A ball-throwing machine is disclosed that includes one or more launch wheels configured to impart motion to one or more balls, a wheel motor coupled to each of the one or more launch wheels, a first encoder coupled to a first wheel motor coupled to a first launch wheel, a frame attached to the one or more launch wheels, and a control circuit configured to control the one or more launch wheels. In some instances, the control circuit includes a processor, and non-transitory, computer-readable medium having logic stored thereon, wherein the logic, upon execution by the processor, is configured to cause performance of operations including: receiving wheel motor data from the first encoder, wherein the wheel motor data includes a log of revolutions per minute of the first wheel motor, and detect whether a first ball was launched based on a variation in the wheel motor data.