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Covering First Base

I am having an ongoing argument with a guy who says it is the pitcher's responsibility to cover first base, or at least head that way, any time a ball is hit on the right side of the infield. I know this is a good thing to teach a young baseball pitcher because he will eventually be expected to do this on a regular basis as he gets older and the field dimensions grow with him. However my argument is that a fast pitch softball pitcher is in no position after her release to cover first base especially as short as the baseline is compared to baseball players of the same age. Furthermore the runner would have to be extremely slow for the pitcher to beat them to first base. I say if the first baseman is drawn too far from the bag to field a grounder, the second baseman should cover not the pitcher.

Please give me your thoughts on this.

As for fast pitch, I think I agree with you that it would be the second baseman who would cover first - at least generally - but it could depend on the individual coach and how he aligns his infielders for a particular game situation, given the base runners, the number of outs, who the batter is, the positioning of the infielders, the skills/speed of the first and second baseman, etc.

There are circumstances in which the pitcher could be expected to cover first so it is something that she and her infielders should work on in practice.