March 28, 2007  

High school spring sports preview:

Softball Pitches are jumping

Movement as vital as speed for today's successful high school hurlers

By Kristen Leigh Porter kristen.leigh.porter@indystar.com

March 28, 2007  

In the early 1990s, when she played softball for North Central High School, Cara Johnson-Hirsch didn't see many different pitches when she stepped to the plate.

But the days when a pitcher could get by on speed alone are long gone, said Johnson-Hirsch, who played college softball at Western Illinois and later coached at the University of Chicago and Lake City Community College in Florida."It amazes me, the movement," said Johnson-Hirsch, founder of SoftballOne, an Indianapolis company that offers training to area players. "I don't remember seeing that kind of movement even in the professional league when I played, to see pitches jump like that. It's getting better and better every year."

Playing such a specialized position, pitchers have had to improve their games. Because of advances in strength and conditioning and attention to nutrition, hitters are getting stronger. With more advanced technology, bats have added pop.

Hamilton Southeastern senior Morgan Melloh epitomizes the speed and movement today's pitcher needs to be successful. The University of Louisville-bound left-hander has been clocked at 63 mph but said even a pitcher with average speed in the mid-50s can be successful.

"If you don't have speed and (do have) a lot of movement, that can work, too," Melloh said. "But if you have speed and no movement, you won't be (successful). They'll clock you and get a hold of it somehow."

Top pitchers in the area, such as Melloh, have most of the following pitches at their disposal: fastball, changeup and breaking pitches such as a drop ball, a rise ball, a curve ball and a screwball.

Center Grove sophomore Emily Gwaltney throws five pitches."I think everyone has four or five because some of them are more effective than other ones," Gwaltney said. "You need a lot of pitches to make the batters think, and anticipate what they think you'll do, and then do something else."

Pitchers don't just wake up one day with a killer rise ball. Mastering pitches takes time with a pitching coach and is often a year-round endeavor that includes high school and travel ball.

New Palestine star sophomore Sara Evans started pitching when she was 9. By the time she was 14, she had five pitches that she still practices.

"They would be very surprised how much you have to practice and practice during the week on your own," Evans said. "It's kind of difficult, especially when you're young and you have to go and work at it. When I was younger, I did basketball and volleyball and pitching; now I play softball only because it takes up so much time."

It also takes patience. A rise ball, which most dominating pitchers possess, can take a year or longer to develop. Both Evans and Melloh said it is the toughest pitch to master.

"You have to get a certain spin on the ball to make it jump, so it takes longer to learn," Melloh said.

Gwaltney said the rise ball was the easiest to learn, because her arm naturally does the motion.

No matter the pitch, one aspect of pitching is key.

Said Gwaltney: "If you're not reliable and have no control, your coach can't trust you to get the job done."