Softball Games May Be More Competitive This Year

Local high school softball games are in for a change this year.

The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Softball Committee recently unanimously approved the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) rule, which increases the pitching distance for high school softball pitchers from 40 feet to 43 feet.

The change was made to give teams a greater chance of more hits and runs and less strikeouts.

"I'm actually kind of excited about it," said Union Catholic High School's Ed Ryan, who just completed his fourth season as the head coach of the Vikings.

Ryan was Jim Revel's assistant coach at UC from 1998-2005. He is also presently Revel's assistant coach for the UC girls' soccer team, which just began practicing.

"I think it will expand the game and bring more offense," he said. "I think real dominant pitchers will still dominate, but it will give girls a little more time to see the ball."

The new pitching distance was one of four rules revisions made by the NFHS Softball Rules Committee at its annual meeting June 8 to 10 in Indianapolis, Ind. The rules changes subsequently were approved by the NFHS Board of Directors.

While the new rule must be implemented in the 2010-2011 school year, schools could adopt the change this year, if desired. The New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association decided to make the rule change for this coming school season, so it will impact both Union Catholic and Scotch Plains-Fanwood high schools.

Creating a better balance between the offense and the defense was the main reason the change was made.

"Our main thrust is getting the defense more involved," Mary Struckhoff, NFHS assistant director and liaison to the Softball Rules Committee, said in a statement. "When more balls are hit into play, the defense is more involved in the game, thus enhancing skill development."

Union Catholic’s two pitchers for 2010 will be junior Kayla Kline and freshman Colleen Dow, both right-handers and Scotch Plains residents.

"Fan-wise, a little more offense is wanted," Ryan said. "This rule will also give fielders more game play and will expand that part of the game. If you're on a team where your pitcher strikes out 15-16 batters, the fielders are not that much involved. This rule change could change that, with fielders getting more opportunities to field batted balls."

The new distance rule won’t be the only change for Union Catholic’s softball team this year.

Ryan is also excited about the brand new FieldTurf surface his team will be playing on next spring for the first time. The girls' soccer team will also be playing on FieldTurf this fall.

"Our softball field wasn't horrible, but it wasn't the greatest field," Ryan said. "I'm kind of old fashioned and will miss the grass, but the FieldTurf will enable us to play more games and have less rained out. We will now have the chance to play the day after it rains and maybe even on a day when it rains."

Union Catholic went 7-10 this past season, with four-year varsity player Jessica Murawski moving from third base to pitch in the second half.

The Vikings managed to sweep Rahway, winning 9-7 on the road and then 11-6 at home. UC scored three runs in the top of the seventh to take a 9-6 lead in the road victory.

Other wins came over Oak Knoll 5-1 and against Roselle 25-2.

In a 4-1 setback at Wardlaw-Hartridge, Murawski tossed a four-hitter, striking out six and walking six. 

Hitting stars for the Vikings this past season included Shannon Deegan, Katie Zolli, Maresa Scordino, Erin Farley and Maggie Walsh.