I have now watched the finals game of the Premier League three times, the one in which Brooke Vestal pitched the Firecrackers Rico to the national championship, 2-0. I think that Brooke was a bit young for this team. I think she could pitch there next year as well, maybe the next two years. I could be wrong on that. I also think Brooke is due in to OU the year that Paige and Paige leave. They won't overlap.
Brooke is pretty tall, and she throws effortlessly. The announcers said that she wasn't an overpowering pitcher. But, she was deceptive in her speed. She seems tall enough to be overpowering. She seems to have excellent control, and she moves the ball all around the plate. She hits both corners quite well, and often keeps it low. But, her favorite strikeout pitch is the rise. Nearly all of the balls that were hit resulted in little popups. Only a couple of balls were stroked hard, one a single to left, the other a long fly to center, about four feet from being a solo shot. That was about the only ball hit further than about sixty feet. Several were pops to the catcher, third, or first. The game ended, appropriately, on a pop to second, right behind the mound.
The Cruisers did threaten twice, both off of walks, a single, and an error. They had two on in the fourth, and loaded the bases in the fifth. Little pops to the catcher got them out of it. Brooke didn't allow a base-runner for the first three innings.
I suspect that she can throw harder. She is an athletic-type pitcher. I think she pitched the last five or six games of the title run for them. It was enough to say that she ran through the national championships and won.
I think she also has a curve, change, and screwball.
