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Do 3 feet matter? Some say moving the softball pitching circle back will mean a needed increase in scoring. Others see it as a safety issue. Still more people wonder what all the fuss is about.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Dave Miller Daily Herald Sports Writer

Goose eggs, shutouts and extra-inning marathons are synonymous with high school softball.

Is it time to push pitchers back 3 feet for the good of the game?

It certainly is for those who would like more offense injected into a sport where runs can be as rare as compliments from Simon Cowell on "American Idol."

Perhaps no athlete dominates a sport as a pitcher does in softball, where low-scoring games are the norm, shutouts are common and strikeouts come in bunches. Batters have a tough job hitting a pitcher who stands 40 feet from home plate.

Count Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum among those who think it would be a good idea moving the pitching rubber back to the college distance of 43 feet.

"Absolutely, unequivocally it should be moved back," Nussbaum said. "It should've been done five years ago. There are just too many games where the hitters don't have a chance. You look at the very first day of DuPage Valley Conference games and the results are 1-0 in 12 innings, 2-0, 6-0 and 2-1. That's just not enough scoring.

"You watch a college game on television and it's so much more interesting than some upper-level high school games. It's too dominated by one player."

Nussbaum pointed out his team had just completed a stretch where his pitchers allowed only 7 runs in the last 64 innings, yet his...