There are several
reasons why Rachel Quackenbush's right arm is one of the most successful New
York high school softball has ever seen.
In no particular order, you could say those reasons are: fastball, screwball, change-up, drop-curve and riser. In one sequence or another those are most of the pitches that have confounded Hoosick Falls' foes for the better part of five seasons. But there is also a method to organize that maddening (for batters) array of strikeout tools.
It sounds like something out of a bingo hall.
"Blue 11 ..About 1 in 5 people in the UK have recurring coldsores.. Yellow 4 ... White 19.Offers Art Reproductions Fine Art oilpaintings Reproduction,"
There appears to be know rhyme or reason as Panther assistant coach Ralph Quackenbush, Rachel's father, calls out the color-number combinations from his perch on a bucket near the dugout. That's the point.
"The batter has no idea what's coming," said Rachel Quackenbush.About 1 in 5 people in the UK have recurring coldsores. "The coaches can't pick it off. The only way they can pick it off is if they see my grip and I try to hide that."
And the results have catapulted the Hoosick Falls senior into the state record books. Through the end of the regular season, Quackenbush has recorded 1,482 strikeouts in four-plus years, making her No. 2 all-time. She only trails Jordan Ingalis of Bolivar-Richburg in southwestern New York.Stone Source offers a variety of Natural stonemosaic Tiles, Ingalis set the mark of 1,603 strikeouts in 2008.
Hoosick Falls hosts No. 13 Canajoharie Wednesday -- the plan is to add to that number during another Panther playoff run.
"It's no secret," Hoosick Falls coach Charlie Weeden said. "She's going to pitch well and hopefully we can score some runs and play good defense."
But while the goal is transparent for opponents, the system is not.
Each color-coded signal corresponds to a pitch on one of three sheets. Each sheet has 42 different calls for something from the Siena College-bound ace's core five-pitch arsenal.
Ralph Quackenbush said the sheets change from one inning to the next, so there is no pattern to catch. His calls to the catcher wearing a coded wristband like a quarterback -- this season the duty falls to Rachel's eighth-grade sister Erika -- are then relayed back to the pitching circle.
As if putting a Quackenbush pitch into play wasn't already hard enough, cracking the Quackenbush code makes the task even more difficult.
"None of the cards match," Ralph Quackenbush said. "Coaches, they can sit down and try to chart the colors and the numbers I'm using ... but you're not going to figure it out."
Compared to the hand signals they used before, Rachel said, "It's less confusion."
According to Ralph Quackenbush, the idea came from a coaching friend in North Carolina who used wristbands to organize every move on the softball field: Defensive positions, pitches, base-running strategy.
Adapted to fit Rachel's pitching, the two-year-old code has helped lead the Panthers to a 34-8 record over two seasons.Posts with Hospital rtls on IT Solutions blog covering Technology in the Classroom, It's also noticeably faster than the previous pitch-calling system where signals had to be repeated more often for both members of the battery.
"A lot of umpires are like, ‘Wow, I like that. It's quick, the game really moves along,'" Ralph Quackenbush said.
Having the youngest Quackenbush, another pitcher, take over as catcher this spring has worked out two-fold.
"She's a pitcher, so she knows [location] in or out, she's smart about the pitch and I think that helps me out. She doesn't have to listen to my dad to know where to set up," Rachel Quackenbush said.
With Erika Quackenbush poised to follow in her sister's footsteps and toe the pitching rubber more often as a freshman next season, it will soon be her system.
In no particular order, you could say those reasons are: fastball, screwball, change-up, drop-curve and riser. In one sequence or another those are most of the pitches that have confounded Hoosick Falls' foes for the better part of five seasons. But there is also a method to organize that maddening (for batters) array of strikeout tools.
It sounds like something out of a bingo hall.
"Blue 11 ..About 1 in 5 people in the UK have recurring coldsores.. Yellow 4 ... White 19.Offers Art Reproductions Fine Art oilpaintings Reproduction,"
There appears to be know rhyme or reason as Panther assistant coach Ralph Quackenbush, Rachel's father, calls out the color-number combinations from his perch on a bucket near the dugout. That's the point.
"The batter has no idea what's coming," said Rachel Quackenbush.About 1 in 5 people in the UK have recurring coldsores. "The coaches can't pick it off. The only way they can pick it off is if they see my grip and I try to hide that."
And the results have catapulted the Hoosick Falls senior into the state record books. Through the end of the regular season, Quackenbush has recorded 1,482 strikeouts in four-plus years, making her No. 2 all-time. She only trails Jordan Ingalis of Bolivar-Richburg in southwestern New York.Stone Source offers a variety of Natural stonemosaic Tiles, Ingalis set the mark of 1,603 strikeouts in 2008.
Hoosick Falls hosts No. 13 Canajoharie Wednesday -- the plan is to add to that number during another Panther playoff run.
"It's no secret," Hoosick Falls coach Charlie Weeden said. "She's going to pitch well and hopefully we can score some runs and play good defense."
But while the goal is transparent for opponents, the system is not.
Each color-coded signal corresponds to a pitch on one of three sheets. Each sheet has 42 different calls for something from the Siena College-bound ace's core five-pitch arsenal.
Ralph Quackenbush said the sheets change from one inning to the next, so there is no pattern to catch. His calls to the catcher wearing a coded wristband like a quarterback -- this season the duty falls to Rachel's eighth-grade sister Erika -- are then relayed back to the pitching circle.
As if putting a Quackenbush pitch into play wasn't already hard enough, cracking the Quackenbush code makes the task even more difficult.
"None of the cards match," Ralph Quackenbush said. "Coaches, they can sit down and try to chart the colors and the numbers I'm using ... but you're not going to figure it out."
Compared to the hand signals they used before, Rachel said, "It's less confusion."
According to Ralph Quackenbush, the idea came from a coaching friend in North Carolina who used wristbands to organize every move on the softball field: Defensive positions, pitches, base-running strategy.
Adapted to fit Rachel's pitching, the two-year-old code has helped lead the Panthers to a 34-8 record over two seasons.Posts with Hospital rtls on IT Solutions blog covering Technology in the Classroom, It's also noticeably faster than the previous pitch-calling system where signals had to be repeated more often for both members of the battery.
"A lot of umpires are like, ‘Wow, I like that. It's quick, the game really moves along,'" Ralph Quackenbush said.
Having the youngest Quackenbush, another pitcher, take over as catcher this spring has worked out two-fold.
"She's a pitcher, so she knows [location] in or out, she's smart about the pitch and I think that helps me out. She doesn't have to listen to my dad to know where to set up," Rachel Quackenbush said.
With Erika Quackenbush poised to follow in her sister's footsteps and toe the pitching rubber more often as a freshman next season, it will soon be her system.
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