Catcher is standing directly behind the plate. Last pitch may have been high but it was over the plate. Didn't feel like how you execute an intentional walk. If the coach outsmarted herself, she had her team execute it so poorly

The problem was, I suspect, they hadn't done that three times all year. The catcher was still setting up almost the plate. Just sloppy execution assuming the TX batter wouldn't swing.

So they probably hadn’t even practiced it. Of course, hindsight is always 20/20

know how to walk someone intentionally? One would think that she and the catcher have seen others intentionally walk a player and seen that the glove is to the side. Regardless, after the 1st pitch, the coach and/or the pitching coach should have gone out to the mound and explained to the catcher that she needs to put her glove out the side for the pitches. It is, afterall,, their job to make sure the players are prepared. They paid Canady $1 million in NIL and didn’t work on all aspects of the game? Intentionally walking a player is something that most, if not all, pitchers do at some point in their career and even if it for some reason never come to fruition, coaches should have worked with pitcher/catcher on it. ** Edited by techer1983 at 6/6/2025, 9:00:53 AM

walk and not have to pitch. They need to change this rule for softball too.

intentional walk? The mighty, and tough guys can say put him on, just that easy! But the ladies have to physically go through the process of walking the batter intentionally. How fair is that? I think it should be uniform and either both baseball ⚾️ and softball 🥎 have the same rule or do away with the rule all together. I have seen plenty of coaches just pitch around the hitter and they are normally successful in doing so. At least in this way, you still have the slim chance of them going after bad pitches. Additionally, when a pitcher gets to 3-0, most coaches will give the sign to take the fourth pitch. I’ve seen a pitcher get a strike on it, and then sneak another pitch in that is outside but hits the corner for a strike. Then another border line pitch and they get the call strike or the batter takes first. Top pitchers like Canady are used to placing the ball where they want it. In that case last night, it may have been better to pitch around the hitter. But you can’t intentionally walk a batter with just pitching the ball high with the catcher standing directly behind the plate. Most good hitters can hit the rise ball anyway, and in this case, Atwood did to win the game in the bottom of the 6th. The little things in softball and baseball are why teams lose games. They are hard to factor in because they always seem to come at the least expected moment. Potentially, not practicing intentional walks may have cost Texas Tech and Canady the national championship! The “little” things, a game of inches as the old saying goes!

There are a great number of rule differences, no rule bodies in common, and there shouldn’t be. These are 2 completely different sports that just happen to have a common basis. Heck, baseball pitchers are even allowed to throw overhand while runners take leads. ** Edited by Hokie4Life_89 at 6/5/2025, 11:50:07 PM

90 ft. base paths. I can compare baseball to softball and vice versa. Who makes you an expert? This is clearly my opinion. I have mine and you can have yours! We can agree to disagree in a public forum!

I was just trying to answer your “tell me this” question… because they’re 2 different sports and what one does has nothing to do with the other. Of course you’re entitled to your opinion on where you would like them to be the same.

“I'm a college pitcher," Canady said." I'm a junior now, so I should be able to do that."

. . . she's the J Glasco's daughter so it's safe to say heads will not roll over this.

Typically you would see a catcher extending a hand or glove outside to give a pitcher a visual target, and then the catcher can jump out as soon as the pitch is released. TT gave no indication that they had ever practiced pitchouts. Poorly done, and it cost them the game.

Just don’t pitch for 80 seconds.

You can’t use the pitch clock to intentionally walk a batter. I don’t know how an umpire determines intent, but certainly, 4 straight pitch clock violations in a game where there previously had been none would grab someone’s attention

Edit: I found this on Yahoo. The rule does note, however, that pitchers may not intentionally commit a violation of the rule to add a fourth ball to the count in an attempt to walk the batter. If the umpire deems a violation to have occurred, all base runners will advance one base. A second violation will result in an ejection. Not sure where it is in the rulebook, and I am not reading it all to find it. Also not sure what actually happened in that Duke game. I thought they took four pitch click violations. Maybe they took three pitch clock violations and pitched the fourth one. I guess I missed something. ** Edited by dallasvt at 6/5/2025, 12:42:21 AM

What you describe is correct. Just providing the actual reference to the NCAA rulebook here. I agree that using the pitch clock 3 times and throwing just the 4th pitch would be (unfortunately) allowed without penalty- other than the assessed ball, which is the objective of the defense. Marissa Young is the queen of understanding the letter of the law and using it to her advantage, even if in a way that feels unsportsmanlike and not in the spirit of the game. It gets results, but I’m not a fan. ** Edited by Hokie4Life_89 at 6/5/2025, 9:17:33 AM

Which is far less risky. Never thought about using the pitch clock in that situation.....that's a good idea. ** Edited by SWVAhokiegirl at 6/4/2025, 10:44:50 PM

You should have to execute the actual pitches. If you are going to run scared, you should still need to be able to run. I despise the “point and walk”

High school junior and has been intentionally walked way too many times this year and I get mad every single time. But if I'm a college coach and can use the pitch count clock to not throw the pitches then you dang right I'm taking the less risky option. ** Edited by SWVAhokiegirl at 6/4/2025, 11:47:57 PM ** Edited by SWVAhokiegirl at 6/5/2025, 12:23:06 AM

Let’s face it HS ball isn’t amazing softball. It is, however, the last opportunity to play “competitively” for +90% of all athletes. To deprive big hitters their time to shine at that level is just petty and unnecessary. Just because a good pitcher can usually blow it past 6, 7, maybe 8 players in the opposing lineup, doesn’t mean that we should be giving a free pass to the one kid that can do damage. The outcome of the game in HS shouldn’t be more important than the competitive nature of the game itself. Note: you virtually never see an intentional walk in travel ball, for obvious reasons Note: while I don’t like to see it in college, I recognize that wins matter, jobs are on the line, and there is a lot of impact to having a winning program… at this level strategize as you may. I also reserve the right to boo you as loudly as I possibly can!

. . . you could see that coming after the second pitch. The TX batter could to.

. . . strategy fail repeatedly. The battery was just terribly lazy on the pitchout.

UT had barely made contact all night

. . . Grant 'failed to touch HP' HR. You just don't let the opposing team's best player beat you.