Lady Shocks v Creighton

[flyingMoose]

This weekend the Shocks host Creighton, the near-unanimous preseason Valley pick for first place. However, they are currently 2-5 in conference play. The Jays took two from Indiana State, but lost two games to Southern Illinois and were swept at home by Missouri State. In part, they seem to have the same woe as the Shocks - not much hitting.

First pitch is at noon on Saturday.

[Quick Pitch]

The reason Creighton has been losing is that Oltman has not been pitching. The umpires have started calling illegal pitches on her and I believe she only through 1 inning against Mo State.
If the umpires let her throw it will be tough for us, if not, we could sweep them.

[WuDrWu]

The reason Creighton has been losing is that Oltman has not been pitching. The umpires have started calling illegal pitches on her and I believe she only through 1 inning against Mo State.
If the umpires let her throw it will be tough for us, if not, we could sweep them.

Could you elaborate a little more for those of us that don't get the details?

Is it that Tara won't pitch or that she'll be taken out for too many calls of illegal pitches? What is the penalty and what is she doing?

Thanks!

[flyingMoose]

The reason Creighton has been losing is that Oltman has not been pitching. The umpires have started calling illegal pitches on her and I believe she only through 1 inning against Mo State.
If the umpires let her throw it will be tough for us, if not, we could sweep them.

Could you elaborate a little more for those of us that don't get the details?

Is it that Tara won't pitch or that she'll be taken out for too many calls of illegal pitches? What is the penalty and what is she doing?

Thanks!

As QP says, Tara Oltman is having issues with illegal pitches being called. In one of the games against Missouri State, she was called for nine consecutive illegal pitches according to the Bears web site.

In ten innings against Indiana State, there were none callled. (A box score usually records them as BKs, balks a la baseball.) She faced only one batter in the first game against Southern Illinois, walked her on four pitches, was relieved and did not pitch the rest of the game, although no illegal pitches are recorded in the box score. In the second game, she pitched one-third of an inning, gave up two hits, four walks and four earned runs. The box score has five illegal pitches in this instance.

In the first game against the Bears, she only pitched one inning with three illegal pitches, giving her fourteen on the season according to the box score. She did not pitch the rest of the series. (I know this does not agree with the nine illegals in the article noted above. Who knows. I suspect she has had far more than fourteen called - probably only the illegal pitches that advance a runner (see below) are recorded as BKs.) Kylie Hovinga, who relieved Oltman in the first game, had her only (again, according to the team stats) illegal pitches of the year called against her in the same game.

To answer Wu's question, the most common reason for an illegal pitch is not dragging your pivot foot away from the pitcher's plate, but leaping instead. The penalty is a ball on the batter and any runners advance one base. This year there is an emphasis in NCAA umpiring to call the illegal pitches that have been ignored in the past. I suspect this new approach is catching up to Oltman. I believe both Kasha and Breezy have been called for illegal pitches this year.

But Creighton *are* hitting only .204 on the season, while the Shocks are hitting .222.

[WuDrWu]

So its not that she's getting kicked out of games, just that CU can't take the penalty and she can't seem to overcome the motion that's making her throw illegal pitches?


She has been dominating in league play for 3 years.....is this partially because she was throwing "illegal" pitches that just weren't being called?

Is this going on all over the country, where some, if not a majority, of the dominant pitchers are having to rework their mechanics to get legal, or is Tara more of an isolated instance?

Thanks again for the info.

[1972Shocker]

The rule has been around forever and probably violated forever.

It is kind of like the palming call in basketball. The palming or carry rule was around forevever but was rarely called until it became a point of interest. Now you see it called quite commonly.

However, it has to be much more difficult for a softball pitcher who has developed a crow-hop in her delivery to all of a sudden make that adjustment. Just the focus it takes to make that adjustment can easily throw a pitcher of her game.

[RoyalShock]

I know nothing about the proper pitching motion in fastpitch softball. Can someone be kind enough to explain in more detail what is proper and what this CU pitcher is doing that is illegal?

I'm probably being dense, but I just can't get my head around it.

[1972Shocker]

Royal, I am replacing my previous post with a much better explanation as crow-hopping and leaping are two different things:

Here is a much clearer explanation:

http://www.pitchsoftball.com/Page3.html

Not sure whether the CU pitcher is being called for crow-hopping or leaping.

[1972Shocker]

Royal, here is a video of Jennie Finch (who has struck out her share of major league hitters).

Notice how she drags her right foot as she delivers the ptich.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoYUsDK4zTw

[RoyalShock]

So the basic rule is that the pivot foot must be in contact with the pitching plate when the ball is released?

And what some pitchers have been doing, but are now getting called for, is the pivot foot being well past the plate when the ball is released? Either by replanting or dragging well beyond?

[1972Shocker]

No it does not have to be in contact with the pitching plate when the pitch is released but you cannot re-plant in front of the piching plate and re-establish a second push-off point (a crow-hop) and you cannot have both feet off the ground at the same time (a leap violation).

If you look at the Jennie Finch video she is well-off the piching plate when she release the pitch, however, her push off point is the pitching plate and she always has one-foot in contact with the ground. She drags her push foot until she plants her front foot. The release point is pretty much timed with the plant of the front foot.

I am not sure what the CU pitcher has been called for but she is either re-planting for a second push off before releasing the pitch or she is going airborne with both feet or both.

The pitcher in question, Tara Oltman, is the reigning 3-time MVC pitcher of the year. So it is doubtul she is doing anything differently than she has done in the past. Could be she just ran into an umpire that had a much more strict view of how to apply these rules or simply had a different judgement of what Tara was doing.

[RoyalShock]

I am unable to view YouTube at work, but your explanation turned the light on for me. Got it. Thanks!

[ShockTalk]

1972Shocker - If she is indeed in violation, tape of the games prove it, it would seem unfair to those who have not benefited from the call. The pitcher in softball is hugh. I would compare this to some referees repeatingly not calling double dribble on a certain player in basketball or a certain baseball pitcher going to the mouth on the rubber and some games, not being called for it.

[1972Shocker]

Last year Oltman pitched all 3-games of CU's 3-game sweep and this year pitches 1 inning. Makes you wonder if there isn't something physically wrong with her (which may or may not be contributing to her IP problems).

CU's Renae Sinkler is hitting at a 0.356 clip with 14 homers and 34 RBI's and Amy Banker is at 0.324 with 7 homers and 25 RBI's.

The rest of CU's lineup is a combined 0.170 with 11 homers and 53 RBI's.

The obvious key for the Shocks is to not let Sinkler and Baker hurt you, especially with runners on base.

[1972Shocker]

1972Shocker - If she is indeed in violation, tape of the games prove it, it would seem unfair to those who have not benefited from the call. The pitcher in softball is hugh. I would compare this to some referees repeatingly not calling double dribble on a certain player in basketball or a certain baseball pitcher going to the mouth on the rubber and some games, not being called for it.

Assuming they have the games on tape and they show she is legal then CU no doubt has filed a grievance with the MVC office. If she is OK, then word will no doubt be communicated to the league's umps.

If she is, in fact, making an illegal move you would expect word of that to get around and the opposing coach not doubt will be reminding the umps of that.

Perhaps it is just as simple as this being made a point of interest this year and she is being called for something she has consistently gotten away with over her 1st 3 years in college.