Pitchers will be far from dominating with change

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Around the Amateur Softball Association of America, they call their fast-pitch game Baseball at Fast Forward. Games average 90 minutes and pitchers rule the world.

Lisa Fernandez heads a pitching staff which has the United States softball team ranked No. 1 in the world for the past 15 years. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

This year international rules changed, pushing the mound back three feet — to the NCAA's 43 — and extending the fences 20 (to 220, though fences here are still 200).

"When the mound was at 40 feet the game was much more pitcher-dominated," says former Rainbow Wahine pitcher Felicity Witt, who left school last fall to train with the Australian national team. "Now that it's changed to 43 you've really got to hit your spots. There are not so many strikeouts anymore. You work more toward groundouts and pop flies.

"The pitchers are still up there, but it ends up being a batter's game. They decide it. Before, it was 85 or 90 percent pitching. Now it's nowhere near. It's changed the game around. It's not so much fun for the pitchers."

U.S. catcher Stacey Nuveman, the NCAA career home run leader, says historically pitching has been 80-90 percent of the game. She thinks it's now closer to 70 because of rule changes and technology.

"None the less," Nuveman says, "without a dominant pitcher, you're not going to get too far. You need to have someone that makes it hard for them to score."

A year ago, Team USA won the inaugural U.S. Cup by outscoring opponents 12-1. The run was unearned, as American pitchers gave up just 11 hits and struck out 41 in four days.

That team's only Olympian was Nuveman. The others stayed on the Mainland to try and get the professional league (since dissolved) going. This year, the A Team is back with gold-medal pitchers Lisa Fernandez, Lori Harrigan and Michele Smith, joined by Arizona All-American Jennie Finch.

They are the core of a team ranked No. 1 in the world for 16 years. The U.S. will try to win an unprecedented fifth consecutive World Championship later this month in Canada.

"The success of this program has always been based around the strength of its pitching staff," says new U.S. coach Mike Candrea, who has won six NCAA titles at Arizona.

Candrea believes the three-foot extension has put a new premium on keeping hitters off-balance. Strikeouts are down and off-speed pitches are up. With more balls — and more space — in play, defense also becomes more important.

The game is changing as pitchers change. Former University of Hawai'i All-American Brooke Wilkins, who has been to the last two Olympics with Australia, has changed the altitude of her pitches because of the extra distance.

"When you go back to 40 feet, it feels very close," Wilkins says. "Now it's more of a hitting game, which is probably a good thing."

Not that anyone expects softballs to be slamming around the stadium this weekend. The top four finishers at the World Championships earn Olympic berths; the winner gets the top seed in Athens. Most expect those four to come from this tournament and few expect the "mercy rule" to come into play here.

SHORT HOPS: Kristy Odamura, University of Hawai'i-Hilo's only four-time Academic All-American, is here playing second base for Canada. Odamura also played for Canada at the 1998 World Championships and the 2000 Olympics. When her UHH career ended in 1999, Odamura held eight career offensive records. ... U.S. infielder Lovie Jung, who has played for Fresno State and Arizona, was born in Honolulu. Both parents are from Hawai'i. ... Stacey Nuveman and Jennie Finch are the first softball players to be nominated for ESPY Awards, for top female college athlete. ... Five days after the ISF Women's World Championships, Lisa Fernandez will marry Michael Lujan. ... All but three of the American players are from California.