ground. When you look at pitchers with a "legal" drag the entire bottom of the shoe and cleats are in the air and only the edge of the shoe drags which eliminate the ability to get much or any push back from the ground. Seems like a possible solution is to create a rule to this effect only allowing the edge of the shoe to drag once detached from the rubber making it more clear for the umpire to make a call.

 

[Rocketech1]

BTW - Starting with the back foot off the rubber was removed by the NFHS a while ago. It was originally there to dumb things down so anyone could pitch. I guess even the NFHS wants to move the game forward.

Care to cite some authority from the NFHS rule book that you must have both feet on the pitching plate and cannot step back before the pitch?

 

[nanotech14]

Care to cite some authority from the NFHS rule book that you must have both feet on the pitching plate and cannot step back before the pitch?

Care to read each states rules on that? This is the last year in my state that you can step back. New rule for 2018 both feet must be in contact with the pitching plate.

 

[Rocketech1]

High School softball NFHS rule book clearly states that a) before the pitch you Do Not have to have the non-pivot in contact with the pitching plate and b) you can take a step back with the non-pivot foot prior to the hands coming together (i.e. a step back):

To summarize:

Rule 6-1-1: states that pitcher shall take a position with the pivot foot on or partially on the top of the surface of the pitcher's plate and the non-pivot foot in contact with or behind the pitcher's plate

Rule 6-1-2b: states that once the hands are brought together and are in motion, the pitcher shall not take more than one step which must be forward, toward the batter and simultaneous with the delivery. Any step backward shall begin before the hands come together. The step backward may end before or after the hands come together

 

[spike]

Barnhill is on national TV today, her right foot comes 3 inches off the ground on every pitch. How do umpires not call this??

 

[cweb]

One of the top 3 most dominant pitchers in the world! That should get this thread some new life..

 

[knightsb]

 

[javasource]

Holy smokes... I made it through about 18 pages on this thread...

Just watched Barnhill destroy Auburn.

I'll let all you guys argue over the crowhop she undoubtedly uses... I'm opposed to anything outside the rules that define the structure of the game that is being played. However... that's just an opinion.

What is not an opinion... after watching Barnhill:

She spins a beautiful ball at times. I would really like to see some good slowmotion of her throwing from behind the plate.
Her location has improved incredibly in one season.
She appears to throw two speeds of rise: a bullet up and out of the zone that is her 'smoking gun'.... and a slightly offspeed Level 1-2 rise that MUST be pure backspin... as you can watch that ball lift (not jump).
Her spin rates on her level 1-2 rise must be approaching 35-40 rps. Even the at the knee rise flattens... and allows her to work three different "lifts"... as a sequence against a batter. Incredible.
She AVERAGES 14k's per game. Cat Osterman was the last person to ever do that...
Jen Rocha is an absolute master at calling these pitches. IMO, she is the real gem on that staff... deserves a lot more attention than she gets...

Her name (Kelly) IS this thread... and I hope (despite the illegal pitch she is throwing) that we can all recognize the accomplishments she is making this year with that rise and location. and the true inspiration she could/should be to up and coming pitchers. You don't need to crowhop to throw locations like that... and you definitely don't need to crowhop to spin like that...

... but we can show our young athletes what a rise ball looks like... and why spinning to a location is infinitely more effective than simply throwing to one.

I guess that's my attempt at a "glass half full" mentality when watching this young lady...

Carry on.

 

[riseball]

Just have to wonder how well she would do if she were held to the rules and forced to pitch legally? Would anyone be talking about her, or would she be just another pitcher? Conversely how well would others do if they had the same free pass she has enjoyed for years. Kind of reminds me of the MLB where some excelled within the rules while others worked almost exclusively outside the rules. While I certainly admire her physical abilities to throw hard and spin the ball, unfortunately her actual accomplishments are suspect at best.