Model Pitchers: mixing speeds

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May 30, 2013
1,442
83
Binghamton, NY
Last night I watched a replay of Georgia vs. Minnesota from 03/06.
Great game, and awesome pitcher's duel between Wilkinson (GA) and Groenewegen (MN).

What really impressed me was Wilkinson's array of speeds she threw her pitches.
She ranged from 51-52 all the way up to 67-68, and literally, everything in between.

What I typically see from most premier pitchers (like Groenewegen) are a good top-end, and off-speed,
that differ by 10mph or so, but can't recall many that live anywhere in between those extremes like Wilkinson does.

So, I ask, who are some other names to look for in D1, that really mix speed like Wilkinson?
I really enjoyed watching her pitch, both for speed and location,
and would certainly like to follow a few others who are similar.

Thanks.
 
Jul 17, 2012
1,091
38
Funny you post this. I was just watching the Auburn-Florida game on Monday, and took particular notice of how well both starting pitchers Delaney Gourley(Fla) and Kaylee Carlson(Aub) changed speeds. Change ups in the upper 40's and power pitches in the mid 60's. Then throw in some off speed in the mid to upper 50's.
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
I have always told my DD that she needs to strive to be like Greg Maddux. She does not need to throw 70 MPH, but she needs to be able to throw any pitch on any count and keep the batters off balance by changing speed and hitting her spots.
 

JAD

Feb 20, 2012
8,231
38
Georgia
I was watching the Auburn vs. Florida game that other night and Kelly Barnhill was pitching. The announcers mentioned that she did not have a change up and that was hurting her ability to change speeds. She never developed a change up because a 70 MPH pitch blew away most TB and HS batters, but a 70 MPH fastball in the SEC - not so much!
 
May 30, 2013
1,442
83
Binghamton, NY
She never developed a change up because a 70 MPH pitch blew away most TB and HS batters, but a 70 MPH fastball in the SEC - not so much!

I am so weary of the common coaching credo "if they can't handle your heat, never throw the change."
for precisely this reason - there's always better competition out there that you won't always be able to overpower with velocity alone.

I firmly believe that a good change up can be thrown to hitters who are late on your heat;
it just needs to be placed properly.

Best thing about a good change up, is it makes your heat seem all the faster!

I watched the later innings of a CWS game last year between Auburn and UCLA.
Carda was in the circle for UCLA, and she was using the change-up liberally.
I haven't been following college softball for very long, but I had never seen anything like it!
My DD and I were just so interested in the pitch-calling, and also how Auburn batters seemed to be coached to NOT swing at a change up.
They watched MANY backwards K's on Carda change-ups during the game.
In the end, Auburn ended up winning that game, and it was really exciting to watch.
I found out later that the true reason Carda was relying so heavily on her change was that she had pitched a LOT of innings over the day and previous days of the tournament,
and she was basically "out of gas". We were a little disappointed to find this out, as we had initially thought we stumbled across a pitcher that just owned batters with her change up;
and we found that to be very cool indeed...
 
Last edited:
May 30, 2013
1,442
83
Binghamton, NY
Funny you post this. I was just watching the Auburn-Florida game on Monday, and took particular notice of how well both starting pitchers Delaney Gourley(Fla) and Kaylee Carlson(Aub) changed speeds. Change ups in the upper 40's and power pitches in the mid 60's. Then throw in some off speed in the mid to upper 50's.

Thanks!

I will see if I can call-up this game on "replay" also.
 
Feb 17, 2014
551
28
I think Florida St. had a pitcher 2 years ago that lived by the change up. I don't remember her name, but she was a student of that pitching coach in Virginia that I think the pretty popular on the East coast. Can't remember her name either. :)
 
May 30, 2013
1,442
83
Binghamton, NY
I have always told my DD that she needs to strive to be like Greg Maddux. She does not need to throw 70 MPH, but she needs to be able to throw any pitch on any count and keep the batters off balance by changing speed and hitting her spots.

maybe it's because she plays for Georgia,
but Maddux is exactly who I recalled when watching Wilkinson pitch.

Pinpoint control, and a wide array of speeds.
 
Oct 19, 2009
1,827
0
Wife and I ate at a Chinese restaurant this past weekend and they had the South Carolina and Kentucky softball game on without sound. The South Carolina pitcher according to the screen radar was between 72, 66 and 31, :eek: I saw more than one pitch register 31, most were in the 66 range and a few in the 70's with 72 being the highest I saw and the 31 really caught my eye. I know the TV screen radar is not always accurate, but that is a big difference.
 

Ken Krause

Administrator
Admin
May 7, 2008
3,911
113
Mundelein, IL
Hard to believe this goes back almost 10 years but I remember watching Taryne Mowatt take Arizona to a WCWS title in 2007 using her change liberally. She really had the Tennessee batters baffled. In fact, I kept wondering why they didn't just sit on the change because she was throwing at least one per hitter, and the announcers finally started wondering that too.
 

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