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| SOFTBALL LINKS |
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First And Third, The Runner Goes!
by Dave
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
(Revised April 19, 2007)
If you've ever spent much time (more than a day) around this sport, no doubt you've seen this situation. Runners on first and third, the pitch is thrown and the runner from first goes. Often, the runner from first will do a delayed steal, jog or run slowly to second, even stop between the bases in an attempt to cause a pickle and allow the runner from third to score. Generally the team in the field indifferently allows the runner to steal second without so much as a look. This frustrates me almost as much as seeing the catcher do something useless or harmful like throwing the ball immediately through to second or right down to third. You don't want to throw through to second unless you are willing to give up a run - say you're up by 8 runs and there's already an out or two in the late innings. Throwing immediately to third usually doesn't surprise anyone and can cause an error, so you might just as well throw the ball back to the pitcher.
I once watched a state championship softball game in which the catcher immediately threw the ball to third. An experienced runner knows how to get into the way of a ball thrown to third by the catcher. This runner did and the ball hit her in the helmet, careened into left and she scored the tying run. The runner stealing second was able to advance to third on the overthrow from which she scored the game winner on a sac fly. A good high school baseball team seldom makes this mistake but even some college softball teams practice defensive indifference or have the catcher throw to third. There are other options.
Obviously game conditions determine what you should do with first and third. If it is late in a close game, you want to put the pressure on the batter to do something. You don't want to give up a run or possibly two by playing aggressively in the field and handing the game to your opponent. On the other hand, if you're up by a few runs, you may not care about the runner at third and be willing to trade an out for a run. But if it is the first inning, nobody out and you have reasonable expectations of touching up the opposing pitcher, you may want to do something to make a statement. In any event, you need to practice the first and third situation many times before using it in a game. Practicing this can be an excellent tool to teach and practice situational defense of all sorts so you are not simply wasting practice time by doing something you will use seldom if ever.
There is a basic way to handle first and third once you reach a point at which the girls can throw well and are reliable as far as catching a thrown ball. I think this can start at 12U. 10s can't handle it very well unless your players are January 11s with strong arms and some experience. 14Us should definitely have some sort of play to handle this situation as well as many others which aren't often addressed at younger age levels.
The play basically involves throwing the ball to a middle infielder standing between the edge of the circle and second base. The middle infielder throws the ball immediately to third if the runner is off base but not breaking for home. If she breaks, the throw, obviously, goes to home. If the runner on third isn't paying attention for some reason or is heading back to the bag, you can let the throw go through to second base.
Who catches the throw from catcher and makes the play is up to the coach. This decision really depends on the abilities of your team and the age of the players. At 14U, I would hope your second baseman is fairly capable and has a decent arm. That's not always the case. At 12U, unless you are an "A" team, second base is usually a place where you put a kid who can field grounders reasonably well and has some range, but she may not have the strongest arm. In any event, the qualifications you want in order to run this play are 1) the ability to catch a throw from the catcher including an offline one, 2) the ability to get the ball out of the glove quickly when making a throw, 3) a strong (or strong enough) throwing arm, and 4) a little mental toughness. For the purpose of brevity, we'll refer to the player standing between the pitcher and second as the "cutoff." The other middle infielder will cover the bag at second in case the runner from third does not go and you want to let the throw go through. We'll call her the "cover."
So, it's first and third and the runner from first goes. Your catcher comes up throwing and her target is basically, like on any other steal, the bag itself. If the fielders were already in position, that would be about in line with where the cutoff's head or chest is located. But they won't be in position yet since they weren't really moving until the ball reached the catcher. When the catcher releases the ball, they are moving into position and maybe about half the way to their destinations. Somebody has to call whether to cut and throw to third or home, or let the ball go through. This could be the coach in the dugout but the cutoff probably won't hear the coach. I think the best bets for play caller are either the first baseman or the rightfielder. The rightfielder has no other responsibility on the play and has the best view of the whole field. But there's nothing wrong with having the firstbaseman call the play since she doesn't need to see the runner from first all that well. It's the runner on third whose actions determine the play.
In practice, you want to make sure you set up the play properly but don't let your middle infielders cheat because that makes it too easy. You want them first playing for a hit ball and then covering in accordance with the play you have designed. If you let them cheat in practice, the results in the game are either they'll forget and get started late or they'll cheat and the batter will hit a basehit past one of them.
You also don't want to have your first baseman randomly call the play. Put somebody on third and give them instructions or a sign to have them A) not be paying attention - not go, B) run immediately home without watching the play, C) get a big lead but go nowhere, D) get a lead and then start down the line after the catcher throws but come bag to the bag, E) any other variation you like. This is a good opportunity for your outfielders and other players to practice their baserunning skills too. So your first baseman keys off what the runner at third does and makes the call accordingly. Your middle infielders get used to getting the play call from the first baseman.
A visitor to the site suggested, if I understand him correctly, that you can use the cutoff as a decoy. In his view, the SS is the cover and 2nd is the cutoff but she's really just a decoy. The throw always goes through to the SS but 2nd makes it look to the runner on third as if she is going to cut off the throw. This should make the runner freeze or go back to the bag after which you tag out the runner from first. The runner on third does not have enough time to break for home and if she does, a decent throw by the SS will nail her.
I don't disagree with this approach. It is less complicated and involves less decision making. Nobody has to "call" the play but somebody has to tell the SS if the runner from third is going. Like I said, this is less complicated and probably as effective. The one reservation is I don't want the ball to frequently go through to second base. I want the cutoff to make the play most of the time since I believe once the runner at third sees the catcher release, she will break for home. Throwing through every time takes away time to make the throw home. And if the throw is offline to the first base side of second, that can blow the play for you. If the cutoff gets the throw, even an offline throw can result in an out at home - that takes the pressure off the catcher to make a perfect throw. Also, inducing the runner from third to get off the base, in the event that she doesn't break immediately for home, can help you get her out at third.
In any event, these suggestions are your basic first and third play. Maybe your team can do it perfectly the first time and every time. Maybe they can't possibly do it. Or maybe with some practice they can do it well 75% of the time. I can't speak to that. But I do know that if you never try it out in practice, they won;t ever be able to get an out in this situation. And if you don;t practice it and then try it out in a game, you will never know whether they can pull this off or not. if you can do this, get an out, and not allow a run to score, you are going to have that over your opposition and discourage them from running all over you.
If you just let things happen, if you don't bother trying this out in practice, I can almost guarantee that some of the time your catcher is going to throw the ball down to second. I can almost guarantee that the SS is going to turn and throw the ball back to her too late without having gotten an out at second. Then most likely, there is going to be a play which causes your catcher to lose track of the ball or collide with the runner from third which will in turn allow the runner at second to move up to third. Then your pitcher is going to get mad at her fielders and walk the next batter, leaving you with first and third again! I've stood in the dugout watching girls I thought to be good ballplayers do this. Actually I've seen this happen multiple times consecutively. Guess what we did in our next practice!Labels: defense
 
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