SOFTBALL 3-4-09

UWF SOFTBALL ROLLS ON

I'd hate to have Shortstop Caurie Miller's cleaning bill. She's always diving for a ball or taking on a sliding runner. You don't win every confrontation—we need to be reminded that the players on the other teams are often also gifted athletes. Softball, like its cousin baseball, declares a batter a superstar if she only fails 60 % of the time. I'll take Miller's fielding percentage against anyone's.

A More Typical Play By A Veteran Shortstop

IT ONLY LOOKS EASY—FOUR PHOTOS

Amber Ingram, Caurie Miller, Kristee Wheeler and Jillian Lafrance all look at pitches. Stop action photography makes it look soooo easy. Sometime you should sit where you can see just how much the ball can be curved. Sit behind the plate and you'll get a sense of the great speed of fast balls at this level.

Stephanie Ryan lays down a perfect sacrifice bunt.

Freshman Kaley Kania—Two Photos

A player of the future making contributions now!

Jillian Lafrance goes airborne to deliver a pitch!

Danielle Eloschuk—Four Photos

Danielle Eloschuk not only runs the bases well, she plays an excellent Center Field! She doubled a runner off first in the last inning of a recent game with a great catch and throw!

Safe At Home—Two Photos

The play was argued by the other side after Caurie Miller was called safe. All a photo shows is a freeze frame of a larger event. Did she later get tagged on the foot? Does her left foot miss the plate or will she drag it across the plate? Or is part of the plate obscured by dirt? The umpires are usually right and we've had some good ones here.

Dawnyele Stapleton

Right Field is tough. The majority of hitters are right handed and when they hit the ball to right, they often impart enough spin to curve the ball sharply. This ball landed foul.

Kristee Wheeler

Kristee Wheeler is one of two excellent catchers on the team. She has good power.

Outfielders Kaley Kania, Nicole Barbee and Danielle Eloschuk prerpare for the next inning.

Caurie Miller signals the coming pitch to her outfielders. It was an off speed pitch—I noticed she was moving to her right as the pitch was delivered to a right handed hitter. Good teams look for every advantage.

Superstition or ritual? The shortstop writes in the dirt before the inning. Ballplayers seem to have a lot of rituals and superstitions. Some never step on a foul line. Some infielders have a certain way to handle the way they toss the ball around before an inning. Some hitters will use the bat to make a cross or other symbol.

Stephanie Ryan makes solid contact.

Jillian Lafrance was 9-0 at this writing. Again, it's the photography that makes it look easy to hit.

Brush back? Shannon Miles blasted a long home run earlier in the game.

Another tight pitch to a power hitter—Kristee Wheeler.

Shortstop Jessee Cooper is all concentration!

Freshman Erin Reeves is ready for a hit or a throw.

Nicole Barbee—Two Photos

Nicole Barbee gives UWF a lot of depth in the outfield. The catcher wisely chooses not to block the plate!

Sarah Garcia has been contributing as the DH and outfielder!

Note Kat Sheppard's unusual grip. I wonder how many times she's been questioned about it? I've got two words for her: "Ty Cobb." He also used a similar grip and as I recall, he was a fairly decent hitter. I believe a current Major Leaguer, Miguel Cairo, also uses this unorthodox grip. Kat Sheppard is also a skilled and gutsy catcher.

Catching Styles

The worst are the former athletes. And there is a direct correlation that is based on the idea that the more inept an athlete was, the more he (and it's usually "he") thinks he has this great wisdom to impart about the sport. The truth is, these athletes of today are quite a bit better at their craft than we ever were—but not as great as we THINK we were.

I watched the UWF catcher throw out runners in a recent game. She picked off two runners in pressure packed, key situations. The best I ever did was throw my arm out once. Have you noticed how a hard thrower like John Bench seemed to have a "hop" on his throw similar to the rise on a good fast ball. My throws to second also had a hop on them. Sometimes two or three.

There's nothing I can tell a player and there's even less I'd have for a coach. However, if there are kids reading this site, I'd want them to compare these photos of two excellent catchers. The first photo shows a catcher protecting her throwing hand. Photos 2 and 3 show a catcher taking what I consider a risk. Before the era of John Bench, we were two handed catchers. He popularized the one handed catch using the new flexible glove that had been developed. He kept the valuable throwing hand behind his back as much as possible. We didn't have that luxury. Our catcher's glove was called a mitt. It was stiff and awkward no matter what we and neatsfoot oil could do to it. Think of it as second base with a place to put your hand. We were supposed to keep our throwing hand in a fist until the ball landed in the glove. Foul tips still hurt but seldom did real damage.

Sometimes the catcher would forget or be anxious to make a throw. Today, you're likely to have a Rhodes Scholar behind the plate. In earlier times, the catcher's unique equipment was referred to as "The Tools of Ignorance." Yogi Berra was our spokesman. We considered him a deep thinker. They used to say you could tell you were shaking hands with an old catcher because his hand felt like a bag of broken carrots. Ever had a coach "pop" a stoved (jammed) finger back in place? The practice has since been outlawed by the Geneva Convention. It is more effective than smelling salts to awaken a drowsy person. Of course you could have come out of the game. Coaches and teammates had a strong word for such weaklings.

We learned to compensate for our stiff catcher's glove during a collision. We had more collisions because we didn't have the skill or equipment for the swipe tag. Obviously, it is accepted evidence of evolution to see modern players making a swift tag while getting or keeping their bodies out of harm's way. Whenever we had the time, we would grip the ball and put hand and ball in the glove instead of using the bare hand as a kind of lid to keep the ball in the glove. It's not as subtle a difference as it first sounds. It worked for some of us. Of course, if you're knocked senseless, you drop the ball anyway. If you get knocked senseless often enough, you can then spend your time making worthless web sites and dispensing lame advice.

Free advice is generally priced right.

MORE PHOTOS TO COME