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Bob's Wisconsin High School Fastpitch Bulletins for 2004-2005 School Year

Bob's Wisconsin High School Fastpitch Bulletins for 2005-2006 School Year


Commentary from our Readers
The commentary articles contained herein and written by the readers of The Fastpitch Chronicle website do not necessarily reflect the feelings, thoughts, ideas etc. of the publisher - they are simply the thoughts of our readers

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The Fastpitch Bulletin #3 - 2/25/05

It's a "seeing-eye" single!

Hello again. The Fastpitch Chronicle pitching clinic in Medford on Sunday begins at 11 am at the junior high school. There is plenty of room for everyone. The cost is just $10. It will last two hours.

I have some more information concerning that 8th grader issue. It's an interesting scenario to say the least. It seems that adn April 1st date and the other issues she has encountered were never mentioned during the dialogue process prior to the vote on the issue. I have plenty of thoughts on the issue but am not going to comment at this point in time.

The Fastpitch Chronicle website now has a forum board or message board where people in interested in Wisconsin High School fastpitch softball can engage in dialogue about any topics relevant to the game they want to. It's not a place to talk trash, smack or any other such descriptor. Of course I have the capability to delete any messages that aren't in the spirit of the purpose for the message boards. There are also other boards on the same page that cover the mens' game, women's game and the game in general. Check those out by going to The Fastpitch Chronicle home page at http://www.fastpitchchronicle.com/ and click on the click here message for the message boards.

Tony Schaaf, head softball coach at Brillion is a member of the Al Bauman Wrestling Hall of Fame at Mineral Point High School. The Poynette girls played there on Thursday night in a regional game and I was looking at the plaques in the cases and by golly there was a plaque commemorating Tony's participation in wrestling at Mineral Point, UW-Whitewater and more. It was pretty neat to see a fastpitch friend in somebody's Hall of Fame. Congratulations Tony! For those that didn't know it, Tony also manages a very good mens' fastpitch team in the summer months in Wisconsin and recently took a contingent of men to Disney World to play in the International Invitational there. Tony led his team to the tournament championship there. Check that out on the men's page of The Fastpitch Chronicle website.

I've chosen to take the Bulletins in a bit of a new direction this year. I will be publishing some technical articles that will accompany or be a part of the Bulletins. I think you'll find them interesting, educational and helpful. Look for the first one when Bulletin #4 comes out.

You should also be aware of the fact that all the Bulletins get published on the Commentary page of The Fastpitch Chronicle website. Just click on the commentary box when you get to the home page of the site. I will keep all the bulletins there until the first of February 2006.

Also - don't forget this year to turn in your umpire ranking forms. Let's get that return percentage much higher than the current 49%. Apparently football has the highest return percentage which is in the mid to high 80% range.

The Physics of Fastpitch Softball - That will be the main heading of many of the technical articles you get.

Have a great weekend. Two weeks before you can really get after it!

Watch out for the high chopper!
Bob Tomlinson

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The Fastpich Bulletin #4 - March 6, 2005

Paint The Black!

Hello Again. One week and counting before everyone gets the chance to demonstrate their prowess at practicing an outdoor sport -- indoors.

After 25 years of planning early season practices, it's become commonplace for me to just think about the handful of years where we were actually outside, on the diamond on the first day of practice. I'm sure that my number of years of being able to do that is higher than some of my friends in the north in such places as Bruce, Superior, Hurley, Park Falls, Minong, Phelps and the rest of the schools with softball that lie north of Highway 10, or Highway 21 etc. Last spring my good friend Doug Schmitz in Bruce kept me abreast of the snow cover on their field as we were taking a full round of infield and conducting an scrimmage here in Poynette. I'm not sure I could coach this sport in their neck of the woods. I admire all the great people up there that have to cram the season into about three weeks less than those of us in the south have to.

That issue cuts right to the chase when people talk about getting more games on the schedule etc. Wisconsin is not a state conducive to great early spring fastpitch softball. Heck, if it was the men would be out there playing at the same time we are.

Here's hoping (and wishing) that the snow disappears this week statewide so everyone can get outside and teach.

I saw Dale Buvid of Monroe last night in Verona. My son, Eric and I were part of the overflow crowd watching the Jefferson vs Monroe girls' basketball game. It was just nice to see Dale, shake his hand and wish him well this spring. He told me that he appreciated the Bulletins that he has received so far.

I also saw Steve Schmikla, head coach at McFarland and his wife at that game in Verona. they didn't get there as early as Eric and I did and had to sit in the overflow area so I didn't get a chance to say hello to them. I waved and waved at Steve but to no avail. I guess he just wasn't looking for some great fastpitch conversation last night. His picture was in the program though, as he is the varsity assistant basketball coach at McFarland and their team had made it to the sectional.

Speaking of McFarland - on April 2nd, McFarland will once again host our four-team scrimmage but we only have three teams right now. McFarland, Poynette and Middleton will be there and we are looking for a fourth team that wants to face some great pitching, good hitting and solid defensive teams before your season gets underway. If you are interested, the fee is a meager 75 bucks for a days worth of great teaching and learning and Steve and his crew have the world's greatest hot dog stand right on the field. Turner has been getting together with us the past couple of years but can' t make it this year. We thought we had Medford lined up but Virgil then learned that it's Prom day in Medford on April 2nd. If you are interested in "joining up" get back to me or to Steve in McFarland - ( fishuntcoach@charter.net).

On another McFarland and Middleton note - coaches Steve Schmikla and Russ Schaub of Middleton will undoubtedly join the 400 win club or mark this season. Both are with easy reach of that milepost in their fastpitch softball coaching careers. They are both great guys with great programs and are both good friends. I'm pulling for you too guys!

Speaking of coaching mileposts. I watched with pride as several other good friends received their plaques for 100 and 200 career wins at the recent coaching clinic in Stevens Point. Tom Giachino of Luxemburg-Casco is now over 200 in his career.

For all you young coaches out there, a little history lesson is in order. We can now play 20 games (if you can beat the weather than many times) in Wisconsin. It hasn't always been that way. In the early days of the sport (the late 1970s and early 1980s) those of us who were coaching could only play 12, then 14 and then 16 games in the regular season. We were then able to get to 18 for a year or so before getting those two games to get you 20. So, when you think about Steve Schmikla and Russ Schaub both approaching 400 wins, think about the number of years they have been involved in the sport and also the number of great winning seasons they had to have to get that far. For a closer look at the coaches who have reached the 100, 200, 300, 350 win mileposts just go to The Fastpitch Chronicle website and look at the coaches honor roll I have posted there. That list includes everyone I know of no matter whether or not they are a member of the WFSCA or not. If you or a coach you know has reached one of those mileposts and is not listed - don't get upset with me - just e-mail me and give me the number of wins and the correct spelling and by the end of that very day I wil have added that coaches name to the list.

There is now a message board on The Fastpitch Chronicle website for high school fastpitch softball in Wisconsin. You can get to that message board by going to the home page and clicking on the "click here" for the message boards. Once you get to the message board page, just click on the one that says Wisconsin High School Fastpitch Softball. It's a forum page where you and other people can communicate on and about issues. It's not a place for trash talking or ripping on people or programs. I will delete any and all messages that do that.

The message board is a great place to talk about improvements in the game and about promoting it more and about making changes that will be good for all of us.

Keep in mind that face guards will be mandatory next year on all batter's hemets. I guess that means on all baserunner's helmets as well although the rule only talks about batter's helmets. I've never had a kid hit in the face while batting but have had one get hit in the face while sliding into third. I have had too many girls hyper-extend their knees, dislocate their patellas and tear anterior cruciate ligaments when slipping on rubber bases with rubber and plastic cleats. My calls and pleas to allow high school girls to do what their male counterparts in baseball are able to do have always fallen on deaf ears of the people who are in positions to execute those great changes. I paid close attention on the message board when somebody in Wisconsin typed a message that agrees with my thoughts. Check out their message on the message board.

I was at Dick's Sporting Goods on Saturday in between two basketball games I watched. I couldn't help but notice that the price of softball bats hasn't taperd off or gotten lower this year. Wow! $400 for a bat! I decided a few years ago that if my players want to use that kind of equipment they can buy their own bat. I also decided that I would work even harder with my pitchers to make sure your kids using $400 bats don't put the bat on the ball as often as they would like to! We've given up one tremendous blast (Bobby Sneethen of Marshall) since I made that choice. Fastpitch has always been a game dominated by great pitchers and it always will be. On the offensive side of the game, it's always been a bunt and run game when two great pitchers toe it up. I don't think it takes a $400 bat to get a bunt down. It takes a good bunter with any bat in their hands and I see lots of teams around the state that are getting some great instruction on bunting.

Have you ever heard of StatsandGo.com? It's an Iowa-based internet company that provides free stats services online at that internet address. I have been in communication with Al from StatsandGo the past couple of days and told him I would get the word out about their services. I also told him that there are coaches in Wisconsin that simply don't want other coaches seeing stats from their teams. At any rate, if you are interested in that possibility, go to statsandgo.com and get a free account set up for your team.

You're probably bored to death by now with this diatribe so I'll wait until the next Fastpitch Bulletin to type about Magnus Force and Coefficient of Restitution of balls and Coefficient of Restitution of bats.

Until then
Keep it hoppin!
Bob Tomlinson - The Fastpitch Chronicle

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The Fastpitch Bulletin - Number 5 - March 7, 2005

Get Up! Get Up! Get Outta Here!

Hello again fastpitch world - It's Monday night and since I live inside this little box at night I thought I'd bang out yet another Bulletin for everyone to peruse.

Before I get going on trivial matters I want to announce that Greendale has filled that fourth spot in the April 2nd scrimmage at McFarland along with Middleton and Poynette. I'm looking forward to a couple of those Schmikla hot dogs down there with plenty of mustard.

There are a lot of e-mails that get returned to me as undeliverable when I send out the bulk mailing. I really think that many of the would-be recipients run into filtering issues when my e-mail reaches your school network filters. I haven't figured out exactly how that works because some of you seem to get the e-mails and yet, at the same time, your e-mail address gets returned to me as "undeliverable." My suggestion is to check the commentary page of my website every day to see if I pieced together a Bulletin the night before. I always post them on the site. Just click around or browse around on that commentary page and you'll find them.

Seeding meeting hosts (we are one this year in Poynette) should have been busy last week getting the word out to regional pool teams to get their list of umpires in by last Friday. This week the hosts are supposed to be getting the list compiled back to the regional pool who are then, in turn, supposed to approve or disapprove the umpires on the list. The, the hosts are supposed to contact those umpires to see if they are available to work that regional. Hosts and schools were not to have contacted umpires prior to the schedule set up by the WIAA. I know for a fact that the process was circumvented in at last a few instances. Remember, the seeding hosts issue the contracts to the umpires for the entire regional.

In my humble opinion, there is a better way to assign umpires for the WIAA tournament series, but in order to get to that point, we all have to get those umpire ranking forms back to the WIAA at the conclusion of the season.

OK - enough on the administrative end of the game and on to the meat and potato's.

Tonight's Topic - C.O.R. = Coefficient of Restitution - and ball compression

In Wisconsin the WIAA has a licensing agreement with Dudley (now and for quite a few years, a division of H.G. Spalding and probably somebody else by this time). The WIAA has chosen to use a cork center ball with an optic yellow cover as the official tournament ball.

Most schools (coaches) choose to use the same ball during the regular season as the WIAA requires in the tournament series so that SB12LND-FP gets used in most of the games in the state of Wisconsin. Illinois, on the other hand, uses a Wilson ball with a polycore center.

Both the Dudley and the Wilson ball used in Illinois meet the .47 Coefficient of Restitution rule and the compression limits

So what is coefficient of restitution and what does ball compression mean you might ask?

Actually, there is more to Coeffecient of Restitution than most people realize. Here is what it is all about.

When bats and balls had no restrictions on their performance, the game got very, very scary. Balls were being manufactured that never softened up, never went out of round and were being named with tags such as Patriot (after the Patriot Missles that knocked SCUD missles out of the air during the first gulf war - so that takes us back to the early 1990s). The intention of the ball manufacturers in those days was to draw the buyers and users attention to the fact that their new softballs weren't soft at all and would leave the bat like missles (guided or unguided - it didn't matter). Then the bat manufacturers started experimenting with new aluminum and metal alloys that were stronger and stronger and would withstand the tremendous energy when bat and ball collision occurs. They had "trampoline effect" figure out very well. Lighter and lighter bats with thinner and thinner walls produced higher bat exit speeds due to that trampoline effect. Tennis players are really familiar with trampoline effect. They know that in order to hit a ball harder they have to loosen up the strings on their rackets rather than tighten them. The more trampoline effect they can get, the faster the ball leaves the racket.

When bat and ball collision occurs, it is extremely violent. Contact lasts for just 1ms or 1/1000 of a second. The faster the ball is going and the faster the bat is moving, the more violent the collision and the more trampoline effect occurs (there is no trampoline effect with a wooden bat). When bat and ball collision occurs the energy from the collision is absorbed by both the ball and the bat and much of it is dissipated and in a cork center ball the energy is dissipated more than in a polycore ball. The bat absorbs some of the energy in vibration but new bats are manufactured to take that up in more trampoline effect.

All balls are rated by COR and that is done in a testing lab where a ball is delivered from a pitching machine onto a solid wall. The speed of the ball is measured just before it strikes the wall and measured again as it leaves the wall. If the ball was going 60 mph on impact and is going 28.2 mph on the rebound, that ball is a .47 COR ball. Pretty easy eh?

Things change however when the ball collides with another moving object like a bat. In John Tschida's talk on hitting at the coaching clinic we heard him talk about using as heavy a bagt as you can and still swing it fast because a heavier bat creates higher exit speeds. John knows what he is talking about. he reads the same stuff I do and he measures bat speeds and exit speeds. If your players can handle a 25-26 ounce bat as quickly as they can a 22-23 ounce bat, they will hit the ball harder and farther.

When bat and ball collision occurs there are actually two separate coefficients of resitution - one for the ball and one for the bat and the higher the compression of the ball, the less dissipation there is. That's why we can't use balls with high compression levels. The exit speeds are too fast and too dangerous. (face masks on batter's helmets)

Cork center balls rarely test out at .47 in the labs but people wouldn't buy them if they were labeled less than that. The rule says that the ball can't exceed .47 and cork center balls don't exceed it, they just never get that high. They are usually about .44 out of the box. The issue with cork center balls in a game where pitching has something to be desired is that the COR of the ball decreases quickly when hit often. Don't believe me? Try hitting one of your once used game balls as far as you can a new cork center ball right out of the box. There's is a world of difference.

So why all this diatribe you ask? Remember those $400 bats I typed about yesterday? They are great performers, but if your kids can swing the same model bat that is 4-6 ounces heavier just as fast as they can the lighter ones, they will hit that cork center Dudley farther because their exit speeds will have increased.

Also keep in mind that the closer the balance point of the bat is to the sweet spot the more energy that will be delivered at collision. Of course, when you move the balance of the bat closer to the sweet spot, you give up something closer to your hands. When that girl who throws the pill about 60 mph saws your kid off on the inside corner, and your kid has a nest full of bees in her hands, on one of our cold Wisconsin spring days, your batter probably won't be as apt to swing it again and the pitcher has her way with your batter!

Hey - it's been fun! For more great reading on the Physics of Fastpitch Softball give me an e-mail and I will lead you to places where some of the world's greatest physicists who also happen to be ball fans write about their experiments on this stuff.

Have a great day!
Keep it hoppin!
Bob Tomlinson

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The Fastpitch Bulletin Number 6 for 3/9/05

One for a rise, two for a drop and three for a change!

Hello again everyone. I had lots of e-mails about The Bulletin from the other night. If you want to learn more about bat speed etc. just drop me an e-mail and I’ll give you some ideas on where you can get plenty of information on that topic.
Today’s scientific topic will surround Magnus effect etc. but first there a couple more important topics to cover.
1) Get your dues paid to WFSCA if you have not done so yet.
2) Get your umpire information back to your seeding host this week as they will be contracting umpires next week.
3) Somebody take the bull by the horns like coaches in the Cloverbelt East, Cloverbelt West, Trailways South, Northern Lakes, East Central Flyway Rivers, Lumberjack, South Central and Randolph have done and send in pre-season previews for your conference. To check out the ones that have been sent in just go to the 2005 Preview page of The Fastpitch Chronicle website.

Check out the forum page on The Fastpitch Chronicle website. You get there by simply clicking on the message board line on the home page of the site. If you have a topic you want to get dialogue going on, just type it in there and watch the replies as they come in.

I have had an inquiry from a Minnesota resident who is interested in getting a team into a couple of summer youth tournaments in Western Wisconsin – specifically in Star Prairie and in Birchwood. Anyone in that part of the state that can help me out so I can help the Minnesota fellow out just e-mail back to me with that contact information for those two summer tournaments.

Anyone out there have a used pitching machine for sale? I have a person looking for one of those. Let me know if you do, what brand it is, and how much you want for it. Maybe I need a classified section on The Fastpitch Chronicle website.

Ok – Magnus Force

When a softball leaves the pitcher’s hand and heads for the catcher it is usually spinning (unless it’s a knuckleball). We all know that the ball will usually move or break in the direction that the ball is spinning. If the pitcher is right handed and the ball is spinning very rapidly in a counter-clockwise direction and the velocity of the pitch is fast enough, the ball will break away from a right handed batter (thus a curve ball). If the ball is spinning over-the-top (from 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock) the ball will drop faster than gravity would normally make it drop. If the ball is spinning backward from 6 o’clock to 12 o’clock and is moving at a high rate of speed and the spin is fast, the ball will go up suddenly (rise ball).

The reason those pitches move in those directions is caused by the Magnus Force. As the ball spins (and the faster it spins the more Magnus Force it creates) the pressure exerted on the ball is greater on the side of the ball where the spin originated than it is on the other side of the ball. A right handed pitcher throwing a curve ball would put that initial spin on the ball on the right side of the ball. Thus, as the ball spins in it’s counter-clock-wise rotation as it flies through the air towards the target, there is more pressure on the right side of the ball than there is the left side. The side with less pressure actually creates an “air-pocket” near the ball where the pressure is less than it is on the opposite side, and naturally the ball moves into the air-pocket. It keeps doing that until the ball’s velocity falls below a speed where there is no longer a Magnus Force or until it is strikes a bat, or another object (hopefully my catcher’s mitt). A drop ball has more pressure on the top of the ball than the bottom of the ball, thus a drop ball. A rise ball must be spinning very rapidly with the greater pressure on the underside of the ball rather than the top. I think you get the picture.

The faster a ball spins, the greater the Magnus Force. Even with tremendous spin, the ball must still reach velocities where Magnus Force can occur. Most people who study and teach us about the Physics of Baseball such as Yale University Sterling Professor of Physics, Robert Adair and the University of Illinois’ Alan Nathan tell us that due to it’s size and density, a baseball must go at least 55 mph to create any Magnus Force at all.

We throw balls that have a greater surface area than baseballs and therefore require less velocity to create Magnus Force and cause them to break. The faster they spin though, the greater the chances are of that pitch breaking.

Some pitches break more at lower velocities at the distances we pitch (40’ especially). Curve balls thrown at 60 mph do not break as far as curve balls thrown at 55 mph when each pitch has the same number of revolutions in the same elapsed time. They do break sharper, however, at 60 mph than they do at 55.

I have played fastpitch softball since 1964 and have played in the toughest tournaments in the world and faced some the greatest pitchers who have ever played the game. I have faced Ty Stofflet, Peter Meredith, Michael White, Jimmy Moore, Peter Finn, Peter Carlson to name just a few. I have also had the pleasure of watching others who are considered to be some of the greatest of all time like Darren Zack, Brad Underwood, Paul McGann, Steve Schultz and other makes and have watched some great females including many females such as Michelle Smith, Kathy Arendsen, Lisa Fernandez, Lori Harrigan, Cheri Kempf, Jenny Finch, and others.

In all those trips to the ball yards I have watched balls go up, balls go down, balls move to one side or the other as well as balls that just seem to float across the plate, but the craziest curve ball I have ever watched was thrown by a Class B pitcher from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin at about 60 mph. It broke so much that about all you could do was laugh as it sailed past the end of your bat. I wish I could tell you his name but I can’t.

Speed isn’t everything – ball movement is just as important and so is upsetting a batter’s timing! Knowing everything there is to know about making a ball move once it leaves the pitcher’s hand won’t do anyone a bit of good if that pitcher can’t put that pitch where it needs to be thrown, when it needs to be thrown.

Have a great day!
Keep it moving into that Magnus Factor.
Bob Tomlinson

 

 

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The Fastpitch Bulletin #7 for March, 15, 2005

Get after it!

Hello Again Everyone,

The Fastpitch Chronicle website now offers a Wisconsin High School Message Board (it's a fastpitch forum) and there have been several coaches post requests for games as they are short on their schedule. Since the message boards are not getting the number of hits that they will get once people realize that it's a great place to carry on dialogue, ask question, pose situations and crazy plays that happen, I thought I'd include those game requests in a Bulletin. Here's the latest one from Arcadia High School. The contact name and e-mail address are at the end of the italicized message.

Arcadia is looking for 1 varsity game - we had a team back out of our non-conference schedule. We have one team lined up already, but they have done very poorly against us the last few years and would love to beef up our non-conference schedule. We would be willing to play a team from any division - school size is not an issue.

Contact me at rockypierzina@yahoo.com if you are interested.

The next one is from Michelle Biwer at Dodgeland High School. She has a top-notch program that will give anybody, in any division a run for their money. She can be reached at
biwer@dodgeland.k12.wi.us and she is looking for a varsity and JV game on May 16-17. Contact her at that e-mail address.

Madison Memorial is also looking for one varsity game. Contact Patrick Joyce at Memorial High School.

There is still room for a couple more teams in the Poynette Fastpitch Jamboree which is played on Friday and Saturday May 6-7 this year. Contact me for more information.

Don't forget to fax that sheet from the WIAA back to the WIAA that says that you received and read through the rules changes etc.

Everyone should be revisiting the Flex Player rule as well so as to make sure you understand it as well or better than the people in blue do when the games begin.

Everyone should also be visiting the score reporting area of the website and taking a close look at that game summary from the ficticious game between Hooterville and BugTussle. That method of reporting your scores to me really works slick. It doesn't take very long either. If everyone gets the hang of that method the daily score pages will be easy to do and easy to follow and will look like they ought to.

I wonder if any other seeding hosts have had as much trouble securing umpires to officiate those regionals as we have at Poynette. First, some teams in the regional failed to send us the names of any umpires. Then when we contacted the umpires, they'd already committed to other places. That's really beating the system since we followed the WIAA system to a T. Seems as though things got circumvented. We're still looking for sets of good umpires to officiate in what really is one of the toughest Division 3 regionals in the state.

Hey - have a great day and as always -------

Keep it Rising!
Bob

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The Fastpitch Bulletin #8 for 3/16/05

Say Hey Willie and Put Me in Coach!

Hello again to everyone.

I keep getting about 130 good e-mails back in my returned mail box every time I send out a Bulletin. Ask your coaching friends if they are getting them and if they are not tell them to e-mail to me to 1) make sure I have the correct e-mail address and 2) to determine whether it's a firewall and filter issue at the school they teach at.

Two people have sent e-mails asking me to explain the DP/FLEX rule. They are both new coaches this year. Since last year was the first year for the rule and with an understanding that many coaches last year didn’t really understand the rule, or use it, I figured tonight would be a great night to use it as a Bulletin topic. Here is the rule as it appears in the rule book (Pages 32-33).

The DP/Flex Rule

Rule 3, Section 3, Article 6

Art. 6 . . . (F.P.) A team may use the DP/FLEX option provided it is made known prior to the start of the game.

a. The DP’s name is indicated on the lineup as one of the nine hitters in the batting order.

b. The name of the player for whom the DP is batting (FLEX) will be placed in the 10th position in the lineup.

c. The DP must remain in the same position in the batting order for the entire game. A starter and any substitute for a starter may not be in the game at the same time.

d. The DP may be substituted for at any time by a legal substitute or the FLEX may play offense for the DP. In either case, the DP will leave the game. If replaced by a substitute, the DP position remains in the lineup. A starting DP may re-enter one time, provided the DP returns to the original position in the batting order.

1. If replaced by the FLEX, this reduces the number of players from ten (10) to nine (9). The game may legally end with nine (9) players.

2. If the DP re-enters or a substitute enters as the DP and the FLEX was batting in the DP’s spot, the FLEX can: a) return to the number 10 position and play defense, or b) leave the game if the DP plays defense for the FLEX.

e. The DP may play defense at any position. Should the DP play defense for a player other than the FLEX, that player will continue to bat but not play defense, and is not considered to have left the game. The DP may go play defense for the FLEX and the FLEX is considered to have left the game, reducing the number of players from ten to nine.

f. The FLEX may be substituted for at any time by a legal substitute or the DP may play defense for the FLEX. In either case, the FLEX will leave the game. If replaced by a substitute, the FLEX position remains in the lineup. The FLEX may re-enter the game one time provided she returns to the tenth position in the lineup.

1. If replaced by the DP, this reduces the number of players from ten (10) to nine (9) players.

2. If the FLEX re-enters or a substitute enters as the FLEX and the DP was playing defense in the FLEX player’s spot, the DP can return to batting only, play defense for another player or leave the game if the FLEX plays offense for the DP.

g. Placing the FLEX into one of the first nine positions for someone other than the DP’s position is considered an illegal substitution. The illegal substitute shall be removed from the game and restricted to the dugout/bench. See Rule 2-57-2 for additional penalties.

OK you say, what’s that all mean? Here is an explanation using some names from our Hooterville vs Bug Tussle game on the website. To see that game summary example just click on this link: http://www.fastpitchchronicle.com/week 1.html and take a look.

Hooterville chooses to use the DP/FLEX rule in today’s game against Bug Tussle. The Hooterville manager, Sam Drucker, chooses to use Bobbi Jo as the FLEX player because she is not a very good hitter but is the greatest shortstop this side of Green Acres. He uses Billi Jo as the DP and bat her fourth because she can hit. Billi Jo’s name appears in the number 4 spot on the lineup card and Bobbi Jo’s name appears in the 10th spot on the lineup card.

In the third inning, Sam Drucker decides to get his other pitcher warmed up during their defensive half of the inning. His other pitcher is Betti Jo and she has been playing first base during the first two innings. Sam sends the DP, Billi Jo out to play first base and has Betti Jo begin warming up behind the dugout. The FLEX player, Bobbi Jo remains in the game at shortstop. This is not a substitution because the original 10 players are still in the game.

In the defensive half of the fourth inning, Sam Drucker puts Betti Jo back out on first base and brings the DP, Billi Jo back to the dugout. There still has not been a lineup change.

Later in the game Sam Drucker chooses to have the FLEX player, Bobbi Jo bat for the DP, Billi Jo. Now a lineup change has occurred because a new batter is involved. The FLEX player position has just been terminated unless a re-entry involving those two players takes place.

If all the Billi Jo, Bobbi Jo and Betty Jo stuff didn’t confuse you more, then you have the idea.

Here is another situation that gets people’s blood pressure to rise.

Number 25 was batting in the leadoff spot but Number 12 is found to be batting in that spot in the batting order. The coach of the team on defense appeals to the umpire that Number 25 should be the batter and not Number 12. That coach wants #12 declared out for failing to report or be reported.

Rule 3,6,12 covers that situation. Actually Rule 3, 6, 1 thru 12, all get one team warning before a penalty is involved. In the case I described above, #12 is considered to be an unreported substitute and is therefore not out. The next unreported substitute, however, is ejected from the game and restricted to the dugout/bench area for the remainder of the game. The coach is allowed to screw up one time per game when it comes to not reporting substitutes.

And just one more common occurrence that I can help clear up tonight.

Rule 3, Section 3, Article 1 … A player, who is not listed as an eligible substitute on the lineup card, shall not be prohibited from playing.

Knowledge of the rulebook by the coach is fundamental to being the coach. Not knowing the rulebook might put you in a situation where a mistake in administering the rules causes you to lose a game. Your kids deserve better than that. John Tschida talked about the importance of knowing the rules when he spoke at the WFSCA Clinic in February.

Know the rules and teach them to your players. Don’t expect your players to know them just because they’ve been playing ball since their t-ball days. Players who know the rules can make some interesting plays for you.

Back to that Hooterville vs Bug Tussle game summary. Click here http://www.fastpitchchronicle.com/week 1.html and take a look at that summary and if possible use that format to report your scores this year.

I'd like to be able to offer everyone a simple game reporting template that would automatically put your summary on my website with a simple click on your end but ---- that costs plenty of dough to get set up. As you look at my website you should quickly notice that there are no advertisements except on the message board pages and I get no money from those. This operation is funded out of my pocket so I'll continue to cut and paste your summaries. Please just take a moment to look at that summary and try it out.

Day #4 is tomorrow. My pitchers, like most of yours are ready to take on an opponent. They'll just have to be patient.

Have a great day and as always . . . .

Keep it Rising!

Bob Tomlinson

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The Fastpitch Bulletin Number 9 for March 17, 2005

That's Why I'm Out Here in Rightfield, Just watchin' the Dandelions Grow!

It's important to know how to catch -- to know how to throw!

Two great lines from a great Peter, Paul and Mary song.

It's another snowy night in South Central Wisconsin with perhaps a foot of snow expected in the central part of the state north to Highway 10 or so according to the news here. Ooooofffdah! I hate indoor practice.

I urge you to check out the Conference preview page on a daily basis. More people have submitted either complete conference previews or individual school previews. I received a great preview today from Greg Lampe, former Oak Creek coach, detailing the Southeast Conference. If you see that nothing is there for your conference (and there are plenty of conferences with nothing there) just get on the stick and get something in. Also check out the previews in the Big 8 Conference area from Madison East and Madison West. There is also a great preview from Columbus of the Capitol Conference. Scroll down through the entire list of conferences and take it all in.

Or perhaps you're one of those people who keep trying to hide from everybody. Those days are over friends. Word in the fastpitch world has always spread pretty darn quickly. An old friend of mine always said there were three ways to spread fastpitch news, gossip and ballyard chatter - 1) the telephone 2) the telegram and 3) tell another fastpitch person.

In this day and age number 3 is really fast because you can tell that to them in an e-mail message and with just a quick click that e-mail can be spread globablly in seconds. So tell another fastpitch person really moves the communication system along quickly. You may try to hide but we'll find your team.

I got a great e-mail from Virgil Berndt in Medford today in response to last night's Bulletin about the rules I covered and he made me feel pretty good when he reported that it was snowing again in Medford and that I had not been the cause of it. Thanks Virgil.

The message boards are starting to get some action. The latest topic or one of them centers around the new rule going in for next season whereby all batter's helmets must have face masks attached to them. As expected some are in favor and others are not.

It's getting late (11:15 PM) so until the next Bulletin finds its way to your mailbox -

Keep it Rising!
Bob Tomlinson

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The Fastpitch Bulletin #10 for March 21, 2005

The Fastpitch BulletinI looked up and a ball fell into my glove!

Hello Again Everyone!

Wow! The number of people who respond to the Bulletins is incredible and thanks for the kind words.

The Bulletins are always published on the Commentary Page of my website so you can tell your friends they can read them there or you can send me their good e-mail addresses and I will add them to the list.

Here is an additional point to go along with the explanation of the DP/FLEX rule I did last week. Thanks to my good friend John Peterson of Madison, we have this additional bit of information (which is really important to know). Also thanks to Jim Wickert for pointing out the same information.

Here it is:
Bob, good play situation on the DP/Flex. One correction. You said, "The FLEX player position has just been terminated unless a re-entry involving those two players takes place." That isn't completely accurate.
When flex plays offense the team is reduced from 10 to 9 players temporarily. The coach can return to 10 players (with Flex) by (1) reentering the substitute for the starting DP and returning Flex to 10th spot and (3) entering substitutes for both the DP and Flex and returning to 10 players.

John Peterson

I got news today from Amy up in Superior that she is taking this season off and for good reason - she is expecting in three weeks. Congratulations Amy!

I have added quite a few more conference previews and also some individual school previews to that page of the website. Check those out. If your conference or your school isn't represented therein, then you can rectify that very easily - just type up a preview and zip it off to me via e-mail to faspich1@aol.com and I will add it to the page. Rankers are anxiously awaiting that information.

Also keep in mind that statsandgo.com offfers free stat hosting on their website at http://www.statsandgo.com/ so if you have not checked that out give it a look see this week. Contact Al Miller at statsandgo for more information. He's a fastpitch player from the Fort Dodge, Iowa area himself.

We're off school this week at Poynette but softball practice keeps me around. I gave the kids and the coaches today and tomorrow off and today found my wife and I in Beaver Dam and Columbus doing the antique mall and antique store thing. Those of you who know me well know that I am a sucker for old softball and baseball equipment. Today was a good day for my museum but a bad one for my checkbook. I found an early 1900s catcher's mask in Beaver Dam as well as a very old Louisville Slugger wooden softball bat. They'll both fit in nicely in the museum here.

Here's an update on the Whiffle Ball Stadium in my back yard. Last summer a huge wind storm blew down a very, very old oak tree. It crashed through the Big Green Monster I have in right field of the stadium and took down all 16 feet of outfield wall. The tree is still there and will soon be a stack of firewood. I hope to have the stadium up to snuff by the end of the summer when my grandson turns three. He's the reason I started the project four or five years ago. If you are in the Poynette area and want to have a great game of Whiffle Ball, stop in and use the stadium. It's completely enclosed with plywood, has dugouts, astro turf infield from Rich Stadium in Buffalo (OJ ran on it), will have an in-ground sprinkler system, sound system and more. It also has a party deck in left-center field where you can just sit in the shade and watch.

Hey, it's been great!
Have a great day of practice.

Check out the message boards on the website. There are some very interesting thoughts posted there.

Keep it Rising!
Bob Tomlinson

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The Fastpitch Bulletin #11 - 3/27/05

Batter Up!

It's week #1 of the competitive season here in Wisconsin. There are quite a few games scheduled this week and if your team is one of them and you play, remember to e-mail your scores and game summaries to me. If you don't think you can find the time to do so, find somebody else to get the job done.

Go to Week #1 and read the Hooterville vs Bug Tussle game summary again and bone up on the most crisp way to send a summary. I'll take anything you send but that format really works quickly for me on this end.

I'll have another bulletin out tomorrow night.

Keep it Rising!
Bob

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The Fastpitch Bulletin #12 for March 28, 2005

Let's Play two!

Ernie Banks coined that phrase way back in the 50s and today was a great day to use it (if you had lights).

At Poynette we got on our diamond with full infield and outfield and no water and no damp spots either. I left practice to my assistant coaches because I have been suffering from fastpitch withdrawal so bad I needed to get a fix just by watching a game.

I went to Waunakee and watched the Warriors take on the River Valley Blackhawks. The weather was superb, the Waunakee diamond was in pretty good shape. It was soft and ground balls slowed down very quickly but they were playing anyway.

It was a game filled with misplayed chances in the infield but heck, it was probably the first time either team had really been on a diamond. Some mistakes are to be expected and afterall it's tough to get better if you don't make a few mistakes to learn from.

I don't know if there were any other games today - not one game has been sent in (including the Waunakee game). I typed a short blurb about the game on the Week 1 results so you can read that there.

There are more team and conference profiles posted on the preview page.

You might also note that I've added a counter to some of the pages to get an idea of how many separate IP addresses click in to the website. This project isn't a free one from my end so maybe an ad or two will appear here and there if we get enough hits to show that there might be some benefit to placing a cheap, small add herein.

As the season gets underway - perhaps a short session herein on scoring would be in order. Remember, when a player reaches base safely it is not necessarily a single, double, triple or home run. There are many ways to reach base safely and not get credited with a hit. At the end of the year, if you turn in inflated batting averages and other inflated offensive statistics, don't think you are fooling anyone.

Get somebody on your scorebook who knows what they are doing. The media for years looked upon our sport as nothing but an extension of the community's recreation program. It has taken a lot of work to get high school fastpitch any ink in those newspapers and some conferences still only get their score printed while others get a line score and some even get written game sumamaries with box scores.

Here are some facts to keep in mind when tallying your statistics.

There is a total of 29 statistics that can be kept for each offensive player. They are: games played; at bats; plate appearances; runs scored, singles, doubles, triples, home runs, runs batted in, game winning rbi, total bases, stolen bases, stolen bases attempted, stolen base percentage, caught stealing, sacrifice bunt, sacrifice fly, base on balls, intentional base on balls, hit by pitch, strikeout, interference, left on base, flyout, groundout, batting average, on base percentage and sacrifice attempts

Don't credit a sacfrice bunt when a runner moved on the bunt would have been put out, but a good throw was dropped. It does count as a sacrifice attempted though.

Figuring Stats in Fastpitch Softball
Winning percentage = Games won divided by total games played
Batting average = total safe hits divided by official at bats (unofficial at bats include: base on balls/walks, hit by pitch, sacrifice fly, sacrifice bunt, catcher interference)
Slugging Percentage = total bases divided by official at bats
On Base Percentage = BB+HBP+Safe hits divided by Sac flies+Sac bunts+BB=HBP+official at bats
Stolen Base Percentage = Successful Stolen Bases divided by attempts
Fielding Percentage - Putouts+ assists divided by putouts, assists and errors
Earned Run Average = Earned Runs allowed divided by innings pitched X 7
Total Bases = HRX4+Triplesx3+Doublesx2+singles

If you check the official scoring manuals you will learn that with runners on first and third base and there is no play on the runner who goes to second base, that runner is not credited with a stolen base.

Remember this too: Bases loaded and no outs. Batter hits into a double play at second and first, the batter is not credited with an RBI for the run that scored.

On another topic - there are to be no team huddles before or after half innings on the field of play. Those are to take place beyond the out of play boundaries.

Umpire Ranking forms have been mailed out. Get them from your Athletic Director and keep them where you know their whereabouts and at the end of the season get them filled in and returned to your AD. We need to get the return percentage higher than the current 49%.

Face masks are not required on batting and baserunning helmets until 2006.

Much, Much more coming in tomorrow night's Bulletin.

Have a great day!
Keep it Rising!
And may the sun melt the snow in the north!

Bob

#13 The Fastpitch Bulletin - March 29, 2005
There is nothing soft about it!

Hello again everyone.

It's kind of late so this diatribe might not be very verbose but I do have a plethora of topics to type about in the coming nights.

Last night I typed about scoring issues. Today I read through the scoring portion of the National Federation rule book and discovered that if you want to credit a base runner with a stolen base when she goes to second with a runner at first and no play is made on her you can. It's your choice!

People tell me I'm nuts because I constantly read and re-read that rulebook and the case book, and the situations in the WIAA bulletin and the test questions. I have always figured that I'd better know the rulebook and the proper interpretations better than anybody at the ball yard on a day that I am coaching a team or umpiring. To make sure that nobody knows the book better than me (except for John Peterson) I read a at least one complete rule in the book everyday during the season. I figure I owe it to my program not to get cheated out of a victory due to rule that gets mis-interpreted or enforced. Afterall, just read the little box on the front page of the rules interpretation meeting (even though there was not such meeting this year) that can be printed out from the School Center page of the WIAA website. That little box says this: Coaches and/or officials alone or in combination have NO authority to set aside any National Federation or WIAA rules/guidelines.

They also have no authority to enforce rules that are not in that rulebook!

Tonight I have a special feature that is very interesting! It's from Tim Husted who runs the summer Eau Claire Danes program. I think you'll enjoy it too.

WI High School Notes from the Danes Travel Ball Team

The Danes are a group of WI and MN players who travel the midwest playing 18U and 16U summer softball. In the past few years they have developed many players that are now playing NCAA ball both in and outside Wisconsin teams. Here is a summary of details from the Danes General Manager about players from their organization as well as who he is seeing on the road in their summer, fall and winter seasons.

Amanda McKellips (Sr. Mosinee C) was 1/2 of our catching position last summer and spent the summer mostly catching for lefty thrower Amy Flock (Brookwood Senior) on our 18U team. Both players are going to play ball in college, McKellips will play at UW-Stout while Flock will play at Briar Cliff in Iowa. Flock really improved over the summer and fall and was our #2 within the 2nd weekend of ball last summer behind current UWEC Standout Mallory McKinney. Flock should be a top-tier pitcher in the state. McKellips is an amazing athlete, super strong arm and was able to hit the top 18U pitching we saw with success. Although catching is her first love, she proved to be a strong IF playing some 2B and SS as well as finishing games defensively in the OF.

LaCrosse Aquinas hosted a Danes clinic this winter and they have a nice program. Ainsley Klar is their SS (our starting 3B) and was one of our strongest players, even compared to those who came back from college or are playing college ball now. Klar is still looking at schools but has some strong programs on her list.

Rachel Haines is one of the top players the Danes have ever had and obviously has gotten the recognition in HS ball but I think her VERY small stature still deceives opponents and coaches. For a kid with elite speed, she has a small strike zone which allows her to swing aggressive and hit with power -- She started all last year for our 18's and this fall/winter dominated the top competition we saw in the Twin Cities leagues and regional tournaments in Iowa and Illinois. We also had Kacie Moline from Pepin play with us in fall ball, she is another small kid who can really play and although we played her more in the OF we did have her catch a few games with a lot of success. The past few years we have scrimmaged against Pepin's summer team to get ready for our season and each year Kelsey Church controls our lineup, she can dominate hitters and those she can't she can control with placement and change of speeds. Their players learn great fundamentals from Coach Haines, a great teacher and coach in this sport.

Hudson has a group of kids coming that can win in that conference. Best of bunch is a freshman pitcher named Brit Krieg who is ready to dominate, has held her own at 18U in the Dome Leagues and was the top 14U arm in the summer last year. She works with the former U of M pitching coach Jenny Bauer and will stay with the Danes for next summer at 16U. This fall we had her throw some innings at 18U and she faced the Beverly Bandits and did fine (1 run in 5 IP -- facing all D1 athletes). She has a great rise ball and change and the confidence and make up of a future stud. Hudson also has a SS who grew up playing ball out west until she moved to Hudson a few years ago named Sarah Stalker. She is a soph, gonna play for our 16U next year and played dome ball for us this winter. She can flat out hit -- name to watch. Hudson also have a quick CF named Sarah Hanson, a 1B who can hit named Ashley Boumeester (we had her play for one weekend in fall ball and I'm sure in HS ball she hits a ton). Hudson has really benefited from summer softball and a strong youth program that is starting to feed well prepared players to the HS program.

Brittany Schmitt from Colby has really started to bring it all together since joining the Danes. She spent the summer working with Stacie Reichert (Dane Alum throwing at D1 Gardner-Webb in NC) while throwing for our 16U team. Schmitt is a lefty throwing 58+ and dominating with a great drop ball.

Although Loyal will be without Blair Weyer for a period of time due to back surgery, her sister Rachel "Rosie" Weyer is a strong catcher who can hold down the fort for Big Sis. She has just as good an arm and is a super quick lefty hitter. Both kids played fall ball for the Danes and had success.

We did a clinic at Neillsville and Buns (Coach Bruce Vandeberg) has a good group coming back led by Liz Perkl on the mound. They also have some depth with another Perkl sister throwing as well. Neillsville has some hitters and Buns gets the most from his kids. Neillsville is an interesting case, in the past few years they lost their team share with Granton then last year got sent on the world's worst road trip for tournament play some hard luck -- but they will be ready to go.

DC Everest has a Pitcher/Catcher combo that has been hitting the clinics hardcore, Catcher is Emily Delong. Delong is a great athlete, big tall kid with super strong arm and can hit the snot out of the ball; clearly has 200 foot power. I am not sure if the pitcher will get the #1 innings but she will be ready to win if she gets innings. They also have a kid we are gonna have for our 16U next year named Ashley Hammerbeck who can play SS but hurt her arm in hoops so not sure how she will be ready for HS ball. Hammer has some good IF skills and a great arm that can make up for a bobble without much issue.

Jenny Janke threw for the Danes the past fall and could eventually be a better arm than big sis Jill was. We did a clinic at Black River Falls and although they lost some key players (including both stud pitchers and super-hitter Jill Janke) they are not totally bare.

Menomonie's new coach is Katie Hamilton who has coached our Danes 16U for the past few years -- she has a great freshman named Amanda Ryder. Ryder has started for our 16U since she was 11 years old in CF and this past year at SS. Ryder is a college ready hitter with 200 foot power and sub 3.0 Home to First Speed. Although she plays for our Danes program, I'd pay $3 to watch this kid play ball anyday -- just does things we don't see in HS or travel ball. She got a ton of attention this past year when she would fill in with our 18U from college coaches not knowing her age. Menomonie also has Mindy Rudiger (Senior Pitcher) who will be playing ball at UW-River Falls and can be tough on any team at any time. They also have 2 other pitchers, Jenna Johnson and Sophie Dahl who are underclassman but are travel ball tested and can win Big Rivers games. Johnson played with the WWBG's last summer while Dahl played 14U ball last summer and 18U fall with the Danes. Big Rivers ball is always tough with so many programs that are consistently good but Menomonie could be in for some top level success and when it comes down to win or go home time -- could surprise some teams.

Another kid I'd pay $3 to watch is Amanda Wilhelm at LaCrosse Central. She learned a ton from Coach Kevin Colburn but has the instincts that even a great coach like Kevin can't teach. By the end of summer last year she was our best hitter at 18U and was making one amazing play each game at SS. She has a great vert (hoops player) which takes away line drive doubles.

We got to see Bob Meixner's West Wisconsin Bat Girls this summer in Chippewa; he has a catcher from up North named Jessica Lundgren who can certainly play. I think she is a St. Croix Falls HS player.

We see the Chippewa Falls Flash play a few times and we played in their fall league -- Chi High doesn't rebuild they reload and this year will be another example -- they have tons of talent up in that area and the parents and coaches do a tremendous job of getting their kids summer, fall and winter playing opportunities that allow them to take advantage of their talent. It would not be fair to try to name all the kids who deserve it but Hayes is a big time hitter and we were impressed with Nelson in the circle.

This winter I also got to see Kacy Frank from Chippewa Falls McDonnell and Aurora Albrecht from Cadott throw and both impressed me with their ability in the circle.

Hope this helps and brings some attention to some strong players -- keep doing what you are doing -- I know that the players love to see their success celebrated and the recognition that Fastpitch Chronicle provides. I'm sure I missed some people I saw etc; please know it was not on purpose or for ill will.

Tim Husted

There are a couple of things in Tim's essay that I think he picked up from me. I cringe when people talk about our pitchers being on the mound. No mound makes us different, very different from baseball. A pitcher should not be on a mound. They are in the circle! Tim uses that terminology several times in his essay. When I do broadcasts of fastpitch games on the internet a pitcher is never on the mound but instead is in the circle.

Like always, at Poynette we are again really working hard on the hardest thing I have ever found to teach high school girls' fastpitch softball players -- tagging up! I think we're getting a little better. How about you?

I received three game reports today. Check them out on the Week 1 results page of the website. Janesville Craig reported their score vs Waunakee, Barneveld reported their score with Brodhead and Portage reported their score with Waupun. Last night's River Valley at Waunakee score was reported by Mary in Dodgeville (I think that's where Mary is located).

If you don't have time or can't find time to type a result to this e-mail address, find somebody within or close to your program who will. Your kids deserve it!

More tomorrow night!

Keep it between the lines!
Bob Tomlinson

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The Fastpitch Bulletin #14 - March 30, 2005
Chokin' and Pokin'

Rule 11, Section 1, Article 1

Promoting the Game/Promoting your players
Art. 1 - The Fastpitch Chronicle website is a great place to get scores published for every game played in the state of Wisconsin.

Art. 2 - Bob Tomlinson will not glean your scores from newspapers. He doesn't have time to read all those small point sizes and then type in all that information. As much as it seems he might, he does not live inside his computer. He does spend an average of about 3 hours per night working on that website but that includes all the daily news on all those pages.

Art. 3 - If you want people to read your scores and you want some publicity for your team/program or perhaps have your team ranked in the statewide Fastpitch Chronicle Rankings - it would behoove you to do something about it.

Art. 4 - If you don't have the time, don't have a computer, can't turn on the computer you do have, - ask somebody else to do it. A player, a manager, a parent,

Art. 5 - How long can it possibly take to type this - My Team 4, Other team 3? Turn the computer on and get it done.

Hello Again Everyone - Tomorrow Night I'll add Rule 12 to the softball rule book. Rule 11 is as important to this game as the 10 rules and points of emphasis in the rule book.

Over the years, one of the problems with getting fastpitch softball any publicity has been the fact that there is a huge turnover in head coaches statewide. In many schools, they have to beg people to get on board.

I can't even begin to tell you how many e-mails I have received during the five years that I have been publishing these Bulletins that very emphatically state "Remove me from your maiking list. I am no longer coaching softball!" There are have been quite a few of those this year!

To those of you who demonstrate a passion for learning the game, teaching the game and following the game, this issue of The Fastpitch Bulletin is a tribute to you! I'd love to meet every one of you and just hang out and chat about fastpitch softball.

I believe the real passionate coaches thirst for any information they can get. They thirst to learn anything new or different that may make coaching something easier, better and make their teams more competitive. There is no success unless somebody at the top has a vision for what the future might hold for a school's program.

Having a vision is not enough, however. It takes a well conceived plan to get going on fulfilling that vision. It takes somebody who is willing to stick a great deal of extra time into doing grunt work to get people better and allow them to realize success. It takes someone who understand the importance of surrounding themself with people who share their passion for all the things here-to-fore mentioned!

I love watching my friends get awards for 200 wins and more. It takes a while to reach that milepost, even nowdays when we can play 20 regular season games a year. It takes at least 10 years of sticking with a program to get that far if you can win 20 a year.

100 wins? - that's a milepost - 200 wins? 10 years or more! 300 wins? How many times do you think those people have dragged a diamond or chalked a foul line? How many unhappy parents do you think they've had to deal with? 400 wins? Check out the Coaches Honor Roll Page on my website for that very small list of passionate coaches.

I have had quite a few scoring questions. I'll try to answer every one of them personally or I might get in touch with John Peterson for you. You can get a lot of that stuff in the rulebook as well.

Here is a situation for you to ponder.
Runner at first base. Number of outs doesn't matter. Batter hits a slow roller to shortstop. No play at second so the throw goes to first. Close play but the first baseman loses the ball out the end of her glove right in front of her. Runner is safe and finishes running well out into the outfield, and down the rigthfield foul line. Runner from first went to third on the dropped throw. Batter-runner starts walking back to first base. The first baseman, in the meantime, had picked up the ball and quickly threw it, in disgust that she had dropped it, to the pitcher who is standing with both feet in the 16" circle. Pitcher turns and looks at the girl going into third base and makes no play. Batter-runner is then told by first base coach to go to second base because nobody is near the base. Batter-run does because she surprised everyone by taking the extra base.Nobody there to cover.

You make the call!

Answer tomorrow night!

Have a great night! Urge every coach in your conference to report scores to faspich1@aol.com

I'm chokin' and pokin'
Bob

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The Fastpitch Bulletin #15 - March 31. 2005

Happy Birthday Mary Larsen!

She's my longtime JV and assistant coach at Poynette (since 1982).

Hello Again Everyone.

Whew! There were lots of replies to last night's Bulletin. Thanks for all the kind words and support.

Here is the ruling on last night's situation. The batter-runner should have been called out since she was committed to first base after turning right and having the ball in the circle. Great job to those who sent in an e-mail with their answer.

There were lots of other rules issues that kind of stick in people's craws that I found interesting including:
1) batters who strike out, are nearly in the dugout when they realize it was a dropped third strike and then head toward first base and make it safely when the ball gets overthrown. Those people tend to think the batter should be out when she gives up on the play initially.

For tonight here is

Rule 12, Section 1, Article 1

a. Including team records with game reports
b. gettting those previews in so our rankers have some clues as to who people have back
c. getting those game summaries in to the Fastpitch Chronicle website

I received a mailing from the coaches association earlier this week. If you are a member of the WFSCA you probably got the same mailing that included a letter about the all star games and a nomination form for senior players from your team to be nominated. Be sure to read that letter and don't whine and pout when after you have forgotten to mail it in you want to still nominate your player and they don't accept your form. Get r done!

Make sure you have paid your coaches assocation dues on time so your players are eligible for post season awards. Git after it!

The rankings, one way or another are going to be posted Sunday night. If you are a ranker, get those turned in to me soon. If you sent them already, send them again. I'll tally them all and get them posted.

I might, if I can steal some time from other projects devise a tabulating form and publish that as well.

Be sure to print out a copy of the ASA approved bat list and highlight the bats that you have in your bag. They are apt to slap you on the back of the hand if you don't have a copy of those with you.

I need to buy a briefcase to take all the paper work with me to games now-a-days.

Have a great day and a great weekend.

Take a look at the hit counters on the website and start watching them begin to roll like the numbers on a slot machine.

Bob

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The Fastpitch Bulletin for 4/4/05 Number 16

Take Me Out To The Park!

Hello Again Everyone!

Last year in an early Fastpitch Bulletin I forewarned the Big 8 conference coaches that Madison East had not be taken lightly. They proved my prognostication to be right on as they tied for the Big 8 title.

This year the team the Big 8 schools had ought not take lightly is Madison Memorial. This year's team is not their sister's team. Their pitching (Hannah Wydeven) is very good. She moves it around, up and down, in and out and has a nifty change up that will keep the best of your hitters off balance. They go up to the plate and get some good cuts in as well.

I've been watching them improve the past two summers and in the fall league as they play in the Super Senior Summer league in the Madison area. They have a good defense. Have an eye for the strike zone and like I said, they get their rips in.

The Wisconsin State Journal apparently really had things screwed up on Sunday morning. The Monroe Tourney was actually the Watertown Tourney and Watertown beat Waunakee 9-2 in the third place game instead of the other way around as the WSJ had it. Thanks to Gerri in Marshall for correcting me. It's correct on the webpage now.

It was a great day for softball today. It's hard for me to believe that there were so few games played. There weren't very many results in my inbox here tonight after that NCAA basketball game was over.

Not much else to report tonight. Much more tomorrow night.

Keep it Rising!

Bob

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The Fastpitch Bulletin for April 5, 2005 - Number 17

Hanging Gooseggs on the board!

Hello Everyone - Whew, there were a mess of scores and reports to dump onto the week 2 results tonight. I just finished up nearly 3 hours of work getting all that stuff on the site.

Last night I mentioned how Madison Memorial is a much improved program. They broke a 43-game losing streak this afternoon, less than 24-hours after the warning.

Here is an e-mail I got from a person I consider an expert when it comes to fastpitch softball. Who that person is really doesn't matter but it was not from Jeff Agnew at Fort Atkinson.

Hi Bob,

I watched a little bit of Fort Atkinson vs. Janesville Craig on Saturday. Fort is a very good team. In the sectional they play in don't be surprised to see them at the state tournament. When you do your voting for all-region or all-state or whatever I would highly recommend Fort's shortstop. She is all-state by my criteria. My criteria is simply this: "Could she play on
any team in the state and hit in the top 5 of the lineup?" The answer is definitely yes. She has a tremendous arm, swings the bat exceptionally well and plays a great glove. So keep her in mind at the end of the season.

That criteria is the exact same one that I use when considering post season awards. As a matter of fact the fan that watched that game and I, along with several other experts all agree with the criteria.

I stand corrected on part of my Bulletin last night. I stated that Madison East shared the Big 8 title last year after I had forewarned the coaches in that conference about the Purgolders. They won the Big 8 title outright. Tonight's 3-2 win for Sun Prairie over Madison LaFollette sends a message to the Big 8 as well.

I took in a game in Westfield this afternoon. The beauty of having the same coaching staff with me for so long is that I now just leave them with the program after about an hour on some days and just take off to watch/scout a game. Today's South Central Conference game in Wesfield against Wisconsin Dells was a good 4-1 final. It was 2-1 heading into the top of the 7th when a throwing error on a safety squeeze sailed into left field and opened the gates for another run to score. Good pitching on both sides too.

As I placed scores on the site tonight, I read every one. Trust me, I really did. I corrected spelling errors, placed punctuation where it was needed etc. In one article I read about both teams being good in the circle. Yes, people actually must be reading these diatribes.

On the same vein, read this excerpt from the University of Wisconsin-Madison press conference. A Bulletin reader forwarded this message to me today. I chuckled when I read it - I think you will too.
Bob,

Not to be too critical, but having been indoctrinated with your lessons of proper softball language, I was surprised to see this error being made by a Big Ten softball coach. Stealing a line from the Music Man, I would like to tell Coach Gallagher – “Watch your phraseology!”

John

Gallagher Addresses Media Monday

MADISON, Wis. - UW softball head coach Karen Gallagher addressed the media Monday afternoon at Camp Randall Stadium as her team prepares to face UIC, No. 1 Michigan and No. 20 Northwestern this week.

Coach, when we had talked to you last week, you had mentioned you wanted to get at least three of the four games, and obviously mission accomplished. Do you feel like the mentality of the players, kind of what you were talking about earlier, has changed now, knowing that this is really more of an indication of what your team can do?

I definitely agree with that. I think we played very confidently, and I think just with the three wins. And how we won the game, we came back to win three of the, obviously the four games. And, you know, to have that type of potential, I think it keeps the pressure on the opponent. But, yeah, huge confidence builder. I think our kids felt really good how they played.

You know, still our complete games aren’t there. We still have to, I think, work harder on playing better defense behind our pitching staff, and, you know, we have some work to do on the mound as well. But overall, I thought we came out aggressively. And they just, they had the mindset that they’re capable of doing it and I really was pleased that they came out in a very aggressive, attacking type of mode.

Keep the scores coming in. Check the Week 1 results for that ficticious Bug Tussle vs Hooterville game for a great way to type up your summaries. I try to keep each posting time to under a minute. Highlighting, copying and paste is the way I do it. Then I edit if I get the time. If I don't read them all, I wouldn't be a very good ranker would I?

Have a great day!
Keep it moving!
Up! Down! All Around!
Bob Tomlinson

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The Fastpitch Bulletin #18 for 4/06/05

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack!

Wow! There were plenty of scores to post again tonight but not every score that should be e-mailed in. Once again I will remind everyone that I will not be gleaning scores from newspapers.

To those of you who use the Hooterville vs Bug Tussle format, thanks as that works superb.

Here is the explanation on how to do that and save me posting time.

1) Type the score of the game : Eastman 10, Star Prairie 4

2) Do the line score with visitor on top and home team on the bottom like this
Eastman ..................550 000 0 10 9 1
Star Prairie ...............310 000 0 4 4 1
WP - Glencoe
LP - Greene
Leading Hitters: Jones (E) 2x3, Turner (E) 2x3, Jackson (SP) 3x4
any extra base hits go here

When typing in the line score use the period key to move your score by innings to the right so they line up above and below each other Don't use R H E or inning numbers above them as it won't line up here for me.

I'll take anything though and work hard to make it look good on the site.

Have great day!

Bob

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The Fastpitch Bulletin #19 for April 7, 2005

“Just about the time you think you’ve seen it all – you realize you haven’t!”

“I just don’t understand why you have to go to the ballpark all the time.”

Hey -- Ever had anybody say that to you?

My pat answer to that statement is the first line of tonight’s Bulletin! It’s really the truth. It really is. The more often I go to the ball-yard, the greater chance there is of me seeing something happen that I have never seen happen before.

At a recent game I saw the winning run score on a wild pitch in the bottom of the last inning.

Ya, ya, I know, you’re all saying, “So what, I’ve seen that happen lots of times.”

But, how many times have you seen that wild pitch go over the backstop directly from the pitcher? Truthfully now, how many times have you seen that?

I really had a lot of empathy for the young pitcher who let one get away from her. There really wasn’t any cheering to speak of from the winning team because those girls had never encountered that before and truthfully, had to be told that the run was going to score and the game was going to be over. They had no clue what the call was in that situation.

That reminded me of a game I once played in. That particular game provided one of my “forever memories” in fastpitch softball and in my life.

When a person has spent as much time at ball yards as I have in my lifetime and played as many men’s fastpitch games as I have played (41 years) your apt to have quite a few of those “forever memories.”

In 1980 the team I played on from Portage, Wisconsin was playing in the ASA state tournament in Eau Claire on Gelein Field. There were 47 teams in that state Class A tournament that year. We were playing a team from Eastman with a pretty good pitcher. It was at about that time that the ASA instituted the alternating ball rule. You know, the same one we have in the WIAA rule book. Anyway, there was one ball in that game that the Eastman pitcher absolutely did not like. He complained throughout the entire game about having to pitch with that ball. It was so funny, that the guys on our team were trying to hit the other one foul so would have to throw the one he was getting ticked off about. Anyway, late in the game I was on first base and our batter hit a foul ball. Sure enough, the bad ball got tossed out to the Eastman pitcher. He just started festering as soon as he looked at it in his glove. He wanted the other ball back but the umpire was “playing by all the rules.” The umpire yelled at the Eastman pitcher, “You are throwing that one until it goes out of play!”

LaVerne promptly threw the next pitch over the backstop on Gelein Field and headed for the dugout at the same time. Before the umpire could toss him, he was headed for the hills. I was busting my gut all the way to second base. To this day, when I walk into Gelein Field at Carson Park, I think about LaVerne and the one that sailed over the backstop and over the press box.

Here is one more “forever memory” from fastpitch for tonight. This one happened a number of years ago at the Poynette Jamboree. Our two main fastpitch diamonds are situated right along a very busy U.S. Highway 51. There is a lot of north and south traffic going by. With that many games taking place something crazy is always possible on the highway.

On the particular morning I’m writing about, I was watching an early morning game during the Jamboree. A girl from Waukesha North was at the plate and she fouled off a pitch that went high and deep but straight back behind the backstop. It went over the backstop, over the bleachers, over the security fence and was headed for the center of the highway. Suddenly a car appeared in the picture and instead of slowing down to let the foul ball bounce on the highway and out of his way, the guy just kept increasing his speed ( the speed limit changes from 35 mph to 55 mph right behind home plate.

You know how you hit those fly balls to the right and left of your outfielders with that Tomlinson’s Ultimate Fungo and you just sort of focus between the ball and the outfielder to see if she is going to cut it off and catch it before it hits the ground? Well, that’s what I was doing with my focus on that foul ball –watching the gap between the ball’s decent and the car’s acceleration.

You’ve probably guessed the outcome already! Right! That guy ran right into that ball at about 50 mph and the ball was probably going about 45. It smashed that windshield so perfectly that even a kaleidoscope couldn’t have done