MAKE A LIST~ fp Pitchers who can throw 70mph

[CoachJD]

Also think Rachel Garcia from UCLA could hit 70. Paige Lowary (Mizzou/OK) also hit 70+ and Gasso regularly used her as a closer in 2018(?) and pulled her LF into the IF because they figured no one would pull the ball against her.

I watched Garcia pitch all summer from directly behind home plate. In-house radar gun (which is set up slightly off-center) had her consistently 69-72. No idea if that's what ESPN uses for the broadcast.

 

[canyonjoe]

Several years back I was at Triple Crown 18U Championship. All the P were around 65-67 until the winning team brought in a kid who hit 71 on most of her pitches. I don't know which gun they were using but I wasn't looking when she threw her first warmup pitch but it sounded different in C glove.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

I watched Garcia pitch all summer from directly behind home plate. In-house radar gun (which is set up slightly off-center) had her consistently 69-72. No idea if that's what ESPN uses for the broadcast.

She's also 26, so I am sure she's more developed than an 18-year-old freshman.

 

[CoachJD]

She's also 26, so I am sure she's more developed than an 18-year-old freshman.

Of course. I wasn't being argumentative. Just confirming that she can/does throw in the 70s. Odicci Alexander does, too, though I think Garcia hits 70+ a bit more consistently. Again, if the radar guns are legit.

You do bring up a point I mention all the time when people online act like there's all these 12-year-olds hitting 60+ (they exist, of course, but it's nowhere near the norm). Just because girls might get taller faster doesn't mean they're actually done growing physically, so if that many girls were really throwing that hard that young, we'd have many, many more hitting 70+. That's why I call BS on a lot of those reported speeds from middle school kids.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

Of course. I wasn't being argumentative. Just confirming that she can/does throw in the 70s. Odicci Alexander does, too, though I think Garcia hits 70+ a bit more consistently. Again, if the radar guns are legit.

You do bring up a point I mention all the time when people online act like there's all these 12-year-olds hitting 60+ (they exist, of course, but it's nowhere near the norm). Just because girls might get taller faster doesn't mean they're actually done growing physically, so if that many girls were really throwing that hard that young, we'd have many, many more hitting 70+. That's why I call BS on a lot of those reported speeds from middle school kids.

Great point.

I was in Texas this week at the Bombers Showcase. In the six games we played, we faced 11 different pitchers, and we used five of our own (don't get me started on how many we have). For the total of 16 pitchers in those games, three threw the ball 60+. Many girls are already committed to D1 schools, and only one of the committed girls threw 60 MPH. I measured at least ten pitches for each girl using the Pocket Radar Smart Coach from behind home plate. One girl hit 59 MPH once, and the rest lived between 54-57 MPH. This was at the 18U level.

 

[BucketDud]

Just because girls might get taller faster doesn't mean they're actually done growing physically, so if that many girls were really throwing that hard that young, we'd have many, many more hitting 70+. That's why I call BS on a lot of those reported speeds from middle school kids.

Or we could be on the verge of a real speed revolution coming from the younger generations, where in 5-10 years 75 is the new 70.

We have one pitcher who sits around 60, but our others are mid 50s at best. But I can tell you most weekends there will be at least 6-8 pitchers hitting 60 in our 14u events. Wouldn't say that is the norm (given see 60-80 pitchers in weekend), but every year seems like more high velo kids show up.

 

[DropcityUSA]

Great point.

I was in Texas this week at the Bombers Showcase. In the six games we played, we faced 11 different pitchers, and we used five of our own (don't get me started on how many we have). For the total of 16 pitchers in those games, three threw the ball 60+. Many girls are already committed to D1 schools, and only one of the committed girls threw 60 MPH. I measured at least ten pitches for each girl using the Pocket Radar Smart Coach from behind home plate. One girl hit 59 MPH once, and the rest lived between 54-57 MPH. This was at the 18U level.

There were 18-u D-1 commits throwing between 54-57 mph? That seems slow for that age and level. Were they effective?

 

[LEsoftballdad]

There were 18-u D-1 commits throwing between 54-57 mph? That seems slow for that age and level. Were they effective?

Yup. One was committed to UPenn, and I didn't see her break 55 MPH on the PR.

 

[BucketDud]

There were 18-u D-1 commits throwing between 54-57 mph? That seems slow for that age and level. Were they effective?

Maybe Midwest is skewed, but just hard to reconcile this with what we see regularly. Drop's team has several throwing much harder than that.

Earlier this Fall we played a local open tourney just for reps and ran into some 13B kid throwing 62-63 consistently (we also use Smart Coach). Softball is small world and never even heard her name before that. Not saying she was amazing, but was bringing it.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

Drop's team has several throwing much harder than that

Define "much harder." We saw plenty of girls at the 16U IDT throwing 62-65, but not higher than that, and we finished in 8th place.