Junkballers

[jdint]

The Cheetahs out of the Chicago area have a girl (or at least they did in the tournament we were in) who does this. Looks to throw in the low 50's but completely befuddled our hitters. It wasn't just our hitters. From what I could tell they rode this girl to the finals before Nebraska Gold took them down.

It's not fun to watch if you are on the wrong side of it.

 

[radness]

Spin it!

 

[NJZoo]

We just moved up to 14U for the Fall and I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary with pitching in NY/NJ. We faced one pitcher that was throwing 75% curves to the outside part of the plate/off the plate, but that's about it.

We faced a girl at 12U Nationals in VA this past Summer that had one of the best changeups that I've ever seen. She had a good "show me" fastball, but she was throwing the change up 80% of the time, we knew it was coming, and we couldn't do anything with it. Luckily we scratched out a run and some baserunners and they ended up taking her out after 3 or 4 innings and we were able to hit the next girl they brought in.

 

[Rolling Hard]

Anybody have a good video of a knuckleball in fastpitch? Does it “dance” like in baseball or is it basically a CU?

If you can throw a knuckleball over 50 mph it will sometimes float and sometimes drop. Very unpredictable. Tough on umps too.

 

[_MIA_]

The Cheetahs out of the Chicago area have a girl (or at least they did in the tournament we were in) who does this. Looks to throw in the low 50's but completely befuddled our hitters. It wasn't just our hitters. From what I could tell they rode this girl to the finals before Nebraska Gold took them down.

It's not fun to watch if you are on the wrong side of it.

Chicago Cheetahs 14U Bullock?

 

[jdint]

Chicago Cheetahs 14U Bullock?

Yes, I think that is the one. I could be wrong. It happens often.

 

[Vertigo]

Anybody have a good video of a knuckleball in fastpitch? Does it “dance” like in baseball or is it basically a CU?

My dd throws one but uses it as her CU. Throws it about 42 mph. Appears to float then drops off as it reaches the plate.

 

[Vertigo]

Anybody have a good video of a knuckleball in fastpitch? Does it “dance” like in baseball or is it basically a CU?

Tried to send you video but guess I can’t within PM’s?

 

[_MIA_]

Tried to send you video but guess I can’t within PM’s?

If it is a youtube video you should just be able to paste the link.

 

[cnardone]

We just moved up to 14U for the Fall and I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary with pitching in NY/NJ. We faced one pitcher that was throwing 75% curves to the outside part of the plate/off the plate, but that's about it.

I think think at the 14u most pitchers are just starting to get to the level of truly owning a secondary pitch. My DD also just moved up to 14U. This weekend we saw two. One just had a change up. But there was real deception and she threw it in any count, and I don't think she left any up in the zone. The other threw a drop. Mediocre to below average fast ball and a real drop. There were more ugly swings against the drop than I care to think about.

I bet we'll start to see a lot more pitchers starting to own secondary pitches by the spring.