A Pitcher’s Responsibilities
The pitcher is undeniably the most important position on a softball team. The pitcher must not only possess ability she must be the most complete defensive player on the team. The rest of the defense waits for the pitch to be released perhaps a hundred times or more a game, therefore the pitcher dictates the pace of the game. The pitcher must be confident, knowledgeable, and mentally resilient.
The pitcher must always remember that as soon as the ball is released, she becomes an infielder, and infielder that is only 38 to 35 feet from the hitter. If the pitcher is not always ready to play defense, she has a good opportunity to be injured on a hard hit line drive back at her. A good fielding pitcher will help herself win any number of games during a season. The ability to field all balls hit back up the middle will result in a lot of outs and far fewer base hits and runs scored. With runners on base which create force plays, the pitcher must rely on the catcher for assistance as to which base to throw the ball for possible force outs.
Pitching Mechanics
Taking Signals
Fielding Ground balls
Pitch Outs
1st-and-3rd Situations
Covering Home Plate
On line drives hit between the outfielders, the pitcher will have back-up responsibilities at third base or home plate depending on the location of base runners at the time of the hit.