Some say rule is a step back for pitchers

Softball hitters have teed off after the FHSAA, seeking to address pitchers' safety, moved mounds back 3 feet.

By BOB PUTNAM
Published April 19, 2006

Bryce Crouch grips the ball in her glove. She stares at the catcher. In one quick motion, she whips her right arm around like a windmill. The ball whistles out of her hand and pops into the catcher's mitt.

The Palm Harbor University senior continues this routine. Her pitches are like so many others, except for one significant change.

She is throwing from a pitching plate that is 43 feet from home, back from 40 feet.

"It takes some getting used to," Crouch said.

Because of mounting safety concerns, the Florida High School Athletic Association is experimenting with the new distance, matching what is used in college.

The idea came from Cecelia Jackson, the former FHSAA softball adviser who also was on the rules committee for the National Federation of State High School Associations.

"There have been pitchers who have been seriously injured as a result of taking line drives in the face," Jackson said last year before retiring. "Moving the pitching plate back to the collegiate distance of 43 feet, and the pitching circle with it, will give the pitcher the extra split-second of reaction time she needs to avoid those types of injuries."

Florida is the only state to go with the modification. The FHSAA will collect data after the season and present a summary of its findings to the NFHS.

Though the impetus for the switch was to provide more safety for pitchers, other coaches say that is illogical because hitters have more time to react to pitches and more balls are put in play and hit harder.

Some scientists agree. Dr. Courtney Willis, a physics professor at the University of Northern Colorado, said a softball moving at 60 mph travels 88 feet per second. Moving the pitching rubber back from 40 to 43 feet gives a hitter .034 more seconds to react.

"It would be quite a difference," Willis said. "In the time the ball travels, the batter is thinking about a lot of things, such as watching the ball and deciding whether to swing or not. When the ball travels farther, the hitter has more free time to zone in."

The result has shifted the balance of power from the pitcher to the hitter.

"This has always been a pitcher's game," Chamberlain coach Bob Diaz said. "I don't know if the FHSAA was bored or they wanted to see some sort of version of slow-pitch softball come back, but everything is just watered down."

Since the FHSAA switched to fast-pitch in 1990, coaches knew that to get anywhere in a season, a team must have at least one dominant pitcher.

Even against the best bats in the state, the best pitcher, seemingly, always won.

From 40 feet away, the best pitchers' fastballs can be clocked at nearly 70 mph. That's comparable to a 95 mph baseball heater from 60 feet, 6 inches.

It can be just as unhittable, and such velocity coupled with movement can make for a devastating combination.

It showed in the scores.

At last year's state tournament, 67 runs were scored in 18 games, an average of 3.7 total runs per game. Six of those 18 games finished 1-0. Overall, 31 of the 186 region games statewide were 1-0 decisions.

These days, pitchers are not standing as tall on the rubber as they once did.

Some have to duck.

"Balls are flying back at pitchers a lot more than they used to," Palm Harbor University coach Chuck Poetter said. "I've seen more injuries from pitchers getting hit by line drives this year. There's just more offense."

The power-packed lineups have created another problem: lopsided scores.

Canterbury is undefeated, beating teams by an average of 21-1. Land O'Lakes defeated Central 31-0.

The divide, coaches say, comes from the experience level of the pitcher.

"A great pitcher is going to do well no matter what distance she is pitching," Diaz said. "The problem is the better-than-average pitcher becomes average and the average pitcher is barely getting the ball over the plate when they move back."

Mary Struckoff, the assistant director for the NFHS and the rules editor for softball, has similar concerns.

"Some want to minimize risk, but with an average pitcher, the batters are teeing off on it more," she said. "We are talking about girls from ages 14 to 18 years old. A pitcher with not much zip could be in trouble."

But there are some benefits. University of South Florida coach Ken Eriksen likes the change because it gives pitchers who aspire to play at the next level a chance to acclimate themselves to college specifications.

"It gives the younger girls a chance to be more prepared," Eriksen said. "In the past, I think girls were hindered in the recruiting process because they were pitching from 40 feet.

"Plus offense is fun."

[Last modified April 19, 2006, 01:59:13]