Dallas Escobedo

[drc9805]

I'm sure this has been brought up in the past but is Dallas really throwing a riseball? I just don't see how it can be with the position of her body and by the way her follow through is. I understand the pitch ends up high in the zone but I can't help but think it's just a high fastball.

 

[CoachFP]

It's a bullet spin ball that is high. She was a thrower, not a pitcher.

 

[JJsqueeze]

I'm sure this has been brought up in the past but is Dallas really throwing a riseball? I just don't see how it can be with the position of her body and by the way her follow through is. I understand the pitch ends up high in the zone but I can't help but think it's just a high fastball.

The best judge of whether or not it is a riseball is the results. She played in the PAC-10 against some of the best hitting teams in college. They all knew she was going to throw the rise and she struck out over 300 batters. I guarantee they can lay off of a high fastball.

if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and strikes out a duck....then it is a riseball.

 

[JJsqueeze]

It's a bullet spin ball that is high. She was a thrower, not a pitcher.

That is a big discounting of a great college pitcher. She also had a good curve. You DO NOT get the results she got by being a thrower. Great pitcher, great career and I hope to see her do well in the pros.

 

[Ajaywill]

When Dallas first got to ASU, she was mostly a thrower....

I have been watching her pitch since she was about 14, all through HS and travel ball, and she relied on her speed and power to get hitters out. She was usually successful at those levels. Once she got to ASU, she needed to learn how to pitch. A buddy of mine who watched her during fall ball in her freshman year noticed her work on movemnet pitches, but also noticed that when she got in trouble, she reverted back to "I'm going to throw it as hard as I can". This mostly worked against a fall ball schedule and part of the non-conference schedule ASU played, but it wasn't going to work against PAC 12 hitters.

Lots of credit to Chuck D'Arcy for teaching her to be a pitcher and not just a thrower.

 

[drc9805]

I would like to see a slow motion video of her throwing it because I still can't imagine it being a true rise.

 

[Sweet Lou]

Just an idea talking to an old men's pitcher. He said she could be throwing the cupped rise, which gets the spin from hand being palm down.

Forgive my ignorance but how does one get riseball spin with palm down?

Do you happen to have a picture of the cupped grip by any chance?

 

[SoAZDad]

Forgive my ignorance but how does one get riseball spin with palm down?

Do you happen to have a picture of the cupped grip by any chance?

My guess is an old school "rise where palm is down and fingers flick up on release to produce backspin. Just a guess. I vaguely recall my dad talking about it in the 60's.

 

[sluggers]

What SoAZDad said.. It doesn't have a huge break, but her pitching motion for the riseball and fastball as well as the release point are almost identical.

 

[MandM]

When Dallas first got to ASU, she was mostly a thrower....

Once she got to ASU, she needed to learn how to pitch. A buddy of mine who watched her during fall ball in her freshman year noticed her work on movemnet pitches, but also noticed that when she got in trouble, she reverted back to "I'm going to throw it as hard as I can". This mostly worked against a fall ball schedule and part of the non-conference schedule ASU played, but it wasn't going to work against PAC 12 hitters.

Well it certainly worked against Florida a couple of months later in the WCWS - which, as I am sure you know, she won as a freshman. She was in the top 10 this year in consideration for national softball POY honors as well. just sayin'