If the shoe fits.
California pitcher Katie Sutherland-Finch’s flap at the end of her shoe was a big topic of conversation at Lady Vols softball co-head coach Karen Weekly’s media luncheon. With the flap, Sutherland-Finch was able to legally pitch the ball with the flap hitting the ground. Sutherland-Finch had not pitched an inning this season because of her illegal pitches. Because of this questionable flap, her foot legally hit the ground, thus preventing any illegal pitching motions.
Co-head coach Weekly wasn’t happy when she discussed the controversy.
“There’s nothing in the book that says you can tape a flap to the end of your toe to, all of the sudden, constitute that your foot is on the ground,” Weekly said. “I think that, if that becomes legal, that could be a real game-changer.”
Weekly also went on to say she would never teach her pitchers to pitch like this, and she prefers that her pitchers pitch “legally.”
Pitching Performance: Twelve of the 24 runs the Lady Vols have given up to opponents this season have come in the first and second inning—eight in the first and four in the second.
Weekly said her pitching staff has to stop giving up runs early in the game, and she wants to see her team respond better when it falls behind early.
“In every one of our losses, we were the home team, the first batter got on and we would give up runs in the first inning,” Weekly said. “We didn’t achieve our goal as a pitching staff in those games, but then we also didn’t respond well to some of the adversity of that as an offense, and come back and put up more runs than our opponents.”
Gretchen Aucoin leads the Lady Vols in ERA with 1.43. Rainey Gaffin is behind her with 1.77 and Erin Gabriel has 2.17, which brings the team average to 1.77.
The week ahead: The Lady Vols’ home opener against Georgia Tech for Tuesday was cancelled on Monday, so Tennessee will open up home play this Friday against Murray State at 3 p.m., followed by Furman at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, the Lady Vols will play Bradley at 12:30 p.m. At 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., tournament semifinals will take place, and on March 1, the third place/championship games will take place at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively.
Weekly said her team is ready to play the tournament in Knoxville after playing all its softball games so far on the road.
“Our team loves playing at home,” Weekly said. “We have a great fan base. People come out in groves, and they’re real enthusiastic. Our kids are really excited to be here, and I think we’re all excited to not pack a suitcase for a while.”
