fastpitch101

What about the girl in Florida that was recently cleated in the neck and face? That makes a pretty scar. But of course until it hits closer to home these bozo's like this will never understand.

A guy gets on here and tells us a kid on his daughters team just got her leg sliced up and all you have to say is this?!?!?! To the Gibbs parent , I hope everything is OK with this young lady. My heart goes out to her. I am with you. Metal cleats have no place in middle school and high school softball.

Well if they did we probably would have heard about it TIMES TEN by now dont ya think.

Maybe they are talking about Goodpasture, scout , who knows. I sure dont think they are talking about Hendersonville.

Not meaning to be rude or anything but why would Hixon be ranked number 1 over Soddy, Ooltewah, and GPS?

You are right. The qualifing system leaves much to be desired. Last year My Juliet, Hendersonville, Brentwood, Beech, Ooltawah, Riverdale, Brentwood, and Soddy were the best AAA teams in the state. Notice some didnt even make it to state. Why ? Some of the best beat each other out while way lesser teams got in from the east and the west. Your comment about dumb luck is right on too. One missed ball, one bad pitch, anything can goof things up for your team.

The game was at Soddy Lake right? On Cliffards turf? I am not surprised.

The question of more severe and frequent injuries with the use of metal spikes in HS ball, softball is a no brainer, YES of course there will be more injuries and more severe injuries, and YES there will be a higher incidence than in male athletes using metal spikes, please consider the following. 1. It is a fact that metal spikes will provide more traction, improved gripping of turf and infield surfaces, and the ability to cut sharper angles, it will allow pitchers to push off harder, all good things, but inherently the very reason for more injuries. With this improved grip and traction will come additional injuries from that grip and traction. Will there be a difference between injuries in baseball and injuries in softball? Don't take my word for it....... "The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery" 2003 "Gender Differences in Muscular Protection of the Knee in Torsion in Size Matched Athletes" Background: Female athletes who participate in sports involving jumping and cutting maneuvers are up to eight times more likely to sustain a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament than are men participating in the same sports. We tested the hypothesis that healthy young women are able to volitionally increase the apparent torsional stiffness of the knee, by maximally activating the knee muscles, significantly less than are size-matched men participating in the same type of sport. Conclusions: The collegiate female athletes involved in high-risk sports exhibited less muscular protection of the knee ligaments during external loading of the knee than did size and sport-matched male athletes. Clinical Relevance: Improving active muscle protection of the knee during training and rehabilitation might help to decrease rates of knee injury. I don't believe it would be a stretch to futher hypothesize that any equipment that would cause greater stress and torsion in the knee joint would further increase incidence of this type of injury. 2. The American Council of Pediatric Sport Medicine, recommends that young athletes when first wearing metal spikes be introduced to them and the differences in grip and footing, citing a moderately high incidence of lower leg injuries reported in novice players. It would follow that we can expect a higher than normal incidence of injuries, not caused by poor technique or mechanics but simply by not being used to the different performance of metal spikes over molded spikes. Of course one woud expect this to reduce with time, but remember our best players will switch back to molded spikes this summer. 3. Not enough has been mentioned here regarding the fact that there will be a number of stitches used to close spike wounds during this HS season, although I have seen it improve in recent years, the ignorant practice of teaching girls to block bases and take tag throws on top of the base with the introduction of metal spikes will take the contusions and scrapes caused by molded spikes and convert them to punture wounds and slashes. Hopefully the introduction of metal spikes will cause these "blood and guts" old baseball dads/coaches to review what they are teaching, for my part we have been teaching for many years our girls to take a corner of the bag, swipe a tag, get out of there, and look for your next play, whenever possible, I think most would agree, with the change in the obstruction rules and the time we spend developing players, having players injured in this way is a waste, unfortunately girls instructed to "block the base" are going to be playing HS ball.......nuff said! In closing I must pose a further question, in terms of "risk and reward", yes the dedicated player that intends on playing in college will at that time play in metal spikes, doesn't it make more sense that metal spikes be introduced to "A" level summer teams rather than HS teams in many cases made up of more players that are not serious about playing in college, and in some case made up of players that take their glove out in January put it away in June or July and don't think about playing the game again. My ultimate question is......does the performance enhancement and introduction of metal spikes to a minority of players that are dedicated and accomplished enough to benefit from it justify the clear evidence that there will be a higher incidence of injury with the introduction, and how many years will our girls live on the "bleeding edge" of this advance, and given the serendipitous nature of the NFHS and our own OHSAA, will these injuries be useless if metal spikes are outlawed in a year or two, which is entirely possible as the data mounts, who knows, but I guess most anyone can see where I clearly stand. Great discussion and a classic example of what makes this type of forum so valuable.

I like that format

What he is saying is that HE is not calling his daughters pitches but there ARE other teams that do have dads calling their daughters pitches in high school. He is telling them it is illegal because he asked.

It was a great article. I liked her interview too. She sounds like she is about to cry when she talks about her team at the end. Very touching.

Ummm, metal cleats are being discussed on EVERY softball forum across the nation. Pick any forum, any state .

I dont think you can decide what does and does not count on your record. Once games begin no more scrimmages can be played. EVERY game counts!!

The problem is not the cleats themselves it is the lack of instruction on the coaches to transition the girls from molded plastic to metal! Click on the link below and read page after page after page of what great measures NFCA college coaches make with their freshman players BEFORE letting the girls strap on the metal. http://www.nfhs.org/core/contentmanager/up...etal_cleats.pdf

What a horrible thing to happen to an outstanding young lady on and off the field. Well at least it wasnt a career ending injury, this wont be the last time we hear about this remarkable player. The SEC is tough but a pitcher with movement like she has will do well.

Or one could say : "She pitches awesome because the batters are not very good at contacting the ball on pitchers mistakes and they are not as good at laying off pitches that are "balls" When pitching against good teams her mistakes are more evident, hitters are less easily tricked and the hitters get VERY determined at the end of the game. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

Well, my congrats go out to the TEAM then. No errors while playing the bench is good and ALL those runs!

I dont know if any coach was paying attention to scores. Most had people trying new positions, many were batting 11, all the freshmen were on the field playing. Pitchers that normally wouldnt be pitching were pitching. Teams were pitching their 2's, 3's and even 4's in order to get more balls to field and to put more pressure on the offense to perform. Everybody got a chance. They were scrimmages that didnt count. I mean all coaches wanted their teams to do well , I just saw a lot of the stronger teams doing this.

Well, thats a loaded question. A good one, but if you are looking for unbiased answers, I am afraid you wont find them here. The best pitchers , according to the people on this board, will be their own little darlings. Go up to the Commando Classic, which starts Tuesday, March 11. It is in your neck of the woods and just have a "look-see" and see what you think. /rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />

No doubt they have excellent hitters,many future D-I players, but do they have the pitching? They are no doubt a top contender.

My picks for State champs: Division II: GPS A: Trinity AA:Goodpasture AAA: Riverdale

Are You serious?????? What team doesnt have a pitcher or player that cannot throw the ball 43'??? Boys at the high school level pitch from college distance, so can girls. 43' would really help the game!!

Agree, Agree, Agree!!!!!! First it isn't our business, second it doesn't matter, and third WHY IN Heavens name do people feel the need to spread rumors about the dominant pitchers in Tennessee. First Cat and now this. Does it ever stop? I wouldn't believe anything said on this board. Any more dominant pitchers out there???? I bet their parents will suddenly become scandalously divorced, be seen drunk at the ball field, having an affair with a softball instructor, or something worse. I mean jeez guys -just stop.

has the game even started?

There are selections for each division of play. They are chosen by the Sports Writers Association. A second team is chosen. Pitchers are chosen and position players are chosen. Everything counts when deciding.