OKLAHOMA CITY — After nearly four months of play and dozens of games, a couple of softball’s biggest coaches feel like the rules are suddenly changing on the sport’s biggest stage.
The opening day of the 2010 Women’s College World Series was hampered by numerous illegal pitch calls, many of which came against the No. 4 Gators (49-9), who will have to find a way to get the issue straightened out if they wish to survive today’s elimination game against No. 9 Missouri (51-12) at noon.
“What we are looking for the pitcher to do is start with both of their feet on the plate and then as they come forward to release the pitch they drive forward towards the plate, which has always been the rule,” NCAA Softball Secretary Rules Editor Dee Abrahamson said. “What’s happened I think over time is some pitchers have either developed bad habits or have learned incorrectly or get lazy or a combination of those things. That makes them think about other parts of their pitch, their release, their stand and all that and they get a little sloppy on their footwork and what happens is they tend to come upward instead of outward toward the plate, so they end up being airborne and leaping in the air which is illegal.”
According to Abrahamson the umpires put a much greater emphasis on illegal pitches this season, especially early in the year when they thought the problem was most correctable.
She also added that clarification sheets sent out to umpires and coaches in February and March, coupled with a newly launched umpire improvement program, were meant to ensure that everyone involved knew exactly what was being called and how to fix it.
Florida ace Stephanie Brombacher, who has been called for 23 illegal pitches on the season and was penalized four times in Thursday’s 16-3 loss to UCLA, has been working diligently to get the problem straightened out.
During many of Brombacher’s bullpen sessions, the junior has used a string she affectionately named Larry to make sure she’s keeping her mechanics correct, although the results are yet to show on game day.
“We just put it down in front of my toe and every time I drag it with me that means my foot is dragging, and in the bullpen I do,” Brombacher said.
Although Brombacher admitted earlier in the season that sometimes the emotion and the adrenaline of the game lead to shortcomings in her mechanics, she and the coaches seemed to believe the problem had been taken care of, and are a little confused by some of the more recent calls.
Coach Tim Walton, who admits that during games he confronts the umpires about both the interpretation of the rule and what happened on a specific play, says the illegal pitch calls played a role in his decision to pull Brombacher during the third inning of Thursday’s game.
“When a kid has to completely change her style of pitching she’s going set herself up to get an injury,” Walton said. “I thought she was doing a good job staying legal and keeping her foot dragging and doing all that stuff.”
Walton did not offer extensive comment on the illegal pitches due to certain Southeastern Conference regulations that prohibit publicly criticizing NCAA rules and officials, but Arizona coach Mike Candrea was extremely outspoken about the issue after his team’s 9-0 loss to Tennessee.
Candrea, who is one of the most storied coaches in softball having won eight national championships and ten Pac-10 Coach of the Year awards in his 24-year tenure at Arizona, was visibly angered that freshman pitcher Kenzie Fowler was called for eight illegal pitches on the day.
“I think one of the big things that is confusing to us as coaches is you play all year to get to here and what they were calling tonight has never been called,” Candrea said. “I’ve been here for a few years and I’ve never seen an umpire’s judgment take over the complexion of a game and tonight he did. He told me what he saw and I’m watching and it’s called one time, it’s not called the next time, it’s sporadic. So what do you do? You’re at their mercy.”
“I just blame that we as coaches have given the officials way too much power in our own game and they don’t even know what they hell they’re doing.”
Fowler, like Brombacher, notes that the consequences of illegal pitches extend far beyond the immediate penalty of the previous pitch being ruled a ball and any runners on base advancing 60 feet.
“It’s hard to rebound from something so dramatic and something that can change the game when a girl should be out and is safe,” Fowler said. “Obviously I need to fix it, but it is hard to recover from something that just totally ruins your rhythm.”
