Leah O'Brien-Amico

Leah O'Brien-Amico tortured softball pitchers when she played in high school in California and in college for the University of Arizona.

She was recently voted as the 44th best athlete in California history. She batted .750 in the Women's College World Series, finished her career at Arizona with a .428 batting average and won three gold medals as a member of the United States Olympic softball team.

She knows hitting. She may know pitching even better.

O'Brien-Amico, who now lives in Eastvale, Calif., with her husband and three young boys, was just as good in the circle in high school before switching to first base full time in college.

She now travels the country instructing youths on the finer points of softball skills, including a camp at Moniteau High School in March.

"I think the instruction for pitching has improved over time," O'Brien-Amico said. "Media has played a role as well as instructional videos and the opportunity to watch the very best in the game pitch on TV."

O'Brien-Amico saw the very best in high school and on traveling teams.

That experience, she said, made her a better hitter and pitcher.

But since those days in the mid-1990s, she said the art of pitching has been raised to a whole new level.

"The girls are starting at a younger age and many more athletes are playing year round," she said.

That is why O'Brien-Amico focuses on proper mechanics at her camp. It used to be pitchers just pitched with little knowledge on how the whole thing worked. Those days are gone.

"Correct mechanics are so important," she said. "If people have bad fundamentals, the girls are more likely to injure themselves."