Whitney Kyles utilized a simple yet effective technique Saturday afternoon en route to the second win of her brief fast-pitch softball career: Just throw it. Aim for the catcher”s glove.
Kyles, who is more comfortable in her normal role as catcher, started the second game of Columbus High School”s busy day at Propst Park, a 5-4 victory against Caledonia that was more than enough to impress coach Rusty Greene.
After overcoming some early problems, she kept enough batters off base and coupled with solid defense from her teammates, gave the Lady Falcons plenty to celebrate.
Her play highlighted an afternoon of fill-ins for Columbus (5-12), which played without nearly half of its starting lineup — four players were unable to participate for personal reasons, Greene said. He had to call members of the junior varsity team to play.
The mixture of starters and substitutes struggled through a 7-6 loss against Smithville in Columbus” first game and then watched Kyles, a junior, gain a new-found appreciation for pitching.
“It”s hard,” she said. “It”s very hard because you”re not used to just pitching.”
As a catcher, she understands how to work a batter, to make them swing at pitches they really don”t want to swing at. But as she has learned, it”s one thing to understand it and another to do it yourself.
Ironically, Kyles wants to pitch more. She also knows she”s better behind the plate.
That could change this summer, if she”s able to attend pitching camps and work with a coach. Next year, she could give Columbus the improved arm it needs to compete against the area”s better teams.
“She”s not overwhelming,” Greene said of Kyles” pitches. “But if you throw strikes and let the defense help you out, we”re a pretty competitive team.”
It”s no surprise that pitching is Columbus” weakness. Regular starting pitcher Porcha Brooks can be effective, but she”s also unorthodox. Her signature technique hypnotizes batters with slower-than-usual pitches then watches as they swing, unable to adjust to the varying speed.
To be a competitive team, pitchers must be able to change speeds, win battles on the mound with technical grace, and find the corner of the plate for strikes to throwing fastballs that batters simply can”t catch up to.
And you can”t give up double-digit walks; to Greene, that”s no different then allowing double-digit hits.
“We would be way, way better if we”d walk less people, hit less people,” Kyles said.
Greene said his team needs a regular coach to tutor the pitchers. He doesn”t profess to being a pitching expert. In fact, he had to teacher himself how to throw underhand so he could “have some kind of an idea what I was telling them to do.”
Kyles” outing starting rough as she allowed three runs in the first. Cate Sansing did the most damage, driving in two runs with a double to center.
Columbus then rallied to score five runs. Kyles was a part of rally, driving in runs in the third and sixth, giving Columbus a 5-3 lead. Caledonia attempted to rally in the bottom of the sixth as Hope Burton scored on a wild pitch, bringing Caledonia with a run. But Kyles closed the game with Cara Hopper at the plate and the game was called because of time restrictions.
“She hasn”t pitched all year,” Greene said, “so I hung with her and sure enough, she figured it out.”
On April 7, Kyles shut out Starkville (7-0) in her pitching debut.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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