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| SOFTBALL LINKS |
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Backwards Batter-Baserunner
by Dave
Friday, May 29, 2009
A reader writes in to ask the following question while specifically stating the context as women's college softball.
"Runners on 2nd and 3rd, batter hits a slow roller toward 1st baseman; she fields the ball and runs towards batter-runner coming from home; and batter-runner starts back towards home. What happens to the 2 baserunners?"
Before we get to the baserunners, let's get past the batter. According to rule 12.4.11, the batter is out if "she steps back towards home plate to avoid or delay a tag by a fielder." I think that is a pretty obvious call for any umpire.
Secondly, the ball becomes dead at this moment. And the effect mandated by the NCAA rulebook is "each runner must return to the last base legally touched at the time of the pitch." (emphasis added by me)
The reason I chose to post this very simple rule is because it is a critical part of the game. If you are batting and you've got runners on 2nd and 3rd with one or no outs, you've just got to do anything in your power (anything legal) to get at least one run home. As I implied the other day, we should train girls to hit the ball into play in these situations. We should also train baserunners to look for any bat and ball contact, angle down, that is not hit directly to the pitcher, and go immediately from third on such contact.
From a defensive point of view, the related play I like which I have seen top 20 Gold teams perform involves the first baseman coming down the line to take a throw from another infielder in order to apply a tag before the batter-runner reaches first and, thereby, put her closer to home to throw out the runner from third. This play is used on any infield grounder on which the runner at third does not immediately break for the plate. That shouldn't happen except on balls hit right to third or the pitcher but we have all seen runners at third freeze on infield grounders hit directly at any infielder from time to time.
When infielders field a grounder and the runner at third is frozen, the first baseman is well advised to position herself somewhat down the line to take the throw, apply a tag and make a shorter throw home. This is very useful on balls hit back to the pitcher or 3B when the offensive team has a quick runner at third. Most of the time, the runner from third can be nailed.
Obviously, first basemen who field a grounder directly at them, should, after fielding the ball, sprint towards the batter-runner with both hands on the ball, apply a tag and, if the runner from third breaks, throw home. Also, pretty obviously, the runner from third is the important out most of the time and that has to take precedence unless you are already up by a large number of runs. In those relatively infrequent cases, getting the batter-runner out would take precedence unless your pitcher is going for some sort of shutout record!
Another reason this rule is important is because sometimes we find ourselves in a first and third situation in which a hit and run or run and hit play is called. On those, the runner at first either goes immediately or gets a larger than normal lead and goes on contact. if the ball is hit right to the first baseman, she attempts a tag, and the batter-runner retreats to avoid or delay the tag, not only is the runner from third prohibited from attempting to score due to the dead ball condition, but also the runner from first heading to second must return to first.
As with all rules, it is critical that our players understand them in order to avoid unintended consequences. Everyone on your team should be instructed to not back away from a tag when becoming a batter-runner headed to first on a fair batted ball. If a runner merely proceeds slowly, there is a decent chance she can delay the tag and thereby allow the runner from third to score. If she simply stops or goes very slowly, the rules do not address this. But take a step back and all bets are off.Labels: rules
 
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