Rob Hunt column: Girls flexing their muscles
Apr. 15—Just a few weeks into the spring season, we have already seen some amazing stuff from the area high school athletes.
In one day, there were three baseball no-hitters, school track and field records are falling left and right, the area is stacked with tennis talent and some boys golfers are posting some very good scores early on.
But one of the most eye-popping developments early this spring has been the proliferation of the long ball at area softball diamonds. Softballs are flying over the fence at a ridiculous rate, and there can be no better example than what is happening at county power Pendleton Heights.
The Arabians, normally a team that wins with small ball — bunts, singles, stealing bases, moving runners over — have pounded 23 home runs through Tuesday's Madison County first-round game at Madison-Grant, its eighth game of the season.
By comparison, the 2019 Arabians hit 33 taters in 27 games — 23 of which were victories. Grace Scott led that team with eight, and she already has four this year, but it is sophomore Bo Shelton leading the team with six. They have six players who have hit multiple home runs this season, the 2019 team had five such players for the whole year.
It is a trend that has been seen everywhere. I have not seen a game yet without at least one ball leaving the yard. This is also happening during the coolest part of the year. Heaven only knows how that pace could speed up as the weather gets warmer when the ball tends to travel a little further.
I'm not saying this is a good thing or bad thing, but I believe there are two main forces at work here.
The one that gets some high school coaches grumbling is the way the game is taught in the vastly popular world of travel ball.
Those coaches teach a different launch angle, wanting the players to lift the ball up and out. And, with the cancellation of the high school softball season in 2020, players had a full year of travel coaching only.
It makes sense. Nothing grabs a college recruiter's attention — outside of a 70-plus mph fastball — quite like a youngster hitting a softball well over 200 feet. Travel ball tournaments are now teeming with college scouts where they can see a large number of players over a short amount of time as opposed to the time when they would visit high school games.
And in the never ending pursuit of scholarship money during a time of escalating college costs, it's hard to argue with this approach by the players and parents.
The second is the girls themselves.
We are in the middle of a second generation where girls participating in sports is considered normal. These kids have grown up watching their heroes on television sports networks — which have finally and begrudgingly expanded their coverage of women's sports — as well as highlights on the internet.
They have learned the way to get there — to become bigger, faster, and stronger — is in the weight room. According to area coaches who run their school's weight training programs, the girls are lifting every bit as much as their male counterparts.
And it is really showing.
This combination of faster bat speeds with stronger girls is leading to more home runs.
The home run is not the only end result. These young ladies have absolute cannons for arms as well, as evidenced by some of the spectacular shortstop, catcher and outfield arms that have been on display.
Basically, the game of softball is just getting better and better, and I encourage folks to go out and give it a look.
Contact Rob Hunt at rob.hunt@heraldbulletin.com or 765-640-4886.
