She crow hops on every pitch....
She crow hops on every pitch....
They just showed two replays from the side. It's blatant!!!
Did they call it?
They did call one pitch early in the game. Actually, she does NOT crow-hop. Her left leg does leave the ground, but her right trail-leg drags the mound. Tincher's problem is that she sometimes over-extends, and her lead foot will finish outside the pitching circle, which is also illegal.
Illegal pitch in softball is like traveling in basketball, it can be called on just about every pitch.
Just like traveling, I think the elite pitchers get away with illegal pitches, at least until some coach whines about it enough for the umpire to call it.
Or at least be consistent. If you are going to call it on one call it on both. Watching the Florida pitcher it looks like her back foot leaves the rubber before the ball leaves her hand and her trailing foot drags sideways in the dirt in front of the rubber. It almost looks like a bowler's finish.
From the way the announcer was describing it yesterday, (lead foot has to be pointing towards the plate when it lands, both feet within the 24" spread of the rubber, staying inside the circle, etc) and watching the various pitchers it looks like they could be calling this on almost every pitch. It seems like every pitcher is violating the rule in one way or another.
If you look at Mowatt for Arizona, she's out of the circle by the time the ball is out of her hands. I've seen it quite a few times. I'm at the point, if you're going to call it, then be consistant. Don't just call on one team and not the other. Treat them the same. Is that asking too much?
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