Been watching bits and pieces over the weekend and saw a bevy of illegal pitches called.
My question is why? Is the rule not enforced during the year and for the tournament it is? If it was just a couple I would have guessed the pitchers were just extra pumped up being in the tournament, but it seemed too many for that.
Because these big tournaments come up and the UIC (Umpire In Chief) decides how strictly to call the pitching rule.
So in other words in conference play where an umpire crew gets assigned to a game they just go an officiate the game. When a big tournament comes up the play is heightened and the coaches want the rules called stricter against opposing pitchers. The base umpire gets a coach yelling in his ear about how the pitcher is leaping.
So to answer your question, yes the rule is (sometimes) enforced during the regular season. However what is illegal is very subjective. The base umpires will generally call leaping and crow hopping (replanting the pivot foot). However the intent of the rule is also frequently considered. i.e. is the pitcher really gaining an advantage? You don’t want to penalize someone on a ticky-tack infraction, which happens all too often.
Enright3
(former NCAA FastPitch Umpire)
Enright3,
Thank you very much. Can’t say as I could always tell the difference between the legal and illegal pitches, but since some of the announcers had trouble on a couple of occasions I figured there was a certain level of subjectivity.
What really gets amazing is in baseball with the balk. If you twitch the wrong way you can get a balk called on. Once the pitcher is on the rubber any action he has must have distance and direction to home plate, or else he better be stepping backwards off the rubber.
Fast pitch doesn’t have balks; they have ‘illegal pitches.’ The things the umpire has to watch for are:
[ul]
[li]Pitching within the 24" lane. When the pitcher strides forward she can’t step outside of the 24" lane in front of the plate. (plate ump)[/li][li]Double Touching. Once the pitcher has both feet touching the pitcher’s plate her hands can only come together one time. (plate ump)[/li][li]Not pausing once both feet touch the pitcher’s plate. The pitcher has to take the sign (or simulate taking a sign) from the catcher, thereby pausing 1-10 seconds [I think] on the plate. IOW no quick-pitching. However waiting too long is an infraction too, for either the pitcher or the batter.[/li][li]Stepping back off the pitchers plate to begin the pitch or never touching the pitchers plate with both feet at all.[/li][li]Leaping. basically jumping off the pitchers plate and releasing the ball in mid air. You don’t have to be in contact with the pitchers plate when the ball is released but only if you push off and drag your foot. IOW Inertia can pull you off but you better keep your pivot foot on the ground.[/li][li]Crow Hopping. Which is pushing off and replanting your pivot foot to get a second imputus.[/li][/ul]
What really gets difficult is when the pitcher has worn a hole in the ground in front of the pitcher’s plate. If her to is pointed down at the release she won’t be touching dirt but she could be ‘dragging’ her foot lower than the surrounding ground.
It’s an awesome game to officiate if you ask me.
NCAA softball is one of my favorite sports, after Bears football and Illini basketball (M + W) and football.
I have tried to start WCWS threads in the past, but it seems there is little interest here. Rather disappointing.
Congrats to UCLA, but it started out looking like there was finally a bit more parity in the game.
I don’t think I saw the next Osterman/Abbot/Tinschler this year, although some of the freshmen could be in time. Opinions?
It’s a favorite of mine too.
Regarding the next Cat Osterman… I couldn’t say. I’ve slowed down my schedule quite a bit since breaking my ankle last August. I’ve lost a lot of mobility. Plus I don’t have the time or interest in keeping up with the demands of a college schedule. I have a real life that I enjoy quite a bit, and would rather use my vacation days for that instead of burning vacation days going to umpire a double header several hours away like in the olden days. 
We (Georgia) are hosting the ASA 18-Gold here in Marietta, GA this year. I’ve been fortunate enough to be selected to officiate that tournament twice in the past. That’s a HUGE college recruiting tournament for fastpitch players. Almost every player there could play in a college if they’re not already.
I guess we have to vow that one of us will start a timely thread next year - regionals? Superregionals?
Well I’m something of newbie to softball. I’ve watched the world series casually before, but athletic daughter this year made the transition from Little League to school softball (actually played both), so I’ve been paying more attention.
Don’t be surprised if you see more questions from me in the years to come.