I get to watch high level JUCO ball and normally everyone throws 62 plus. What do the lower level JUCO pitchers average as far as speed? Saw one girl throw 55 tops and give the top 5 school fits. 1-0 and scored in the last inning. Next girl threw 58 and gave up 14 in the 1st.
JUCO speed
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- Nov 18, 2013
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Everyone throws 62+ in high level JUCO? Damn, that’s better than the P5 conferences. We play some of the top D2 JUCO schools every fall and the speeds I see our mid to high 50’s. Seems every years we do see a pitcher with some movement and great control that can get through the lineup a couple times.
I should have said I only really watch two teams. Only saw one teams ace and 62 plus. The other team I see fairly often and ace 65, number 2 was 62-63, number 3 61-62. They beat FSU in the fall last year. Riseball knows them well. Chipola College, Krystal Goodman, just read an article that said she hit 70 on the gun and normally 66-68. I know their staff isn't normal but not sure what normal is to be honest.
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- Jun 19, 2013
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Well in OR I know of a pitcher who graduated last June and pitched this past weekend in her first fall ball game for a local JUCO. I guarantee that she only threw 52-54 in HS - not sure if she will end up being a starter for them or if this was just a tryout.
When you have two pitchers within 3 years bringing 70's heat and earn NJCAA Pitcher of the year honors, then go on to throw in the SEC it makes getting top talent that much easier. Chipola is not typical and certainly not for everyone, but for those who are a fit it is an amazing opportunity.
JUCO are a lot like D3 schools. There are some very good teams, and there are a bunch of really bad teams.
There are 4 JUCO divisions of note...D1, D2 and D3 in the NJCAA, and then there is the California Community College Athletic Association Softball League.
The top JUCO D1 schools and the top California Juco teams are very good. The top teams would have kids throwing in the 60s Riseball's DD was exceptional...I don't think you would find many kids in NCAA D1 or Juco throwing that fast.
There are some really bad JUCO teams out there, so their pitchers are likely not very good.
There are 4 JUCO divisions of note...D1, D2 and D3 in the NJCAA, and then there is the California Community College Athletic Association Softball League.
The top JUCO D1 schools and the top California Juco teams are very good. The top teams would have kids throwing in the 60s Riseball's DD was exceptional...I don't think you would find many kids in NCAA D1 or Juco throwing that fast.
There are some really bad JUCO teams out there, so their pitchers are likely not very good.
JUCO has probably the widest variance in competition level within their divisions - people forget there is 3 Divisions of JUCO, plus there is a California JUCO level and then there is some other less well known divisons (there is a catholic softball college division up in the NE for examples)
In Florida JUCO has some extremely high level teams for a number of reasons including that there really isn't enough D1 schools in the state to satisfy the amount of talent that want to stay close to home, because they have basically full scholarships to offer to the entire team and because Florida has a 2+2 law which says if you graduate from one of these schools on time you WILL get a spot academically at one of the 4-year state schools to finish your 4-year degree. "State School" JUCOs are a great deal in Florida. At least 5 schools in Florida ranked in the top 25 for D1 NJCAA
So yeah - teams like Chipola, Florida Southwestern, Indian River and so on have girls who pitch at a really, really high level.
On the flip side I have also saw several teams where the pitchers don't break 45 mph and you would really struggle to see how the team would beat a 14U rec team. There are teams in JUCO D1 who have TEAM ERA's over 10.00 and at least a couple over 15. I shudder to think what bad D3 JUCO softball looks like. Not all teams report stats, but I see one in WI with an ERA just under 30... Yes 30.....
That's hard to even wrap your head around! I get that talent is going to vary but to imagine kids still putting in the work to play while attending college and having those results is crazy.
Well that is somewhat the point. The school and team is not really all that interested in putting in the work and so on to be good. One local JUCO only practices once or twice a week for a couple of hours in season, there is no off-season softball or workouts, they use a crappy city field for their games and practices and their 'coach' is listed as the AD and the head coach of all the woman's sports they offer. They start one girl from our local high school who NEVER started for high school and was basically a courtesy runner for 4 years. She is there because they offered to pay for her first two years of college and she gets to live at home. In exchange she has to put up with going 8-70 or something like it. It isn't a bad deal overall - just not good softball.
