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High School Softball To Move Back Pitching Circle

I talked about this in the past, but the National Federation of High School Softball is amending their rules to move back the pitching circle three feet.

What this means is that the effect of hitters being worse in high school than in college should be mitigated. Players like Texas A&M's Megan May will be less likely to go from lightly-regarded prospect to one of the top home run hitters in college softball her freshman season.

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This was very much a move to boost offensive production and lower the possibility that championship games are decided by 1-0 scores. It'll mean teams with one great pitcher are less likely to dominate and good hitting teams have more of a shot at state titles. At the same time, you can see that college softball (which already has the circle at 43 feet) is still won by both great pitching and great hitting. Players like former Cy-Springs prep pitcher Cat Osterman or Arizona's Jenny Finch still were able to dominate hitters.

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So, while this is a big move and should affect games starting next season, it's not going to fundamentally change the high school game.

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