Caitlin Conner wound her right arm back and swung it forward, releasing a pitch toward the plate during a summer softball game.

She had done the very same thing a thousand times during her young career, which included outings with the Mars softball team as a junior last season.

But the result of this pitch was different — and frightening.

The ball screamed back at her, hitting Conner in the face.

She wasn't wearing a protective mask, which has become a familiar sight on softball fields around Western Pennsylvania.

"She broke two bones in her nose," said Mars softball coach Michele Goodworth.

Conner is by far not the only pitcher to be struck by a line drive

Knoch's Chelsea Martin lost half of her senior season to a line drive off her pitching wrist. Valley's Olivia Triani broke her nose and lost three teeth when a batted ball struck her last season.

In 2004, another Valley pitcher, Erika Felack, was struck in the head and suffered bleeding in her brain that required doctors to induce a coma.

But the PIAA has taken a major step toward making pitching safer by moving the pitching rubber from 40 feet to 43 feet away from home plate, beginning in the 2010-2011 school year.

Beyond the safety factor, the move will bring the PIAA in line with college softball rules.

"I've been a fan of this," said Seneca Valley softball coach George Trew. "I've seen quite a few young ladies hurt over the years."

Leveling the playing field

While safety was one of the main reasons for the move, the quality of play also was considered. At 40 feet, dominating pitchers were shutting down potent offenses with regularity.

The lack of offensive production prompted the PIAA to adopt another college rule at the start of last season. In a game that is still deadlocked after nine innings, each team starts the 10th inning with a runner at second base.

"The last five or six years, the quality of players and equipment has exceeded the limits of the field," Trew said.

Butler coach Lori Kline, who has one of the best pitchers in the WPIAL in Angie Reddick and a potent offense as well, said games will be more exciting and competitive when the changes kick in.

"It's going to be more of a hitting game," Kline said. "It's certainly going to make things interesting.

While hitters are salivating about having an extra three feet to work, pitchers are wondering how quickly they can adjust.

Learning curve

Former Mars pitcher Monica Glomb was one of the most dominant hurlers in WPIAL history. Glomb struck out 255 hitters during her senior season and 732 in her career.

But when she went to Kutztown University, she had to start all over again.

Those extra three feet between her and the hitter might as well have been three miles, she said.

"It was definitely a big change," said Glomb, who tackled the challenge and, after a shaky start, has become dominant again. "People don't think three feet is all that much, that it isn't a big deal. But it is."

Every breaking pitch has to be relearned. Every fastball loses velocity. Every pitch becomes that much more hittable.

Several standouts in Butler County must make the transition during their high school career.

Reddick will pitch under the old rules as a junior and under the new ones as a senior. So will Seneca Valley's Emily Watson, Mars' Rachel Pastorek and Hailey Jones, and Slippery Rock's Jamie Myers.

Glomb's advice: Don't get discouraged.

"It's going to take a lot of practice," Glomb said. "It will make the transition to college much easier, though."

Changing gears

Coaches are faced with a difficult challenge: When to begin the transition.

Goodworth, who has been around the game much of her life and has spent 11 seasons as a coach at Mars, is at a loss as to how to prepare her pitchers for the change.

"That is a really good question," Goodworth said. "I can't give you an answer to that one.

"It's going to take time. The bottom line is, if you are a good pitcher, or a good hitter for that matter, you will adjust and you will be fine," she added.

Trew said he isn't going to concern himself with the new distance until after next season.

He also wonders if youth leagues and traveling teams will make a similar change.

"I would think, eventually, everyone will adopt 43 feet," he said.

Despite all the potential difficulties, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks, coaches say.

"It's going to be a challenge, but it was a move that desperately needed to be made," Kline said. "Especially with bats being so high-tech and the ball coming off of them so hard, from a safety standpoint alone it was needed.

The transition is going to be hard, but I am glad it was made."