Fireballing 15-year-old makes statement with 83 m.p.h. fastball | CBC News (2024)

Karin Larsen · CBC News

· Posted: Sep 08, 2020 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: September 9, 2020

Told to throw as hard as she could,pitcher Raine Padghamwas just following instructions.

Except in this particular instance — a training session at last week's Baseball B.C. High Performance Camp at WhalleyAthletic Park in Surrey — what happened next was as hot as her bright pink hair.

"Eighty-three," said Anthony Pluta, Canadian Women's Team pitching coach,reading out loud the velocity of Padgham's fastballfor everyone to hear.

That's 83 miles per hour (which would be 134 km/h).

Eighty-three, as in possibly one of the hardest pitches ever thrown by a female player, andalmost certainly the hardest ever thrown by a 15-year-old.

"I've seen some pretty hard fastballs," said Pluta, "but that's the hardest I've seen from a girl in my short time with the national team."

WATCH | Raine Padghamdescribes the moment she broke the 80 m.p.h. barrier:

"It just kind of happened,"said Padgham, a Grade 10 student at Abbotsford Senior Secondary. "I was super-surprised at myself. I'dnever broken the [80 m.p.h.] milestone."

According to coach Logan Wedgewood, the pitch made everyone at the ballpark stop and take notice.

"For most 15-year-olds, regardless of gender, throwing 83 is reallyfast," he said.

Question about record throws

Afterward, there was no high-fivingor Gatorade shower, saidPadgham,just a "good job" from coach Plutabefore resuming the business of throwing her bullpen.

The question of whether the pitch actually broke any recordshas taken a little longer to sort out.

Because women's baseball is a relatively young sport, the keeping of statistics and records doesn't seem to be well established.

Even the GuinnessWorld Book of Recordsis woefully out of date, listinga 2013 throw of 69 m.p.h. (111 km/h) as the fastest ever by a female player.

Internet searchesturn up mentions of women throwing 80 and 81 m.p.h., but there's no official statistics page.

But there is a go-to person at Baseball Canada,longtime national teamcoach and manager AndréLaChance, whose deep knowledge of the women's game is unmatched in the country.

LaChance's take: 83 m.p.h. is not a record breakerbut it is remarkable for a 15-year-old.

"In thelast 15 years, I've seen several pitchers throw harder [in the mid-80s], especially in Japan and in the U.S.," he said on the phone from his home in Ottawa."So, not a world record, to answer your question."

Watching Padgham's progress

Next year when she's 16, Padghamcan take aim at a different record. She'll be old enough to try out for the senior national teamand could possibly become the youngest member ever.

LaChance said her potential and talent are obvious, but he's reluctant to heapexpectations on the teen.

"We always have to be careful to predict the future of an athlete, especially between the ages of 12 to 17, because they haven't finished their maturation or growthandlots of things can change."

Buthe added, "It's going to be interesting to watch her progression, for sure."

For her part, Padgham said news that the pitch wasn't record-breaking doesn't change anything.

She's alreadyset a new goal for a personal best — getting her fastball up to85.

"It gives me something to work for and to challenge myself with," she said.

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