“The wind and the pitch.” Those words have been heard countless times on TV and radio most often during baseball games. But the phrase can be used during softball games as well, even though the style of pitching looks radically different.

The differences between baseball and softball are many. A baseball field is bigger, the distance from the pitcher’s mound to home plate is greater and baseball plays more innings. But perhaps the most significant difference between baseball and softball is the technique of pitching.

Baseball uses an over-the-top style of throwing where the release point is generally above the pitcher’s head. But in softball the art of pitching begins and ends with an underhand motion that ends with the ball being released at the hips.

“Both are natural motions,” said Flames’ coach Richard Ramos. “That’s why people can do it.”

But Ramos said that mastering that skill is not easy.

“Their hands are so small we tell them to just grip it with their full hand. It’s quite different,” he said. “It takes a lot of practice. My oldest daughter used to pitch 50 pitches a day for accuracy and repetition to be consistent.”

Ramos said the most important aspect of pitching wasn’t speed. It’s control, which is something beginners can struggle with. At youth softball games, it’s not uncommon for a young pitcher to let go of the ball too soon and roll a grounder to home plate. If they hold on to the ball just a bit too long, the pitch can soar way over the catcher’s head.

Ramos’ daughter, Allison, is in her first year as a pitcher for the Flames. She said when she first began pitching she struggled throwing strikes. “Sometimes they would go on the ground and not in the air,” Allison said.

But Allison and her dad worked to improve her pitching skills and the results have been positive and she can now throw more pitches across the plate. Allison said that her early struggles will not stop her from reaching her future goals.

“I want to keep pitching and do it in college,” she said.

Phenix pitcher Dellynn Hansen has been pitching for the last four years. She struggled throwing strikes early on in her career.

“It felt bad at first,” Hansen said. “But my dad has helped me a lot.”

Hansen said that she and her father would throw about 50 balls a day and she received additional help from a pitching coach.

Richard Ramos added that a few words of encouragement can prove to be beneficial.

“Be positive,” he said. “You can explain to them why it went this way or that way. But end on a positive. They feed off that.”

Although Ramos has seen plenty of youngsters throw pitches way too high, too low and way outside, he won’t let them give up.

“My goal is to keep them playing,” he said. “We don’t want to drive them away. We want them to have fun and keep playing.”