USA softball

[Hillhouse]

For the first time in a generation, the USA boy's fastpitch team is one of the best in the world. This is thanks to Cody Gibbins of Minnesota, who is arguably the top pitcher in the world for 18u boys. The USA team beat reigning champs Argentina 2-1 last night in an epic game, Cody had about 13 or 14k's. The USA is playing in the Pan Am championship in Columbia and needs, and more importantly DESERVE, the support of the entire country. This team is good, and the future of USA softball has never looked better for the men's division. On a side note, USA also has one of the top 23u pitchers in the world too. He's a student at and throws BP for the Florida Gators.

With some promotion and resources thrown their way, I hope more and more families realize that both their daughters and son's could be playing fastpitch softball. And nobody is suggesting a boy give up his baseball dream of playing in the MLB. In fact, playing fastpitch would actually help them in baseball quite a bit as many who've played both will tell you.

No question, male fastpitch is dormant in some places in the USA which means someone would have to travel to find a team and play. But the game still exists and is out there. And when you think about it, that's no different than many girls who travel extensively to play for their travel teams too. Anyone wanting some help with finding the nearest place or how to get started can always email me: bill@houseofpitching.com I'd be glad to see what I can do.

In the meantime, send support via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and even the USA softball offices for the Boys National team that is really making history right now. You can find their games and a lot of others on the FREE YouTube channel Softball Premier. Tons of games are archived and many have simulcast Spanish and English, which announcers, replays and multiple cameras with top quality broadcasts. Check it out.

 

[RADcatcher]

For the first time in a generation, the USA boy's fastpitch team is one of the best in the world. This is thanks to Cody Gibbins of Minnesota, who is arguably the top pitcher in the world for 18u boys. The USA team beat reigning champs Argentina 2-1 last night in an epic game, Cody had about 13 or 14k's. The USA is playing in the Pan Am championship in Columbia and needs, and more importantly DESERVE, the support of the entire country. This team is good, and the future of USA softball has never looked better for the men's division. On a side note, USA also has one of the top 23u pitchers in the world too. He's a student at and throws BP for the Florida Gators.

With some promotion and resources thrown their way, I hope more and more families realize that both their daughters and son's could be playing fastpitch softball. And nobody is suggesting a boy give up his baseball dream of playing in the MLB. In fact, playing fastpitch would actually help them in baseball quite a bit as many who've played both will tell you.

No question, male fastpitch is dormant in some places in the USA which means someone would have to travel to find a team and play. But the game still exists and is out there. And when you think about it, that's no different than many girls who travel extensively to play for their travel teams too. Anyone wanting some help with finding the nearest place or how to get started can always email me: bill@houseofpitching.com I'd be glad to see what I can do.

In the meantime, send support via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and even the USA softball offices for the Boys National team that is really making history right now. You can find their games and a lot of others on the FREE YouTube channel Softball Premier. Tons of games are archived and many have simulcast Spanish and English, which announcers, replays and multiple cameras with top quality broadcasts. Check it out.

Good for you Mr.B
Keep on keeping on!!!

 

[PharmerBrown]

What distance do they pitch from?
About how fast are they throwing?
Do they use slowpitch bats or baseball?
It's funny that they have the pitching lane marked, and over 50% of the pitches were from outside of the lane.
The pitching is the toughest part to adjust to when watching. That's the one part that seems foreign compared to the women's game.

 

[tomorrow]

I wonder if some version of the men's pitching stance will come to change the women's game.
What size field do they play on? bases and fences
How many slappers do they have?

 

[Gags]

Pitching distance is 46'. Bases are still 60'.

Baseball bats I'm pretty sure are not allowed - I imagine since it's the same size ball, it will be the same size for any barrel restrictions.

Field dimensions (for USSSA, and I believe USA) are listed in the first chapter or two of the rule sets. Mens' fence distances are 225' - 265' (for comparison - a "short" slow pitch field will be ~270).

I defer everything else to Mr. Bill. I know the top pitching speed can be upper 70's, but I'm curious myself as to what speed you'd expect to see in any kind of local mens league.

 

[Hillhouse]

Ok, I'll answer the Q's in the order they came but, I'm not smart enough to know how to Quote multiple people in a reply so I'll just answer them without the quotes.

1. RAD, thanks. I'll keep it going!

2. Pharmer, I'm not sure why the pitching is harder to watch. The pitchers wind up and throw the ball over the plate like they do in women's. If you're referring to the jumping, you'd better get used to it. This is going to ultimately be what the female game has in a few years. Umpires will not distinguish between leaping and crow hopping. Keeping in mind these are junior men 18u, so they might be topping out at 80mph, most would be mid-upper 70's. They use the same bats that girls do, Stealth, Ghost, etc. The only difference is 26 oz is about the lightest I can ever remember seeing a guy use. I have no idea why you'd wonder if they're using baseball bats while playing softball. But, I can understand asking about which kind of softball bats they'd use. There really isn't male fastpitch specific bats, there's not a large enough market anymore. In fact, at the ISC world championship this year, it was the first time the yellow ball was used. Up until this year, they still used white fastpitch balls. Worth, who makes the ball used in men's FP, gave the ISC 3 years notice that they will be discontinuing the white ball when their contract together expires. Also, they throw from 46'. There's no progression for them to start at 35', then 40', then 43', etc.

3. Tomorrow.... if you know what you're looking for, you'll see that the men's game has already influenced the women's tremendously, especially since the 1990's when the Olympics started. Fewer and fewer pitchers do the swing back today compared to yesteryear. More pitchers will conceal their grip from 3rd base coach by bringing the glove to the side before the pitch. Many of the top pitchers today don't pretend to have a "screwball", despite what 2 time Olympic Gold Medalist Michele Smith says on TV. And, as I said above, this pitching "style" of jumping is going to be entering the women's game rather quickly now with the rule change.

I know, I know.. the rule allows for pitchers to leap, not crow hop. But there's a misconception that crow hopping is legal in men's fastpitch, it's not. But the men don't care. They hit the ball (or try to) when it crosses the plate regardless of how the pitcher delivered it. And there isn't many men's fastpitch message boards and forums where parents go on to complain about IP's being called or not being called over a tournament. So, leaping turned into crow hopping quickly in the men's game as the pitchers compensated for the new style bats and balls in play.

4. To the best of my knowledge, slapping started back in the 1970's in California. One of the game's best shortstops ever, Chad Corchran was the first one to do it. Or so I'm told. While there are still slappers here and there, I think they are decreasing in numbers. In fact, I see the number decreasing in the female game too because with bats and balls of today it's much easier to hit HR's. Even a 90lbs 12 year old can hit the ball 250' with today's gear. So, it's becoming a lost art. Personally I hated pitching to a guy who could slap, bunt, or swing away. If he was a straight slapper, ok there's ways to pitch to him that work in my favor. But when they can do all 3 and I never know which they're doing, its' a nightmare.

5. Gags is right, I think the minimum field is 250'. But that needs to increase as the new age bats and balls are hit further than ever. In fact, I think both genders need to either increase the fence distance or revert back to bats/balls of yesteryear.

As for pitching speeds, keep in mind, the fastest pitcher in the world is about 86-87 mph. Forget all the BS that you've heard in the past about "The King and his Court" who threw 104 mph. No he didn't. Nobody has ever thrown 100mph in softball. I hear that all the time. Or from someone who's dad played in a league somewhere that the pitchers were all throwing 90+mph, etc. No they weren't. Time has a funny effect on people's memories. Now, if you wanna take the softball speed and convert it to what that speed equals in baseball, ok. Then you have a lot of guys throwing 105, 110, etc. But, actual speed, nobody is throwing over 90. In most local men's leagues today, that majority of pitchers are old and aren't pitching as fast as they used to. The most competitive league in North America is actually in St. John's NFLD Canada. While they only have about 6 teams, several Canadian national team pitchers and pitchers in the player pool are in that league. Where I live in Nebraska, there is a 11 or 12 team league that would be considered the lowest classification possible. Even at 51 yrs old, when I pitched in it last year, it wasn't really fair to the other teams. In fact, I didn't pitch in it at all this year. There's a lot of guys pitching in that league that would be lucky to hit 65mph. For sure, most of those guys could probably throw harder than D1 pitchers on sheer strength but that doesn't mean they'd be pitching with correct and safe mechanics. Plus they'd have no clue where it's going, they'd be very wild. But, this league is mostly about fun, drinking beer, and playing ball with their friends, it's not an intense league at all.

Hope that helps, I'll answer when I can if others have questions.