D3 pitching speed

[Micohiba]

From your Bethel post I assume we’re in the same area. I’m glad your DD landed at a school that’s such a good fit!

From your Bethel post I assume we’re in the same area. I’m glad your DD landed at a school that’s such a good fit!

DD is in Northfield. I'm in sunny Florida. It's hard being so far away, but worth it for her school and the program.

 

[BucketDud]

Does the coach want you? You will be competing against a lot of girls for a spot on the field. On a lot of teams 11-12 girls get most of the playing time. Few teams give more than 15 girls significant playing time after the early season tournaments. If coach really likes you and wants you, it gives you a head start on the other 5-12 girls that come in with her. After that, she must produce but you can't produce if you don't get the opportunity.

I think this is a really good point about the recruitment process in all sports. Have seen so many athletes who commit to the biggest (or most prominent) school they get an offer from. In most cases that is also the school where your talent is below average. So your odds of getting significant playing time is less.

My advice to high schoolers in that process is find the best school where you believe you'll be a key part of the team's success.

I think that could be slightly different in a sport where you are preparing for a lucrative pro career after college. But right now that isn't a big focus of college softball players.

 

[BucketDud]

The girls I referenced were both from the same organization. They used to have National teams that produced P5 players, but they've fallen off in recent years to more of a regional team type of organization. Their recent D1 recruits are all in the CAA and Patriot League. The last P5 player they produced is a senior at Mizzou.

Is that Laird? Was thinking she was from up your way.

 

[Reaperjet]

Is that Laird? Was thinking she was from up your way.

Same BUT.... She was recruited to Hofstra and only went Mizz when the coach went..

Kind of a Lotto ticket

TLI did not get her to Mizz by any special means.

 

[Hillhouse]

I think this is an interesting topic. But, I'd be remiss if I didn't say this: pitchers aren't picked for various levels of play based off speed. Is it a factor? Yes, to a degree. But, kids pick the schools they attend for a variety of reasons. Long ago, 15-20 years I had a pitcher from Ohio that even to this day I say was the greatest pitching talent I'd seen in girls softball. She had D1 offers from a lot of schools but she choose to go to a D3 school because that's where her boyfriend was going to play football. Another girl from Arkansas I worked with picked a D2 school close to home because her family situation sort of required her to be home. She eventually went to Kentucky after 2 years and the family stuff settled.

Unlike TB where there are levels of play, there's nothing stopping the best pitcher in the country from picking a D3 or NAIA school over Oklahoma, for example. Sometimes there's just a variety of reasons kids pick the schools that they do, and in many cases it's not even a decision about softball. While D3 schools cannot give athletics scholarships, between academic money and NIL now, it's becoming more common that girls at D3 can also get "full rides".

Earlier in this thread someone was talking about 60mph being common these days, where it used to be the number pitchers would strive for. 70mph is the new 60. I believe this is a direct result of the new pitching rules from 2019, allowing 1 foot on the rubber. That one rule change alone has allowed pitchers to increase their velocity dramatically. There used to be social media posts everywhere about this girl throwing 60, as she holds the pocket radar for the camera. That number will change to 70 soon and that will be the holy grail. And when the latest pitching rule changes take full effect and girls figure out how to use the new rule (or lack of rules) to their advantage, 75 will be the new 70. Might take a few years but it's coming.

 

[marriard]

Does anyone know the pitching velocity required to be considered for a high academic division 3 school?

Depends on the school and conference.
I have seen everything from 50mph to mid-high 60's

For example - NESCAC/NEWMAC most teams (but not all) have one or two pitchers in the 60's or a high 50' pitcher who spins it good and hits spots. The top half of both these conferences would compete well in mid-high D2 conferences.

Some other conferences, they don't care as much about sports, and it can be rough.

And the answer is kind of yes - for the top conferences and schools they are generally pitchers from national named teams - not the 'top' team in the org, but certainly one of the better ones.

DD is at one of these schools and most of the starters played for teams like Firecrackers, Athletics, Glory, Bombers, etc or at least a strong regional team. Many of them have chosen the D3 school for academics first - most had D1 offers to Ivy schools or similar. Conference play is tough... local out of conference play not involving these conferences is pretty easy.

At the bottom D3 conferences and teams, they are mostly local travel players.

Overall - the answer is that you need to know what academic school your DD is looking at and how seriously they take their softball and sports overall. Don't lump a division together in any way.

 

[marriard]

I'm curious what be avg cruising speed for NAIA? From what has been said so far, I'm guessing upper 50s?

No different than D3 and D2,,, and very dependent where you are.

If you want to be competitive in NAIA in Florida you better be pretty good - that high 50's with spin, low-mid 60's hitting spots. There is no D3 in Florida and there is a bucket load of scholarship money in NAIA (more than D2) so a lot of very, very good players end up in NAIA schools that are very strong.
There are also NAIA schools in Florida that are just terrible as well.

Again, school, conference, coach and seriousness of sports @ that school are different every college you look at.

 

[BucketDud]

Same BUT.... She was recruited to Hofstra and only went Mizz when the coach went..

Kind of a Lotto ticket

TLI did not get her to Mizz by any special means.

You're right about that, but clearly she was good enough to play about anywhere given was Freshman of the Year in SEC

We have a friend who is also a Senior at Mizzou so have watched her pretty closely.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

You're right about that, but clearly she was good enough to play about anywhere given was Freshman of the Year in SEC

We have a friend who is also a Senior at Mizzou so have watched her pretty closely.

Yes, she was originally committed to Hofstra, but that's because she didn't want to go away to school. She grew up within sight of Hofstra, so it was a natural fit for her. Larissa convinced her to go away when she got the job at Mizzou. Also, Gallagher played for TLI in her younger days, too.

A few others have gone on to P5 schools. Cornell took a similar path to Laird but transferred to Alabama after her sophomore year.

 

[BillyB]

I think this is an interesting topic. But, I'd be remiss if I didn't say this: pitchers aren't picked for various levels of play based off speed. Is it a factor? Yes, to a degree. But, kids pick the schools they attend for a variety of reasons. Long ago, 15-20 years I had a pitcher from Ohio that even to this day I say was the greatest pitching talent I'd seen in girls softball. She had D1 offers from a lot of schools but she choose to go to a D3 school because that's where her boyfriend was going to play football. Another girl from Arkansas I worked with picked a D2 school close to home because her family situation sort of required her to be home. She eventually went to Kentucky after 2 years and the family stuff settled.

Unlike TB where there are levels of play, there's nothing stopping the best pitcher in the country from picking a D3 or NAIA school over Oklahoma, for example. Sometimes there's just a variety of reasons kids pick the schools that they do, and in many cases it's not even a decision about softball. While D3 schools cannot give athletics scholarships, between academic money and NIL now, it's becoming more common that girls at D3 can also get "full rides".

Earlier in this thread someone was talking about 60mph being common these days, where it used to be the number pitchers would strive for. 70mph is the new 60. I believe this is a direct result of the new pitching rules from 2019, allowing 1 foot on the rubber. That one rule change alone has allowed pitchers to increase their velocity dramatically. There used to be social media posts everywhere about this girl throwing 60, as she holds the pocket radar for the camera. That number will change to 70 soon and that will be the holy grail. And when the latest pitching rule changes take full effect and girls figure out how to use the new rule (or lack of rules) to their advantage, 75 will be the new 70. Might take a few years but it's coming.

I think your comment about top pitchers choosing d2 or d3 also has a lot to do with the sheer amount of pressure and cut throwated-ness of todays game at D1. Game pressure is one thing, being all or nothing at D1 is another for some of these players.