Illegal Pitch Calls Tripp Up Spartans

When Chanel Tripp was 8 and learning how to pitch in her backyard, she would throw down her glove and storm into the house when she didn’t like her father’s instructions.

“There would be times when I was pitching [to my father] and we would argue and I’d end up crying,” Tripp said. “It was horrible.”

Tripp and her relationship with her father, Robert, have come a long way in eight years.

“He still gets on my case now and then, but not about softball,” said the Rio Mesa High junior. “The only thing he nags me about now is [lifting] weights and running.”

In the last year, Tripp’s father has been replaced in the nagging department by a few Ventura County umpires, who seem inclined to call Chanel for illegal pitches.

“It infuriates me,” Tripp said. “That’s the only thing where anger rushes down my entire body.

“But you can’t do anything about it because [umpires] are part of the game.”

Tripp has been called for 21 illegal pitches this season for stepping outside the length of the pitching rubber during delivery.

The rule, though rarely enforced in high school, is intended to prevent pitchers from gaining velocity by stepping to the side.

“I don’t know what to do about it because I don’t believe I step [out of the imaginary box],” Tripp said. “I know I step on the line, but it’s not like I’m way out there.”

Tripp (19-3), who has a 0.18 earned-run average and 253 strikeouts in 155 innings, will lead Rio Mesa (20-6), the Pacific View League champion, against Saugus (15-11) in a first-round game of the Southern Section Division II playoffs Friday at Rio Mesa.

She was first called for an illegal pitch last season against Thousand Oaks. Her first pitch was ruled illegal and six more followed in a 0-0 tie in nine innings.

Against Hueneme, Tripp was called for 10 illegal pitches while throwing a one-hitter and Rio Mesa lost, 1-0, in nine innings. The winning run scored on an illegal pitch.

Suddenly, Tripp had a reputation.

“[That umpire] made a really big deal about it [against Hueneme] and ever since then it got around to the umpires,” Tripp said.

Rio Mesa Coach John Velasquez also disputes the calls against Tripp. He suspects opposing coaches have asked umpires to scrutinize Tripp’s delivery.

“I’ve never had this happen in 16 years of being a head coach,” Velasquez said. “I’m from the old school. If the girl can pitch the ball over the plate, we have to hit it. It’s that simple. Some coaches seem to feel they have to get inside a player’s head.”

In Rio Mesa’s first game against Hueneme on April 17, Tripp was not called for an illegal pitch. Two days later in a rematch, with a different umpire behind the plate, Tripp was called for three illegal pitches and two Hueneme pitchers were each called for two.

“I think [the umpire] knew he was going to call [Tripp] for it because she was called for it all year and last year,” Hueneme Coach Nichole Victoria said. “So, I guess he had to make it even or something. I don’t know. It was ridiculous.”

Against Camarillo on May 4, Tripp was called for seven illegal pitches, including four in a row that allowed a runner to score from first base.

“She’s working on technique [to correct it], but you look at all the other power pitchers and they all do something [similar],” Velasquez said.

Tripp said she has never been called for an illegal pitch in travel softball. And she had no illegal pitches as a freshman, when she went 9-11 with a 0.89 ERA.

“It’s not fair to Chanel,” Velasquez said. “I want to keep the focus on her accomplishments because she is having a monster year.”