(AND THE REPONSIBILITY OF THE BOARDS OF DIRECTORS, THE COACHES, AND PARENTS )
Part 1 – Girls High School Softball Pitching
Before you read this week’s story, I would like to direct your attention to a critical topic that needs immediate attention – and I mean NOW!
Our local girls varsity high school softball team (Manchester Central-Manchester Memorial) – the ONLY public high school team in the Queen City – needs additional help with its pitching staff.
As a former baseball pitching instructor, I wish I could help, but I can’t. I know how to teach pitchers the proper mechanics used in throwing a baseball along with the eight different pitches that can be thrown overhand, ¾, sidearm, or submarine from a mound 10” off the surface of the field while properly pushing off a slab of rubber.
However, I know very little about the proper mechanics used in the release of a softball that can be thrown in six different ways all thrown from flat ground…underhanded!
Some common sense “facts”:
- In baseball, no matter what position you play, practically all throws are made overhand.
- Most males and females know how to throw overhand.
- Though many females may not think themselves capable, most males believe they can teach a youngster how to pitch in baseball due to one important fact (see #1)
As a result, males and/or females who want to pitch in baseball have an immediate “natural” advantage. – some women and the majority of men can be of immediate help.
Not so with girls softball.
More common sense “facts”:
If the player is a catcher, an infielder, or an outfielder, the overwhelming majority of throws are made overhand
- all the pitching is done underhanded.
- Males and females can help with every position, but one – the pitcher.
- Unless a person has been a pitcher in softball, there’s no one to provide a pitcher the needed instruction.
Out of curiosity, I asked the members of a male sports group I belong to, a 2-part rhetorical question.
P1 – How many of you believe you could teach a person how to pitch in baseball?
Every one of the 17 men in attendance raised his hand
P2 – How many of you could teach a person how to pitch in softball?
Two men raised their hands, one hesitantly. The male that raised his immediately said he did so because he was an assistant on a girls softball team, coached by a male who didn’t know how, so he had to learn.
The conclusion – plenty of help for baseball pitchers – minimal help for softball pitchers.
Why am I raising the issue?
Please read on!
To give you an example of the struggles I’ve personally witnessed to date, below are the scores of the first five games for Manchester Central/Memorial this season:
RS – Runs Scored RGU – Runs Given Up *Nashua North was their only win last year
RS RGU
04/13/26 Home Nashua North* W 11 – 6 Nashua’s Record 0-4 8 57
04/15/26 at Salem L 0 – 16 Salem’s Record 1-3 31 16
04/17/26 Home KEENE L 0 – 6 Keene’s Record 1-3 12 25
04/20/26 at Portsmouth L 2 – 18 Portsmouth’s Record 3-1 48 27
04/22/26 Home Timberlane L 0 – 15 Timberlane’s Record 2-3 31 29
7-14 130 154
Manchester Central/Memorial W-1 L-4 1-4 13 59
As a former player, coach, and pitching instructor in the sport of baseball, I know, first hand, the importance of having a capable and talented pitching staff to at least have a shot at a successful season.
After all my years in baseball, I know my way around baseball pitching, BUT I know NOTHING about softball pitching. In short, it can be far more complex.
The head coach of C/M is a former high school and college pitcher and I KNOW she has worked with her pitchers so I can’t fault her because as head coach, she is responsible for working with ALL the members of her team, not just her pitching staff.
As a “been there-done that” coach, I believe the fault lies in the fact that her pitchers haven’t received the level of training and instruction that she would have already received in baseball.
Why?
Unless parents can afford it, there is limited skilled softball pitching instruction available at no cost – and there are very few Moms and Dads (females and males) who know how to do it themselves.
I’m asking someone to help me provide additional pitching instruction to the pitchers on this year’s Central/Memorial varsity softball team.
Because I’m a blue-collar guy who was born and brought up in this blue-collar city, I want to include an “old-guy” memory.
The coaches I had in grammar school CYO (there was no LL), and Babe Ruth did it for free.
Like may others, as I grew older, I coached Little League (in NH & FL), Pony League, and the Babe Ruth League for years and we all did it for free – for two reason – some were my sons and we loved baseball.
In an attempt to resolve the problem in the future, the city’s feeder systems MUST provide the level of instructional expertise to take its softball pitchers to the next level of capability to compete with programs like those in Derry, Londonderry, Merrimack, and Windham (BTW – combined, they are 19-2)
Talented pitchers are developed by talented coaches. One of the most important responsibilities of a board of directors has is to supply the athletes in its program with coaches who don’t just possess the proper skills, but also know how to TEACH them
By HELP, I mean:
If YOU were a pitcher and can give their coaching staff some time and their pitchers some instruction,
PLEASE contact me.
If you KNOW someone who was a college pitcher and could provide some one-on-one instruction, PLEASE contact me.
If clearance is necessary, I’ll be happy to speak with Manchester’s Athletic Director, Christine Pariseau Telge.
If YOU can, PLEASE contact me at tedmenswarjr@gmail.com or tedmenswar@outlook.com
You can also call me on our landline (Yes, we still have one!) – 603-622-1833 or my cell 603-391-7126.
Ted Menswar Jr. is a life-long resident of the Queen City and a retired member of the English Department of Memorial High School who has been involved in local sports for 70 years as a player, a coach, a mentor and a fan. He can be reached at tedmenswar@outlook.com