As can be seen from the purple-and-black logo to the right, I was invited to join the Women Talk Sports network and have agreed to do so. Obviously, I'm a man, but my blog's subject matter of NCAA softball fits squarely with the aim of raising awareness of, and interest in, women's sports. Practically speaking, there won't be any changes in the operations of the College Softball Blog. For those of you whose interest in women's athletics encompasses additional sports beyond softball, however, a click on the Women Talk Sports icon will take you to a venue for following the full gamut of women's sports.
This Friday (and all remaining Fridays of the regular season), I will preview the upcoming weekend's games. Before doing so, I wanted to do an entry, primarily for sports fans who have not watched much softball, on differences they could expect to see between softball and baseball. The Sandy Plains Softball Association of Marietta, Georgia has produced a document entitled Fastpitch 101 , which details the similarities and differences in the rules of the two sports. Here are some of my own observations from over the years: 1. Because the bases are considerably closer together in softball (60 feet) than in baseball (90 feet), softball infielders consistently must pick up ground balls and make their throws to first base quickly, in order to get the runner. In other words, many (if not most) softball grounders result in "bang-bang" plays at first base, necessitating a lot of close calls by first-base umpires, who must detect whether the thrown ball (to the first-baseperso...