It really is more difficult than it looks.

That is the mantra for softball pitchers ?” who may as well be awarded honorary physics degrees ?” as their windmill underhand delivery may appear simple but there is much more going on at each stage of the delivery than the casual fan can pick up on.

“It looks so easy, but no one realizes what it’s really like,” Sacramento State junior pitcher Jennifer Fryou said.

Drive from the legs and hips, arm speed, grip and wrist action are all important variables in making that grapefruit-sized neon ball move up, down and side to side as it sails toward home plate. The slim margin of error means that a nasty breaking pitch could hang at waist level making it much easier to hit ?” what Hornets freshman pitcher Cassie Cervantes calls a “fatty pitch.”

“One tiny mistake can change a whole pitch,” Fryou said. “A lot of things have to go right.”

The biggest determining factor in whether a pitch will work is the way it’s released. The grip of the ball and motion of the wrist could cause a “slice” when the pitcher releases the ball palm up and snaps the wrist in toward their body, “over the top” like turning a doorknob counterclockwise or “pushing” the ball toward the plate with no significant snap.

All of this is done to manipulate the spin of the ball, which will determine what it does in the air. The direction that the ball dictates its motion. For instance, if the spin is tumbling toward the batter gravity will pull it down, and if it is spinning back toward the pitcher it will rise.

“There’s a ton of possibilities for error,” senior pitcher Nikki Cinque said. “But once you’ve done it for a while it becomes muscle memory.”

Fryou’s featured pitch is the curveball, which she runs off the plate and away from right-handed batters and in on left-handers. Cervantes throws a rising fastball that she can start in the strike zone or below the knees and run about two feet up. Cinque throws primarily a changeup and junior Michele Bochenski features a “drop-curve” which works moves down and away from right handed batters, much like a “slurve” in baseball.

That variety makes it difficult for opposing hitters, Hornets coach Kathy Strahan said, as Sac State throws two or more pitchers per double header and disrupts opponents’ timing.

“Hitting is all about timing,” Strahan said. “With that variance we try to keep them off balance.”

That variance is especially apparent earlier when Cervantes ?” who can pitch up to 70 mph, equivalent to 100 mph on a baseball diamond ?” throws directly before Cinque and her 45 mph changeup.

“It’s a completely different look,” Cinque said. “It screws (the hitters) all up and they have to adjust everything.”

Throw Fryou and Bochenski’s breaking pitches into the mix and the Hornets have a potent cocktail of pitching talent that gives hitters fits and each other tips.

“It’s wonderful that each of us has something different to offer,” Fryou said.

“They all help me. They’re way more knowledgeable in (Division I) and have really helped my mental approach,” Cervantes added.

That mental game can be a wild card in the role of the pitcher who is isolated in a circle in the middle of the diamond.

“You have to be confident in your pitches,” Bochenski said. “You can’t break down and get down on yourself or you won’t be effective.”

John Parker can be reached at [email protected]