AWAY / FIRST GAME:
This Sunday, February 22, doubleheader, 1:00 & 3:00 PM,
Wesley Wolverines vs Gallaudet Bison
in the Gallaudet softball complex at
800 Florida Ave. NE, Washington, DC.
CLICK HERE for Washington D.C. weather forecasts.
REPOSTED BELOW FROM
LAST SUMMER
These videos (and
the article) below have been posted at this blog before as well as
at many other softball news media. It is worth reviewing, particularly
as a new season is launched, to underscore the extraordinary talent
of the Wesley Wolverines and all young women who play what has become the international game of fastpitch softball.
ESPN analysis
Softball: bursts of speed, action,
forcing focus and fast reactions
According to ESPN, here is college softball by the numbers...
► SOFTBALL FIELD is (7,200 sq. ft.) 43% size of baseball field (16,700 sq. ft.) -- base paths 60 ft. vs. baseball's 90 ft. -- which means every player is constantly on the move, potentially being part of every play, while all the action is within easy purview of every spectator's seat.
► SOFTBALL PITCHING RUBBER is just 43 ft. from home vs. baseball's 60.5 ft., but a windmill pitcher releases the ball 37 ft. away to hurl a ball that can reach the plate as fast as 0.35 seconds later (faster than it takes a 100 mph baseball from its 55 ft. release point to reach its batter).
► SOFTBALL BATTER can have just 0.350 seconds to locate and identify a pitch, compared to 0.395 seconds for hard ball (and, then, she has as little as 0.025 seconds to decide whether to swing!)
► SOFTBALL BATTED BALL can come off the bat at speeds up to 100 mph. A shortstop may have only 0.61 seconds to react.
► SOFTBALL SLAP-HITTERS can reach speeds of 19 mph, racing home to first in as little as 2.66 seconds. A third base fielder can take no more than 1.5 seconds (or throw faster than 100 mph) to record that out.
► SOFTBALL BASE STEALERS -- despite softball rules against leading off -- can get from first to second in as little as 3 seconds. On average, a softball catcher must react 1/10 of a second faster than her major league counterpart.
► FOR THE FULL STORY FROM ESPN, CLICK ON VIDEO BELOW...
► IS HITTING A SOFTBALL SPORTS' GREATEST CHALLENGE?
► ESPN SPORT SCIENCE: HITTING A SOFTBALL
