[greymule]

Yesterday I did two more games in the same venue as last week. (Again, 14 and under.) It was clear both in my games and the games on other fields that the RocketTech was singularly effective, to say the least. I'd say 25 to 50 more feet is correct. I also saw popups higher than any I had ever seen in FP.

Interesting, though, that the team that last week was hitting long blasts won only 3-0. The opposing pitcher was very tough, and the game reverted to the usual bunt/slash/steal I'm accustomed to in high-level girls' FP. Apparently the RocketTech makes a bigger difference when batters can really get around on the ball, something that's not easy against powerful pitching.

There's another field whose deep left field adjoins the deep left field of the diamond I was using. I noticed two balls almost make it to our field (historically very rare). Sure enough, the bat was the telltale black, orange, and red.

A couple of years ago, I watched Princeton play Harvard in a doubleheader and talked to the umps afterward. For what it's worth, one ump told me that the ball they were using was "juiced" (his term) to get more long ball into the college game. (I looked at the ball and didn't recognize it.) Still, in the two games, there was only one ball an outfielder had to back up on, and that one was caught.