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Lakota East High softball coach Steve Castner puts his trust in junior catcher Emily Lafferty.

How?

Lafferty has been handed the responsibility to call the pitches for the Thunderhawks, and she does so about 90 percent of the time.

"A lot of catchers don't like to make the calls," Castner said. "They want to worry about the physical aspect of the game. Most of the teams that I see, the coach over there relays it to the catcher, and then the catcher relays it to the pitcher. She's a smart girl and she knows the game."

And the majority of the time, it's fellow junior Hillary Ballinger who's receiving those signals from inside the circle.

Through the weekend, Ballinger, a right-hander, had a 9-5 record with a 1.12 earned run average and 148 strikeouts in 106 2/3 innings. What's helped made her so effective is she throws five pitches — fastball, curveball, changeup, riseball and dropball.

"(Lafferty) does a really good job of knowing what to throw to the batters in certain situations, and Hillary follows her lead," Castner said. "Hillary doesn't shake her off very often. They believe in each other."

The pair has known each other since sixth grade, and also has played summer softball and basketball together.

"We're definitely in sync really well," Lafferty said. "We just know what the other one's thinking."

Ballinger and Lafferty took some time this week to chat about each pitch with The Pulse-Journal.

Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5113 or smatthews@coxohio.com.

Dropball

Grip: "My pointer and middle are on the same seam and my thumb is on a seam. My other fingers are on the ball." — Ballinger

Movement: "The point of this pitch is to make the batter think it's coming in at the knees, but by the time it reaches the plate, it's four-to-six inches lower than they think." — Lafferty

Riseball

Grip: "The knuckle of my pointer, and my thumb and middle finger are on the seam."

— Ballinger

Movement: "You have to keep your weight back and release it in a different position. It's the opposite of the dropball. It comes in, and the batter thinks it's right there on the hands, but then it comes up."

— Lafferty

Fastball

Grip: "It's a four-seam fastball. My pointer, middle and ring fingers are around the C-seam, and my thumb is underneath the ball."

— Ballinger

Movement: "There's not as much movement on the fastball. You're just trying to fire it past them."

— Lafferty

Changeup

Grip: "The two knuckles of my pointer and middle are on the C-seam, and my other fingers are on the seams. My arm flings up so it looks like I'm throwing my fastball, but it comes out slow."

— Ballinger

Movement: "It usually drops. But it's about off-speed more than movement."

— Lafferty

Curveball

Grip: "A three-finger grip, and my pointer is curled on the side of the ball."

— Ballinger

Movement: "The curve is about the release, too. It tips the outside of the plate to a right-handed batter, and comes in on a left-handed batter."

— Lafferty

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