KUTZTOWN — Monica Glomb stood in the middle of the pitching circle, gazed toward home plate and marveled at how far away it appeared.

She wasn't used to this.

At Mars High, where Glomb broke every softball pitching record in the books, the pitching rubber was 40 feet away.

At Division II Kutztown University, it is 43 feet from home plate.

Three feet might as well have been three miles for Glomb, who had to adjust to the formidable college hitters and the extra distance between them and her last year as a freshman.

"All your life you are pitching from one distance, then you have to change to another. It messes up every one of your pitches," said Glomb, now in her second season with the Golden Bears. "You have to pretty much learn how to throw every one of them again. You are used to breaking your pitches one way, and then you have to learn how to break them another way.

"It's hard. It's one of the hardest things to do."

But Glomb was a quick learner. It didn't take her long to adjust.

As a freshman, she posted a 5-1 record and 1.47 ERA.

There has been no sophomore slump for Glomb, who is off to a 6-2 start with a 1.62 ERA for Kutztown, which is 24-6 and ranked No. 11 in the NFCA Divsion II Top 25 poll.

Glomb has started 13 games and has appeared in three others, earning two saves.

"You have to be ready to do anything," Glomb said. "Start, relief. Anything."

That was just one of the learning experiences.

"I've learned a lot since I got here," Glomb said. "I've had a lot of experience pitching on a lot of different teams, but pitching in college is a lot more difficult. Every batter is a good batter. Every single one of them can hit it over the fence."

Glomb always has been focused in the circle.

She attacked hitters at Mars with an array of pitches that both overwhelmed and confounded.

It helped her strike out 255 batters during her senior season and 732 in her career.

She took that style across the state to Kutztown and has honed it into something new, but just as effective.

Glomb still gets her strikeouts — 72 in 60 2/3 innings this season and 107 in 112 2/3 innings in her college career — but now she relies less on speed and more on location

"It's very important to throw strikes at this level," Glomb said. "One walk can be the game. If you put someone on base, it is very likely they will score and games are 1-0, 2-1 here. There's not much room for error."

But Glomb is used to pressure.

For four years, she was counted on to pitch just about every inning of every game at Mars.

It's just a different kind of pressure atKutztown.

She shares time with two other pitchers. Katlin Arbogast is the fireballer. Mary Hoch is the finesse pitcher. Glomb is somewhere in between.

"All three of us have different styles," Glomb said. "So it makes it hard on the other team's hitters. That's why we have been so successful."

"Monica is a great kid that fits right in with our team," said Kutztown coach Judy Lawes.

Glomb still throws a dizzying array of pitches: fastball, changeup, rise ball, screwball and curveball.

She dumped the drop ball from her repertoire because it wasn't as successful at the college level.

Her changeup, though, is better than ever and her out pitch.

After every practice, Glomb spends 15 minutes working on her worst pitch.

A perfectionist, Glomb is always striving to get better. Despite her early success at Kutztown, she said she still feels like she has a lot more room for improvement.

"I've been pitching since I was 8," Glomb said. "I'm never satisfied. I'm always working to get better."