By Audrey Dodget/Staff Writer

Anyone who attends one of El Reno’s spring softball games may be surprised by several unfamiliar elements of the game.

The Indians are playing slowpitch softball, which sports a number of differences from the fastpitch game they play in the fall.

Slowpitch is designed to favor the batter and make offense a more dominant feature of the game. The pitcher must throw the ball in an arc between 6 and 12 feet high before dropping into the strike zone between the batter’s shoulders and knees. The pitcher is also throwing from a circle 50 feet from home plate, instead of 40 feet in high school fastpitch.

In fastpitch, base runners are permitted to leave their base as soon as the ball has left the pitcher’s hand. In slowpitch, stealing bases is prohibited. The length of time the ball takes to travel to the plate would give the base runner an unfair lead.

One of the most notable differences between the two forms of softball is number of players on the field. In slowpitch, the center fielder is typically replaced by a right-center fielder and left-center fielder, bringing the total number of fielders to 10.

Head coach Lynetta Keller said the first thing spectators will notice is the increased offense in the slowpitch game.

“It’s an offensive game. Everyone hits the ball in slowpitch. You can really see the quality of the defense you have. Your defense is really tested. In fastpitch you have to know how to hit and in slowpitch you have to know how to field,” she said.

Keller, who also coaches the school’s fastpitch squad in the fall, said one of the benefits of playing slowpitch in the spring is a high number of defensive repetitions without the tedium brought on by nothing but practice.

“This allows them to get out and play instead of just practicing every day. They will field a lot of balls, and it keeps them on the edge of competing. I don’t want them to get into an off-season routine and forget what competition is about,” she said.

One of the challenges of organizing the squad is the need to share athletes with other sports, Keller said.

Several players on her 20-member team are also playing soccer or running track. Some are even doing both.

“The team is really understanding of the girls who are playing different sports. They understand, for example that if Summer (Blackowl) is at a track meet on Thursday, she is still probably going to start on Friday, even though she wasn’t at practice the day before. They know what each other are capable of doing,” she said.

Overall, Keller said, the slowpitch season will aid the team in preparing for the fall fastpitch season.

“I’m hoping all of these girls will come out and play in the fall. We have a lot of girls who are interested right now, but they haven’t been able to come out because of their schedules. I’m hoping we’ll get into a really competitive mode and we’ll have some girls who will come out,” she said.

“I want El Reno to accept this and come out and support it.”