Finding the strike zone

by Bryce Johnson

edited by Alexa Asta

As I rocked my weight back onto my right leg, two thoughts went through my mind. The first was to try and drive off of my right foot. The second was to try not to embarrass yourself. I pinwheeled my arm and fired a slow but straight pitch right into the catchers mitt: my first strike.

As a baseball player, I know the general scope of softball: you pitch, hit and field and try and score more runs than the other team. But the nuances, the details and the mechanics are extremely different, but I did not realize quite how different it was until I tried it for myself with some help from Franklin Pierce pitcher Cyrena Zemaitis.

Zemaitis is a sophomore right-handed pitcher for the Ravens and has been the ace of the softball pitching staff since she stepped on campus. She was kind enough to (try to) teach me how to pitch. She started by showing me the grips of the five pitches she throws: a fastball, change up, screwball, drop curveball and her favorite, the rise ball.

We then proceeded with “spins” where at a distance of about five to ten feet, we flicked the ball back and forth focusing on the grip and the spin of the neon yellow ball.

“Focus on your wrist,” Zemaitis said. “Work on snapping your wrist to try and get the right spin on the ball.”

After about a dozen “spins,” we moved on to “T’s.” With “T’s” we basically did a half motion starting with your arms straight out to your sides (like a T). With “T’s” I focused on having my arm go straight to try and keep the ball straight.  However, in the process I bounced the first four pitches to Ashley Rosario, who was there to catch my “pitching.” My fifth pitch finally found the mitt and after a few more throws we were ready to move onto the next level with “K’s.”

“K’s” are three-quarters of a pitching motion starting at your ear and throwing the ball. I once again bounced my first throw but found the mark the second time. With my “K” throws, I struggled with pulling the ball to my left as I was trying not to hit my hip with my arm.

After several throws, it was time to put it all together with a full motion. My first pitch sailed high and to the left before my second pitch went low and to the right.

“Focus on driving off your back leg,” Zemaitis said.

Finally, with my third pitch, I threw a slow but straight pitch into Rosario’s glove for my first strike. After a few more fastballs, Zemaitis then taught me how to throw a rise ball. I gripped the rise ball by making  a near circle with my thumb and pointer finger and with my three free fingers under the ball.

“You want to cup the ball and try to snap it up,” Zemaitis said.

My first pitch once again sailed high and to the left and more than three-quarters of the way up the netting in the Bubble. Out of frustration, after the pitch, I bent at the waist and with my hands at my knees I said to myself, “That was pathetic.”

“At least it rose,” Zemaitis said with a smile.

I proceeded to throw a few more strikes with the rise ball and thanked Zemaitis and Rosario for their patience. I walked out of the Bubble with a hurt ego but with a greater appreciation and knowledge of softball. However, one thing was clear.

I will never be a softball pitcher.