CHRISTIANSBURG — Base coaches have peered over at the dugout where the Christiansburg High School softball team is set up and noticed head coach Seann Gaynor talking. But seemingly, to no one.
Reagan Smith had an opposing team player approach her after a game and inquire about what was strapped to her back.
“I see the coaches standing in the box and I’m sitting right there (in the dugout), and they’re looking at me like, ‘He’s talking. Who’s he talking to?’†Gaynor said.
He’s talking to Smith, squatting behind home plate, receiving instruction.
The National Federation of High Schools approved a rule change for softball last summer that now allows teams to use electronic devices as a method of one-way communication during games. A coach can relay information directly to the team’s catcher, and only the catcher, while on defense. The coach is also restricted from using a device from outside the dugout or bench area.Â
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“The committee has made these changes to support the use of emerging technology within the sport of softball†the rule change’s rationale reads. “Being a permissive rule, the use of this one-way electronic communication will allow those who choose to embrace the technology an additional option to communicate with the catcher while on defense.â€
The Blue Demons have embraced it wholeheartedly. As one, if not the only, Timesland-area squad taking advantage of the new rule, they shopped around for the device they wanted to use, fully implemented it and are seeing results in the form of faster pace of play, concealment of strategy from opposition and an overall higher level of devotion.
“We’re going to try to make the program a little bit bigger and better here,†Gaynor said. “So I bought some cool stuff for them.â€
How it works
Christiansburg softball coach Seann Gaynor relays calls to catcher Reagan Smith during a May 2 game against Patrick Henry in Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø.
Gaynor was surprised, he said, that the NFHS approved the allowance of electronic communication, but got to work trying to figure out the best equipment for his squad.
He looked at different products and asked numerous questions, even inquiring with the Christiansburg baseball team, which was granted the same permission in 2024. He ultimately settled on a company called Porta Phone, a longstanding provider of athletic communication tools.
Here’s how it works. Gaynor wears a headset microphone that transmits his words to a receiver that is strapped onto the back of Smith’s chest protector. The receiver then projects those words through specialty wireless earbuds via Bluetooth.Â
“I didn’t know about it until (Gaynor) told me we were getting it,†Smith said. “I didn’t know that you could do that, so it was really cool to find out that you could just put an earpiece in and he could talk to us.â€Â
Christiansburg catcher Reagan Smith throws the ball while wearing the receiver that transmits coach Seann Gaynor’s pitch calls during a May 2 game against Patrick Henry in Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø. Smith also wears wireless earbuds to hear Gaynor’s calls.
Gaynor uses the device primarily to relay pitch calls and pitch locations to Smith, rather than shouting out a code that corresponds to a pitch located on a wristband or the archaic method of signaling calls via hand gestures. Smith then uses her fingers — the number of fingers shown matching a certain pitch — to send Gaynor’s call to the pitcher.
“I just tell her directly. I’m like, ‘Fastball high and tight. Fastball low and away. Change-up right down the middle. Change-up low and away,’†Gaynor said. “I just tell her that, and then she’s giving one through five.â€
Smith can’t respond directly to Gaynor, so she resorts to nodding back or giving a thumb’s up. Gaynor will also use the equipment to send Smith to the circle for a visit with the pitcher, or to call the infield in to let a player know the next batter hits toward them.Â
The learning curve for mastering the system was relatively low, team members said. The first couple of times they used it in competition, the connection cut out late in games. It was discovered to be the battery of the earbuds going dead, so now Smith recharges them every half inning.
Christiansburg High School softball coach Seann Gaynor wears a headset microphone to communicate with catcher Reagan Smith during a May 2 game against Patrick Henry in Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø.
Another adjustment needed to be made when it was observed that an opposing base runner on second had the angle to see Smith’s fingers behind the plate, could identify which pitch was being thrown and relay that to the rest of the team. In that instance, the Blue Demons will switch back to wristbands and Gaynor will call out codes.
The move to an electronic device also forced Smith and the pitching staff to learn those pitch sequences and know which number of fingers shown corresponds to which toss.
“It was definitely confusing at first. I had never heard of it and then it was just kind of swung on us at one time,†sophomore pitcher Aubrey Davis said. “But once we sat down and learned how to use it, and we got on the same page, then I think it was really effective and it was really exciting that we could use it now.â€Â
Why it works
Christiansburg catcher Reagan Smith hauls in a pitch during a May 2 game against Patrick Henry in Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø.
In a game last season, during Christiansburg’s run to its inaugural state championship, a Blue Demons hurler was called for a 20-second pitch clock violation.
Gaynor thinks that could’ve been avoided with electronic communication.
Christiansburg’s implementation of the Porta Phone device has had a direct impact on pace of play, Gaynor said, speeding up games due to his direct line to the backstop.
It facilitates a flow between pitcher and catcher, where instead of taking the time to locate a yelled-out code on a wristband and ready the corresponding pitch, the ball can smoothly travel between the rubber and the plate.
“If we work better fast, then we can just go when we want and it’s working on our pace, instead of everybody looking at it and not being ready with the wristband because everybody’s trying to find what pitch it is,†Davis said. “This way it’s just me and her.â€
Christiansburg pitcher Aubrey Davis throws a pitch during a May 2 game against Patrick Henry in Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø.
Without wristbands, opposing teams can’t try and catch a glimpse of the Blue Demons’ list of calls. For Smith, she’s able to receive feedback from Gaynor in live time, rather than having to wait until the side is retired to go over any mistakes. She can make corrections, and direct teammates to do the same, before an inning gets out of hand.
“I think we just wanted to be easily communicating, because we don’t want (Gaynor) to have to yell to us all the time if he wants to tell me something,†Smith said. “So just having it in my ear at all times and just being able to hear what he’s saying and make those changes as I’m catching is really helpful.â€
It has also bred more focus and commitment during games, Gaynor said, which has led to success. The team gets more “into it†because of the authority and advantage they feel they have. Gaynor has even let Smith call her own pitches at times, providing just information on batters and their tendencies, and letting her do the rest.
The strategy has worked to the tune of a 10-5 record and a second-place standing in the River Ridge District.
“It seems almost like they’re a little bit more excited,†Gaynor said. “They feel like they have more control over the game, and I think when you do that, they play better. They’re like, ‘This is kind of cool, so we’re in control,’ and they actually do play better.â€
Christiansburg is seemingly in the minority of local teams that are using electronic devices for communication. Numerous area teams reported they are not using any method, and Gaynor said the Blue Demons have not faced an opponent that uses equipment this year.
He likened it to his days coaching 9- and 10-year-olds in travel ball where he implemented wristbands when they first became allowed. It took another couple of years before they became commonplace in the sport.
He believes electronic communication will enter the mainstream soon enough.
“The same thing is probably going to happen with this,†he said. “It’s pretty slick.â€
