THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 24, 1994 TAG: 9407210216
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 62 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Imagine you've played a sport all your life, you're pretty good at it, and you think maybe your participation in that sport could even help you pay for your college expenses through a scholarship.
For high school girls softball players in North Carolina, this scenario is almost nothing but a dream, according to some college coaches and parents.
Take the case of Kim Jensen, a rising senior and first base player on the Manteo High School softball team. Kim went to a softball camp in Charlotte in the hopes of improving her skills. What she got was a dose of reality when college coaches told her, and other players from North Carolina, that they had almost no shot of making any University of North Carolina system softball team, let alone receive a scholarship. The reason? Girl softball players in North Carolina still play the slo-pitch game while players from almost every other state in the nation play fastpitch. According to some college coaches, most of the North Carolina girl softball players are unprepared to play the fast-pitch game.
``You're going to be looked at differently because you have to be retrained,'' said Kim's mother, Lucille Jensen. ``There's just not an equal opportunity out there. The coaches at that camp said they will most likely look elsewhere for players.''
Such is the case at Elizabeth City State University, a constituent school in the UNC system. According to Ed McLean, athletic director at ECSU, finding pitchers and catchers from North Carolina is a tough task.
``We just don't develop that kind of position at the high school level in this state,'' McLean said. ``It seems to be a problem at pitcher and catcher.''
McLean said ECSU does not currently offer athletic scholarships for softball, but is considering offering one in the future to attract a fastpitch pitcher. ``Most likely that player will be from out of state unless we can find one from here that we can develop.''
One player who has made a successful adjustment from slo-pitch to fast-pitch softball is Leslie Simpson, a former shortstop at Currituck County High School, who is now a catcher at Bluefield College in Virginia. Simpson, who received a scholarship as one of the top prospects out of the Albemarle area, said that playing slo-pitch in high school put her at a disadvantage when competing against players from other states.
``Offense was something I really had to work at. Every day I took extra swings after practice and I got a lot of help from the baseball coaches,'' Simpson said. ``Slo-pitch keeps you playing but it's not helping with the hitting. It's two totally different styles of hitting.''
Slo-pitch hurlers throw the ball about 35 mph or less at an arc. Fast-pitch pitchers wind up and throw the ball hard, sometimes as fast as 80 mph.
``We had a girl pitch against us who threw about 80,'' Simpson said. ``Nobody could touch her.''
Simpson did eventually adjust to the 60-65 mph pitchers. She hit a cool a disadvantage to play slo-pitch; you really have to put in the extra hours,'' she said.
But Simpson's case is the exception, not the rule. How many players are going to be able to adjust to pitching that's twice as fast as they are used to?
That is why Lucille Jensen hopes to disseminate information about changing North Carolina's high schools from slo-pitch to fast-pitch at the upcoming State Babe Ruth Softball Tournament to be held in Dare County beginning July 28.
``Hopefully we can put pressure on the state to switch over as quickly as they can,'' she said. ``If public support makes the difference, then the strength is there. Hopefully these groups will go back to their home towns and say, `We would like you to support this.'
``It needs to be supported,'' she added, ``because it's an opportunity for a child to get to a college that maybe she couldn't afford.'' by CNB