High School Ball
 

I was recently up in Okla for a visit and was suprised to find their High Schools playing [B]Slow pitch ball this spring.[B/] Then they play Fast Pitch in the fall. It was actually being shown on a local sports station and the announcer were talking about the teams getting ready this way for the Fast Pitch season but they do play it out for State Titles and the whole works..

I was just wondering if any other States were doing this??


Have a good one

Don

Where have you been???

Don appears out of nowhere the day after Easter. Coincidence??? :)

I am umpire slow pitch quite a bit in Oklahoma and there has been a good deal of discussion of the benefits vs. negatives of high school slow pitch in the state. Because sports like volleyball are not huge in the state, the OSSAA chooses to play fastpitch in the fall and slow pitch in the spring. As you would expect, the majority of fastpitch players play slowpitch as well. Alot of people dont like the effect it has on the approach of the batter. Pretty big difference in a hitters approach in the two sports. Those in favor say that slowpitch gives girls who otherwise would not play anything an opportunity to play a more 'recreational' sport in a competitive venue. Who's correct? Its open for debate.

From the umpiring stand point, there is no better gravy than slowpitch gravy. A couple of weeks ago, I called a 6 inning, 2-0 game that took 41 minutes to play. Had several 4, 5, and 6 pitch innings. That was the easiest 40 bucks I ever made. Cant beat a dollar a minute.

On the flip side it can be the most brutal ball in the world also. I did a game last year (16U recreational in MN) that went the time limit and went only 2 innings. Neither team had a pitcher that could pitch a strike, let alone throw the ball and hit the broad side of a barn. It was a painful game! Ball Ball Ball Ball Ball Ball. The good part here was the coaches werent complaining. They saw how bad it was too. Even the parents were quiet. Easy money, terrible ball!

You get $40 a game? Man that is sweet!

I wouldn't make too much of it... after all, he has been gone for WAAAAAYYY more than 3 days! ;)

That kind of game is hardly limited to slowpitch.

This is most likely done to get the players game-situation work on defense. If this is the case, they would allow the batting team to provide the pitcher even if it's not a team member. Each batter gets three pitches. No walks and if none of the three are put into play, the batter is out. A batted ball touched by the pitcher is an out.

Piece of cake ;)