NCAA Softball

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an older guy, I really like women's softball.

I think part of it is that my mother was a great athlete without enough sports to play in her day. But also part of it is the great level of coordination and athleticism of the athletes. The strategy component is fascinating, too, and 7 innings is the right amount of time to watch a game.

So in the finals tonight I observed something I have never seen. Texas Tech's pitcher, a transfer from Stanford who has proven to be virtually unhittable, was asked to throw an intentional walk to Texas's Reese Atwood, a six foot tall catcher (!) with a fearsome swing and a rocket arm. Canady the pitcher is so dominant she is rarely called upon to throw intentional walks, and sure enough, after three pitches that were a little too close to the strike zone, Atwood hits the fourth pitch notionally intended to be an intentional ball for a two run single to win the game. Texas Tech's fielders were not anticipating a ball being put into play. Those two runs won the game.

In any event, kudos to the women for providing great sports entertainment. NCAA D1 competition is very serious stuff and not for everyone, but if these games encourage women and girls to get involved in the game, I think it a great thing.

I was surprised how bad the intentional balls were. Why are they so close the strike zone? I don't watch softball but based on a replay of the hit that would have been a strike in baseball and therefore completely in the zone of any athletes as good as these to hit and hit where they want it to go regardless of whether it's softball or baseball. Is it common for intential walks in softball to look like those pitches?

Kudos to the hitter--I feel bad for Canady.

I think your comments echo the thoughts of many of us. Great competition.

Texas Tech needs another proven pitcher. As great as Canady is, and she is indeed great, pitching three days in a row against a really talented squad is a lot to ask. I was struck by Texas’ talent. Ashton Maloney is one of the fastest D1 players I have seen. Yet she doesn’t play in center field as Kayden Henry the Texas state sprint champion who easily could be a SEC level sprinter plays that position. (I am a former D1 track guy and know real speed when I see it). Those two can play closer to the plate in the outfield than other players and they are just one example of Texas’ talent. And they get a lot of infield hits too. Shows how good Canaday is holding that team at bay for two games.