Softball power surge
These chicks do dig the long ball — and they are hitting them out of softball fields around the county at a prodigious rate.
From Knoch to Seneca Valley to A-C Valley, softball hitters have been turning on pitches and turning on the power.
"I've had power before," said Seneca Valley coach George Trew, who has been leading the Raiders softball program for eight years, "But not this balanced."
Five different Seneca Valley hitters have blasted homers, with Jackie Mangola leading the way with four. As a team, Seneca Valley has gone deep 11 times in 15 games.
But the Raiders are not alone on the longball landscape.
Knoch has hit 12 home runs in 15 games. Moniteau, Butler and A-C Valley have multiple homers this season.
The big question is why? That answer can be as fleeting as a soaring fly ball over an outfield fence.
Knoch softball coach Scott Docherty has reduced hitting to a science.And more S's than a Scrabble board.Docherty, who took over floundering the Knights softball program and in three years has made it one of the premiere programs in the WPIAL, has broken down batting into the 12 S's of good hitting:Stance, straight knuckles, squash the bug, slice the ball in half, see the pitch, study the pitcher, study the pitch, slap back, stride, study the umpire, study yourself, snap wrist back, speed of the bat.The most important, he stresses, is bat speed."If you can swing the bat at 70 mph, you can hit the ball out of the ballpark," Docherty said. "It doesn't matter how big you are. You don't need to be 200 pounds to hit a home run. It's all bat speed. If you get that bat speed and slice the ball in half, it is going out."Knoch's fearsome threesome of hitters have proven that.Zoe Hughes, Kirsten Brant and Jade Thrower aren't muscle-bound behemoths, but all have four home runs each.Hughes is particularly hot right now. Friday against Butler, she blasted her fourth home run in her first at-bat. In her second plate appearance, she nearly hit her fifth, hitting a shot that banged off the top of the center field fence.She has bought into Docherty's scientific approach, no matter how strange it sounds."I just think the ways of hitting have changed," Hughes said. "The stances have changed, the swings have changed. Even bats — there are more pop in them. If you get a strong hitter and a good swing, it's going."Technology also has changed.Bats are streamlined to promote hitting and players are putting them to better use — thanks to informed coaches and video technology that is used to analyze swings."Coaches are getting better info," said Moniteau coachDanny Hindman, who always has fielded a strong hitting lineup in his six seasons as the Warriors' coach. "There are coaches out there who want to be successful and are getting as much information as they can get to make their players better."Then there is the pitching factor.It used to be high school softball pitchers were way ahead of the curve — and the rise and the drop.Now, though, hitters have caught up to the nasty stuff thrown at them."We worked a lot on our hitting," Hughes said. "I think the hitters are catching up to the pitchers. But four home runs is a lot, especially between the three of us."
Another factor coaches point to as ratcheting up the power is experience. Softball players now can be found on the field almost year round.There are summer leagues and fall leagues, as well as the regular spring season to keep players occupied and their skills improving."More than anything, I think these girls are playing a lot more ball," Hindman said. "More girls are playing more often. They are seeing more pitchers and they are being more successful. That's probably it in a nutshell."Softball also is being viewed in a different light, coaches say.Gone are the days of treating softball like baseball.The game is different and coaches at all levels are recognizing that, said Butler coach Lyndsay Millea, who played softball at Hampton High and at Division II Limestone College in South Carolina."It's not the same as it was 10, 15, 20 years ago," Millea said. "These girls are just better hitters."
There's one thing that can't be coached: talent.Needless to say, the leaders on the county home run charts this year have a lot of it."Oh, my, yes," Hindman said. "Ashley Pisor is like that for us — she started her freshman year — and Autumn Neff is like that this year as a freshman. She's just naturally talented and has a good work ethic. She's been a pleasant surprise.The three sluggers in the Knoch lineup all are four-year starters.The Seneca Valley murderer's row of hitters also has been in the lineup for nearly that long."Natural talent certainly helps," Hindman said.And the firepower has come in bunches for nearly every team this season:• Knoch hit three home runs in four batters this season.• A-C Valley star Karly Kaufman hit three home runs in one game.• Seneca Valley has had several multihomer games this season, including three in one game.Grand slams and walk-off homers also are all the rage.• Samantha Bly hit a grand slam Saturday for Karns City and Autumn Neff hit a pair of them in a game last week.• Brant hit a walk-off home run to beat Hampton.Docherty certainly is happy about the power surge. The coach always been a fan of offense and he's getting that and then some this season."Isn't that what we want?" Docherty said. "We want exciting games. The hitters are getting better and the pitchers are getting better, too."We have superior firepower this season."
Home runs have been leaving the yard at a prodigious rate this season on county softball fields. Following is a list of the home run leaders:<B>Player........School........HR</B>Zoe Hughes........Knoch........4Kirsten Brant........Knoch........4Jade Thrower........Knoch........4Jackie Mangola........SV........4Dana Hughes........SV........3Karly Kaufman........A-C Valley........3Megan McCormick........SV........2Erica Thrower........Butler........2Ashley Pisor........Moniteau........2Autumn Neff........Moniteau........2
