Fast pitch
Madison Rotto spins the softball in her glove then grips it tightly with her right hand.
She brings her right arm forward slightly — then cocks it back, pointing the ball toward the bright springtime sun.
With a short stride toward the plate, she swings her arm down. The ball rolls off her fingers and whistles through the air toward the catcher's mitt, where it hits with a loud "thwack."
The pitch, born out of a complicated set of intricate movements, misses the mark.
Ball 1.
The Freeport High School senior mutters to herself as she snatches the throw back from her catcher. She walks the outline of the pitching circle, replaying the sequence in her mind.
It's the Rotto ritual. It's the way she analyzes the 100 things that went right with her delivery — and the 100 things that went wrong.
"Some people really don't realize the time and effort that goes into pitching," said Rotto, who began pitching at age 8. "Some people probably think we just show up, go out there and do it. But it's not like that."
The softball pitching motion is unlike anything in sport. It more resembles the arms of a windmill spinning than anything associated with throwing a ball.It took Rotto two years to master the windmill motion. It took her years more to command the myriad of pitches that can be thrown from an arm that twirls nearly 360 degrees."People don't see the hours of throwing pitch after pitch after pitch while other people are sleeping," Rotto said. "They don't see the time spent just working on the mechanics. It's pretty difficult. If you are just .5 seconds off, it's not going to go where you want it to go."Pitching has come a long way over the years. Girls are starting younger, practicing longer and stepping into the circle more often with designs on being the best."I can account for all the bruises on my shins from catching for Madison," said Freeport softball coach Tom Rotto, who is also Madison's father.Some new challenges will face high school softball pitchers. Next year, the pitching rubber will be moved back from 40 to 43 feet in part because of safety concerns and in part because pitchers are simply getting too good.One thing will never change, however."You have to work hard," Rotto said. "And you have to work at it a lot. It's all repetition."
When Michele Goodworth started playing softball as a sophomore at Mars High School in 1990, things were much different.The windmill motion wasn't widely taught. A modified underhand motion reigned.Goodworth was quite good at the "slingshot method" as she called it — good enough to start as a pitcher for the fledgling Planets' program.But when the windmill motion was taught the next year, Goodworth was at a loss. It was simply too late in the game for her to learn the complicated delivery."I couldn't get a grip on it," said Goodworth, who has spent the past 12 years as the Mars softball coach. "Your whole body has to remember. I just couldn't do it."Goodworth has seen the game change before her eyes. When she started playing, deciding who would pitch was simply a matter of who could get the ball over the plate. Now it's become a case of who has put in the most time and effort in honing her craft.Learning the delivery can be vexing. It sometimes takes a player years to master.Slippery Rock High senior Morgan Robinson began pitching at age 10. For two years, Robinson had no idea where the ball was going when it left her hand. Her mechanics were a mess. She pondered whether she was cut out to be a pitcher."I definitely think I wasn't very good at it," Robinson said. "It was very much a struggle and a fight."But then something clicked. It took the watchful eye of pitching coach Jim Moats for Robinson to put it all together.Pitching coaches have become more valuable to a young pitcher these days than a strong arm. They can break down each movement like biologists examining a rare life form.Moats, who coaches softball at Mercyhurst Prep, worked with Robinson in grueling three-hour practices focusing on nothing but mechanics.It was monotonous. It was frustrating, but Robinson plowed ahead."For awhile I was like, 'Mom, why do I have to do this?'" Robinson said. "She told me, 'If you want to be the best, you have to.'"Robinson, a four-year starter in the circle for the Rockets, is now among the best.Former Knoch pitcher Chelsea Martin is now an assistant coach with the Knights. She has taken the program's aspiring pitchers under her powerful and accurate wing.Martin started pitching when she was 7, played for her first fast pitch team when she was 8 and dominated opponents at Knoch during her high school career. Now a freshman at Butler County Community College, Martin is hoping to pitch at a four-year university next season."It's not about speed," Martin said. "It's about the basics. You can't jump ahead to the speed. They can't just start throwing the ball and it will come out of their hand like a rocket. That comes with time. First, you have to learn the proper mechanics so you can locate it. If you can locate it, you will be good."Seneca Valley graduate Lauren Pennell certainly has had a lot of experience lately locating her pitches.As a freshman last season at Grove City College, Pennell threw a staggering 200-plus innings for the Wolverines, pitching in 34 of the team's 35 games. Despite all those pitches, Pennell said she is still learning."I've heard it is 20,000 pitches before you develop muscle memory," Pennell said. "I don't think I've gotten there yet."
By age 12, Robinson could finally throw a fastball where she wanted. Inside corner, outside corner, low or high, she had finally mastered her delivery.But her work was far from done.A pitcher can't get by with a fastball alone. Lucky for her, there are more pitches that can be thrown out of the windmill motion than sunflower seeds in a bag.Robinson needs to pause before she rattles off the pitches in her ever-growing repertoire."I have to say them out loud so I can count them," Robinson says, chuckling. "Let's see, the fastball, curveball, drop, rise, changeup," her voice trails off, "Oh, and the screwball. I don't care for the screwball."Girls are starting to learn those pitches at a younger age.Cheyenne Hindman is a typical 10-year-old with a less-than-typical array of pitches.She has already begun learning several movement pitches. It's rare for a pitcher so young to be able to throw more than a fastball."I think, overall, girls are throwing so many more movement pitches," said Moniteau High School softball coach Danny Hindman, who is also Cheyenne's father. "My daughter is learning them now and even if she's just getting the proper spin, I think it is ultimately going to be huge. The earlier you see it, the more it helps."Robinson said she thinks a pitcher can get by quite nicely with just two different offerings.While Robinson has a long list of pitches, she said she throws the fastball and changeup most of the time.Her changeup is among the best around. Her arm moves rapidly toward the plate, but the ball comes out slow and looping.Many times, it makes the opposing hitter look foolish."It's always the little excitement," Robinson said. "It's always a thrill when you throw a great changeup and see the hitter swing a mile ahead of it. You have to chuckle a little."
Mars sophomore Rachel Pastorek wears a mask when she pitches. So does Butler pitcher Angie Reddick and many others.To them it is needed protection from the chance one of their pitches will get hit right back at them. At less than 40 feet away from the plate, there is little time to react.Two Valley High School pitchers, Olivia Triani and Erika Felack, were severely injured in the last five years by line drives off the bat of their opponents. Mars pitcher Caitlin Conner broke her nose in a summer league game last summer and Martin, as a junior at Knoch, broke a bone in her right wrist when she couldn't get out of the way of a comebacker.Next season, the pitching rubber will move back three feet. The theory is the extra distance will give pitchers an extra split second to avoid catastrophe from a screaming liner back at them."I think maybe they can relax a little bit," Goodworth said. "Even with the mask, Rachel flinches sometimes when she pitches."In addition to the safety concerns, the PIAA hopes games will become more competitive.A softball pitcher has become the most valuable weapon in scholastic sports. The best can single-handedly win championships for their teams."If you have a dominant pitcher, you can go far," Tom Rotto said.With an extra yard to react at the plate, hitters may be miles better.It's going to be a huge adjustment for pitchers.Fastballs will lose some zip. And the changeup may hit the dirt before it reaches the plate."I can barely get it there now," Reddick said of her baffling changeup, one of the best pitches she throws. "It's going to need a lot of work. That three feet is going to kill it."While the fastball and changeup may suffer, the other movement pitches may get a boost, coaches and pitchers say. But it won't happen overnight.When Monica Glomb, one of the most dominant pitchers in PIAA history, left Mars for Kutztown University, she had to relearn every pitch she threw.In high school, she pitched from 40 feet. The NCAA converted to 43 feet years ago."It messes up every one of your pitches," she said. "You have to pretty much learn how to throw every one of them again."Glomb managed to do it. As a junior at Kutztown, she is once again at the top of her game and at the top of the short list of the top pitchers in NCAA Division II. But it was by no means easy.Reddick is already dreading the transition."I tried it this summer," Reddick said. "I felt like I was pitching from second base. It was so far away."One thing is for sure. Those extra three feet will make a huge difference, coaches say."It's going to be very interesting next year," said Butler softball coach Lori Kline."I think it's going to make Angie's job a little harder. It's going to be more of a hitter's game. It's going to be a more exciting game. Defense is going to be even more important."The game is going to be more fun. The pitchers, they'll adapt," she said.
