Illegal pitch calling this year

[mad hornet]

That's great. With all the focus on the pitcher's feet they won't mind our runners leaving early!

 

[RubberBiscuit]

I was watching the ESPN replay of the Maryland-Wisconsin game and the Wisconsin pitcher in that game seemed to me to replant-before-delivery,.... "big-time". I didn't pick up any mention by the educated announcers nor did I see in the replay any umpire conferencing that might of suggested this was even being noticed.

My head starts to think "is this another example of a pre-season game where umpires just look-away therefore clouding up the whole scenario around IP's?" <or> is it that even myself I am too caught up in the IP rules confusion and this Wisconsin pitcher IS in fact pitching legally to the rules.....?

(this topic is sooo exhausting to me that I almost did not write this thread.....)

 

[Amy in AZ.]

RubberBiscuit, Don't you wonder why a major D1 would recruit a girl that is crow hopping? I wonder if she crow hopped at 40 ft.?
I had a picture of a local star in HS and she was crow hopping at least 6 inches of off the rubber. It came back to bite her during the college world series. So, she had crow hopped all of her career, if you can believe the men that coached against her.

 

[MTR]

RubberBiscuit, Don't you wonder why a major D1 would recruit a girl that is crow hopping? I wonder if she crow hopped at 40 ft.?
I had a picture of a local star in HS and she was crow hopping at least 6 inches of off the rubber. It came back to bite her during the college world series. So, she had crow hopped all of her career, if you can believe the men that coached against her.

My question would be of the college coaches. If they don't know their recruit is crow hopping, they probably shouldn't be college coaches. If they did and make know effort to correct the situation, yet defends the pitcher all the way to the end, what does that say to their character? To me, a scofflaw-type of attitude toward the rules gives me the impression the individual has a disdain for those who love and play the game.

 

[Momo'sDad]

Had an illegal pitch called against one of our opposing teams Saturday. I did not know what to do with myself. I had almost given up on this rule. I used to bring it up all the time in games and all we ever got was a warning and nothing was done. The pitcher would change for a few pitches and then go right back to the bad habit for the rest of the game. I am personally glad to see it called in 10U. Then again...I coach my players to not be illegal in order to facilitate good habits now rather than excuse them as youthful mistakes that may go away with time.

Don't be that coach. I'm not in your shoes, but I cannot imagine that seeing an IP called on the opposing 10u team would excite me at all.

I heard the report of an 8u game this past fall where a coach - like yourself - brought it to the umpire's attention and the IP was called. In 8u.

I was then watching a 10u fall tournament game where a couple of coaches were badgering the umpire for the call. The aggressive behavior of these 2 adult women towards the girls on the field (including their own team) was entirely inappropriate for a 10u game. I couldn't tell exactly what the pitcher was doing wrong, but up until that point, the team with the whining coaches had been hitting her pretty well and had the lead. The umpire eventually gave in, called an IP, and a run did score. The coach did not complain, but the parents on the offending side were audibly upset and all the coaches from other teams where I was standing disagreed as well.

If they hadn't disrupted the game with trying to rattle a 9yo girl, their team probably would've gone on to win the game. But what ended up happening is that the team that was down ended up using that for motivation and came back to win the game in pretty dramatic fashion as they went to an extra inning to decide it. Instant karma is awesome.

One of the more common 'illegalities' at 8u/10u involves 1 of the feet losing contact with the rubber. I just can't be concerned with that unless the pitcher takes a step forward before initiating the pitch. The 6-9" doesn't give the pitcher much of an advantage, but fact that they appear to be walking towards the batter does play a bit of a trick on the mind. If the footwork is within reason, though - meaning that the pitch is initiated from 35' - what the pitcher does with her hands is of no consequence.

I coach my 10u players to hit whatever your pitchers are throwing, because hitting is far more important than my looking for a 'gotcha!' from the opposing team's pitcher. That's in my system, though, and every other coach has to do what works for them. Little things do win or lose ballgames, I agree, but there's a difference between paying attention to detail and being petty.

This is 10u, though. I expect stricter enforcement in 12u, because what we're talking about is a progression. Anyone who expects 9-10yo girls to know every single rule in softball because 'it's the right way' or whatever is really missing out, I believe, or worse, has a really odd agenda.

 

[mike s]

Comp

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Question for the panel regarding my own DD
Starts with both feet in contact with PP as the stride foot comes forward she actually pushes from the pivot foot toe, does not advance the foot forward just sort of rocks onto the toe for the drive forward.

 

[Cannonball]

Must have had 10 illegal pitches called against us last night. The umpire insisted that the pitcher's foot has to stay in contact with the rubber until the release of the ball. What made this even more interesting, was that 7 of those illegal pitches were called on balls hit that were outs.