As an ACT coordinator and an in-school suspension teacher, Patrick Van Amburgh is experienced serving youth with psychological problems and academic difficulties. A sports-minded person, Patrick Van Amburgh likes to spend his leisure time watching baseball and playing softball. As an ACT coordinator and an in-school suspension teacher, Patrick Van Amburgh is experienced serving youth with psychological problems and academic difficulties. A sports-minded person, Patrick Van Amburgh likes to spend his leisure time watching baseball and playing softball.

1. Patrick Van Amburgh

2.  As an ACT coordinator and an in-school suspension teacher, Patrick
Van Amburgh is experienced serving youth with psychological
problems and academic difficulties. A sports-minded person, Patrick
Van Amburgh likes to spend his leisure time watching baseball and
playing softball.
Although many people regard baseball as a sport for males and
softball as a sport for females, both sports are gender-mixed.
However, significant differences exist between the two games:
- Pitching: Baseball hurlers use a 9-inch-circumference ball, white
with red stitching. Their adult softball counterparts use a 12-inch ball;
younger players have a ten-inch-circumference white ball. Baseball
pitchers throw overhand (a distance of 60 feet six inches) from an
elevated mound, while softball players throw underhand (a distance
of 35 to 43 feet) from a ground-level position.

3.  - Bats: Both sports have variable-length bats, with a maximum of 42 inches
for baseball and at most 34 inches for softball. Baseball bats are also wider
and hence heavier than softball bats. (Both types of bats use a length-to-
weight ratio called a drop to express the weight difference. The higher the
drop, the lighter the bat.)
- Fields: Both sports employ a diamond-shaped base-running path. The
distance between bases is 90 feet in baseball and just 60 feet in softball. In
baseball, the home-run fence is at least 250 feet from home plate, and
usually much farther out. The softball home-run fence minimum is 220 feet.
- Game play: Although both games are played by innings, baseball usually
has nine innings and softball seven. While a tie game in baseball goes on
until it is resolved, softball only has one extra inning - in that event, the
offensive team begins the inning with a runner placed on second base. In
baseball, a runner may attempt to steal a base at any time, but a softball
player must wait until the pitch has been hit before leaving the base.