Baseball Vs. Softball: What’s Harder?
For years, softball and baseball have been consistently compared. Some may think softball is harder, while some insist that baseball requires more skill. They are very similar games, but they require different skills. This begs the question, which really is the more difficult sport?
The Breakdown: Softball
Invented in 1887, George Hancock created softball and set two categories for the new sport: slow pitch and fast pitch. Slow pitch was originally created for recreational purposes, meanwhile, women’s fastpitch is a Summer Olympic sport and is played professionally. Softballs were made to be soft at first and were made with pig bladders. They eventually developed to being made with cork.
The Breakdown: Softball
Softball is a seven-inning fastpitch game that has the objective of scoring the most runs before the seven innings are over. This is done by hitting the ball, making it around four bases, and scoring at home.
The Breakdown: Baseball
Baseball, however, was created before softball. Abner Doubleday is credited with inventing the word baseball in 1839. He also came up with the concepts for the typical baseball field, positions held by players, and the majority of the rules. Baseball was created exclusively to be a competitive sport, not a recreational one. People did not start playing baseball professionally until June 1846. Made originally from rubber core, baseballs are now made from cork. How do these two similar games differ then?
The Game: Baseball
Baseball is a nine-inning game that has the same objective as softball. Get the most runs than the opponent before the nine innings are over.
Opinions
Freshman Lily Rowlands says, “I think they are equal because the rules are different. But at the end of the day, they are the same and one should not be compared. I think softball is more restrictive; baseball players got to head slide way before softball, and they got to pitch way before softball got to pitch. Other than that they are the same.”
Mr. Mottram, the baseball coach at Pentucket, says: “It is hard for me to say because I’ve never played softball. But I think the hardest thing to do is hit a moving ball in a short time; so I think they are equal. I wouldn’t say one is easier to play. I [personally] think I’d find a softball ball harder to hit than a baseball.”
Miss Freitas, assistant softball coach at Pentucket, says: “I would say they’re both very hard. Because it is mostly a mental game, when you make a mistake you come back from it a lot of the time. People think baseball is harder, because of the speed, but softball is just as hard. Just because of the distance between the mound and the plate, the spin of the ball, and I think both are equally hard.”
Senior Caleb Meisner, a baseball player at Pentucket, stated: “Baseball, I’m kind of biased. I feel like the pitching is harder to hit, there are farther base paths and an outfield. Overall I think baseball is harder.”
Junior Zach Bishopp says, “Both of them have different parts. Softball pitching you have to throw it underhand, but baseball is harder because they’re throwing at 80 miles per hour, and there’s no pro softball. Baseball also has less contact surface. It’s harder to hit a softball up and far than just a ground hit.”
Senior Michael Inger states that, “They’re just different sports, I think they’re both equally as hard in their own ways. Baseball is a lot faster, but I think softball may be harder to throw because the ball is larger. Everyone thinks softballs are easier to hit, but they’re much heavier so there’s more room for error.”
Conclusion
Though the decision is tough, and the topic is controversial, many find softball and baseball to be very similar when it comes down to it. There are different variations of the game between skill and statistics, but they are both equal at the end of the day. From the little change in rules to how the ball is made. Though there are many differences, they are the same game, one is just altered a little bit.
