WIAA moves softball pitching distance to 43'
posted by at 10/19/2009
In a move that should not have surprised anyone, the WIAA Board of Control passed a resolution to move the pitching distance in fastpitch softball to 43 feet beginning in 2010.
Two separate surveys, one conducted by Bob Tomlinson of the Fastpitch Chronicle and Wissports and another one by the WFSCA clearly showed that moving to 43 feet in 2010 was the preferred way of doing it. The only other alternative was to wait until 2011. Most coaches, even those who strongly opposed moving at all , felt that if it was going to be required by 2011 we might just as well move there in 2010.
Most fall leagues have been operating at 43 already in anticipation of official word from the WIAA.
Here is the actual release that all athletic directors in the state received today from the WIAA office.
A significant change increasing the pitching distance in softball for the 2010 season was approved by the Board. The distance from the pitching rubber to home plate will be extended to 43 feet, three feet further than the traditional distance.
Another action was also approved by the Board of Control, That being the implementation of the international tie-breaker rule. Here is the wording from the release today. The Board also supported a recommendation to allow the use of the international tie-breaking procedure for all non-WIAA tournament games when mutually agreed upon. The rule places a runner at second base to start an inning when a game advances into extra innings. Remember, it must be mutually agreed opon prior to the game. In many invites the rule will most likely be a part of the tournament rules as it has been in the past in many of them anyway.
A third action addresses a question that we wondered about last spring when we noticed a coin toss at the Division 1 Sectional sites. We wondered why the higher seeded team was not automatically the home team. The Board approved the recommendation to award home team status to the higher seeded team at all Division 1 sectionals in the future.
BT
In addition, the higher seeded team in
Division 1 will host the sectional semi-finals beginning in 2010.
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