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Bunt D, Geometry, Time and Distance
by Dave
Monday, May 25, 2009
I know I've written about this in the past but I find I must write about it again because I saw this issue change the outcome of games this past weekend. Also, I saw some mistaken comments on a forum which demonstrate a little bit of confusion. So I must address it in a manner which explains the whys and why nots. The issue is bunt defense.
The classic baseball bunt defense with a runner on first involves the third baseman crashing in to cover anything to the right of the pitcher, the pitcher covering the first base side of the field, the catcher covering anything he can get to, particularly out to be about 15 feet, sometimes more, and the first baseman staying at his base to take the throw. Teams can have 2B cover the second base bag and the SS cover third in case the runner from first decides to try to take another 90 feet. Or the player (pitcher, 3B or C) that does not field the bunt can cover third.
This generally does not work in softball. Why? Mathematics. Don 't believe it? Examine the geometry, time and distances involved.
First of all, as we talked about, it takes a baseball runner at least 4 seconds to reach first. Good softball runners get there in under 3. That's a heck of a big difference. To explain this a bit more, in MLB, the average time to first is about 4. In softball 3 is the minimum standard for a relatively slow runner in D1. I have seen sub-3s at 12U travel, though they are somewhat rare except when a team is designed for speed. At 14U travel, 3s are far more common. At 16U, you see a fair number of them because less athletic girls have dropped out of the mix.
Secondly, the typical first baseman in baseball stands behind the bag on most plays, though he may come in, even with the bag, perhaps in the cutout, toes touching the lawn, when a bunt is expected. In baseball, 1Ds often play almost as far back as the outfield grass. In softball, it is relatively infrequent to find the 1B an ywhere behind the bag. With a big hitter who has the tendency to hit the ball to the right side, sometimes the 1B stands behind the bag but this is somewhat unusual except at very high levels. Most of the time, at most levels, she's about even or up 5 - 15 feet from even.
When a softball 1B expects the batter to bunt, it is not unusual for her to position herself about 40 feet from home while charging on the pitch. The same is true for the 3B, although some girls seem to get close enough to smell what the batter had for breakfast. If you saw the Olympic team play any games in which Bustos was at third, you know what I mean. The batter's were actually complaining about her breath. (Yes, I'm kidding but I've never seen anyone play closer than Bustos.)
With the 1B charging, she can easily be closer to the batter than the pitcher is after delivery. You figure that the pitcher is somewhere around 35 feet from home when the ball arrives to the batter. The two corners should be closer to 30, maybe as close as 20 feet away, when a bunter makes contact. For this reason, the P's responsibility is generally for a straight bunt, right back to her, which gets by the other fielders. She is almost a backup to 1B and 3B.
It is certainly possible that the corners are crashing too hard. Very good teams will see this and then have their batters fake bunt while pulling back and taking an almost full cut. This can be referred to as a slap bunt, depending on how you define "slap bunt." And while many tournaments prohibit this at 10U, most above that do not. Offensively, this is a decent strategy to get the defensive corners to stay off the bunt for at least a half second since even these players mostly value their lives. When I talk about right handed slaps, this is specifically what I'm talking about.
After the bunt is down, usually you will see the P take coverage of third, assuming she doesn't field a hard bunt. There is certainly some room for debate over who does precisely what. I have seen college catchers take the 3B coverage but I don't really like this as much as having one of the bunt fielders, the one who doesn't retrieve the ball, 1B or 3B, take third. I feel that way because I know what it is like to run with shin guards. I'd prefer my hard working catcher not have to do that.
Lest I forget to mention, expecting your catcher to field a bunt beyond an arc about 5 feet from the plate is also wrong. Why, the 3B and 1B are already there. On anything beyond five feet, they have to be able to beat the catcher there. And they don't have all the extra backage of shin guards, helmet, etc. which makes an errant throw possible. That is not in any way to suggest that your catcher is less than a great athlete. Rather, I'm merely suggesting that if your 3B and 1B can't beat the catcher to a bunt 6 feet in front of home, they aren't being nearly aggressive enough. If you get caught off guard on a surprise bunt - not a plain vanilla sacrifice - certainly you want anyone who can get there, pitcher, catcher, whomever, to make the play and get the out. But I'm thinking that you won't be surprised very often.
What I feel is non-negotiable is the 1B's role. I don't see any way around it. She has to cover the bunt because if she doesn't, a smart bunter is going to bunt the ball down the first base line and there's no way the pitcher is routinely going to be able to make this play.
In rare circumstances, perhaps you do not have a 1B who is athletic enough to play bunt defense. I've seen this before. But if thet is your situation, you have to devise something different. You cannot merely tell the pitcher to cover bunts. The best alternative is to essentially switch your 2B and 1B. You pull your 2B in parallel to the pitcher like perhaps you do on slap D. Your 1B plays back behind the base line and over to her right so that if the batter pulls back and hits one in the empty hole, she can maybe field it. Otherwise, your 1B has to field bunts.
You can disagree with me if you like but I am going to respond by asking, "have you ever coached baseball," "do you think the games are pretty much the same," "what is the relative time to first in the two sports," or something else along these lines. I do not believe I have seen the coach yet who tries the classic baseball bunt defense and who can answer the appropriate questions the right way. Most of those who try this have also coached baseball. Most of those who try this will not guess correctly what the times are to first in the two sports. Most of those who try this do not have a lot of tournament experience. Most of those who try this would never just go watch a fastpitch softball game which did not involve their kid. They haven't observed enough to realize that not that many softball teams have the 1B hang back to cover the bag. They haven't had the time and experience to realize that if I'm the only one keeping my 1B back, maybe I'm wrong. if the teams still playing in the semi-finals of any tournament crash both their 1Bs and 3Bs, I suppose that does it for me.
I watched a couple teams play some games over this past weekend while using baseball bunt coverage. I saw several bunts placed down the 1B baseline. This happened because the opposition observed their coverage and immediately noticed that the 1B did not charge the bunt. I saw coaches talking among themselves while pointing to the opposition's 1B. Then they talked to their girls while again pointing in the direction of 1B. Sometimes their girls did not get the bunt down, sometimes they didn't get it towards first, but when they did, they were successful 100% of the time. About 75% of these attempts resulted not only in advancing the runner but also the bunter reaching firsty safely.
To be quite honest, when I walk out to coach 3B, the first thing I do is watch the 3B's arm. I want to know whether she is going to be able to throw out batters if we bunt. The next thing I look at is the arms of the infielders and outfielders. 3B coaches who don't come out early and watch the infielders warm-up are missing an opportunity to learn the defensive capabilities of their opponent. I watch as the 1B rolls grounders but I also want to see her make a real throw across the diamond, if that's possible. If the opposition is on the third base side, I hope for her to have to throw the ball to the 3B when the ump calls "balls in." The 1B's arm is as important to the defense as the 3B's.
After I have observed the infielders throw, I usually try to take a look at the outfielders. I want to see if they are athletic, can catch, use two hands when they catch, and have decent arms. I also want to see the catcher. I don't so much want to see the throw down since this is not game situation. I'm more interested in watching how she catches and blocks - I want to see what her habits are. But I will watch the throw down because I want to see what her accuracy is when she is relaxed. If she's inaccurate in warm-ups, she may be inaccurate during the game.
After all this, when the game is going to be played, I would like our first batter to pretend to bunt on the first pitch. Obviously, there's nobody on base and it is possible I won't get a look at their actual bunt defense but I want to see what everyone's, especially the 1B's, tendencies are. Later, when hopefully we have a runner on first, I can see what the real bunt defense looks like and see whether this is a baseball team or a softball one. If the 1B does not charge the bunt, well, there's my first opportunity to exploit the defense.
After the first pitch, what I want to see is where the 1B and 3B position themselves on the next pitch. If 1B is even with the bag or back a bit, I know I am playing against a team on which the coaches or the 1B's father have coached baseball. They haven't watched bona fide fastpitch softball. If the 3B is still even with the bag, well, ballgame over. Sorry girls, we aren't going to be swinging at pitches this game. We are going to bunt, bunt, bunt.
I remember watching a 13 year old team play against a young inexperienced 12U team in fall ball. The girls on the older team were big. Everyone of them looked like a hitter. I saw them in warmups and they all could swing the stick. Then, the game began and every single batter bunted their first time up. Their opposition had played their corners back and not a single girl was thrown out at first until several runs were across. They bunted because they didn't need to do more. Later, when the run rule loomed, the coach let these girls swing away and that they did. They could all hit the ball. They just didn't need to in order to easily win that game. So, why bother!
On our first sacrifice opportunity, the second thing I want to see is who covers third. If on a bunt, the SS takes third, then I know we are going to be able to advance runners to second all day without stealing. The bunts don't even have to be good. Every sacrifice will be successful, if we get the bunt down.
If the defense is proper, I hope my girls have observed this and know to advance a base hard, slide and hold the bag. It would be nice to advance them to third, if the ball gets away but there are risks unless the bunt defense contains another xcommon mistake.
My bunt defense, after observing everything from 10U to D1 college is to go for the out at first with the 2B covering that bag. Yes, if there is an opportunity to nail the runner at second, I wouldn't mind. But you can only do this if: 1) the girl fielding the ball has a great arm; 2) your CF is backing up perfectly which is difficult because I have another positioning for her; 3) the ball gets to the fielder in a real hurry, and 4) this is a called play.
Getting the out at second (or at third but we're getting ahead of ourselves) takes a significant amount of experience. The defensive players all have to move immediately. The girl playing the ball has to have a great inner clock. I don't want a throw to second on the bunt if getting that out is less than 90%. And such a play has to be situationally dictated - I want to call it.
I believe getting an out at first on a bunt has to be routine. Sure, there will be times when the girl fielding the bunt won't get a grip on the ball and make a bad throw. But hopefully, our RF will be backing up and it won't cost us too badly. What I don't want is for our team to fail to get an out because they didn't field the bunt timely or because they tried and failed to get the lead runner who gets to second in 2.7.
I can live with runner on second and one out. I believe our pitchers are, uh, paid, to deal with that. Not getting an out here can open up a big inning. A big inning in softball is 2 or more runs. Not getting an out here opens up first and second with still no outs and another bunt attempt coming. If they succeeed in moving both runners up while there is just one out, they're pretty much guaranteed of getting a run across unless we get a K or infield pop-up for the second out.
So, the idea has to be to get the runner at first unless the situation dictates going for the lead runner. Our 2B is covering first. Our SS is covering 2. And the charging infielder who didn't make the play is covering 3. The 2B takes the throw at first, gets the out, and immediately throws behind the runner at second.
Throwing the ball to second is not some sort of an option. It involves no judgement. Our 2B does not throw to the SS because she thinks she can get the out. She just does it. That's the successful end of the play. That's an automatic. Even if, for some reason, you don't get the out at first, the throw still goes immediately to second.
I believe I need to explain why this is an automatic so I will.
It shouldn't have surprised me but it did. When I went to watch the D3 WCWS, there came a bunt situation in a tight game. Runner on first, no outs. The batter successfully executed a sacrifice bunt. The runner from first got a good jump and made second easily. The infielders charged, fielded the bunt and correctly went to first, nailing the batter-baserunner. The 2B covering first, immediately went to second with the ball. The runner from first had rounded and they nailed her. That was clearly a back breaker.
Offensively, I would prefer if our runner slid hard into the bag in the pop-up slide manner, got herself up and then looked at first. If the ball got away for some reason, I expect she can still easily make third. But if they successfully defended the bunt, I want her to hold the bag.
Defensively, I know that a girl who is moving to second from first on a sacrifice bunt has something completely different on her mind. She comes into the bag at second watching the girl covering. As soon as that girl sees the covering fielder relax and move out of position to take a throw, she begins to think of the possibility of going to third. She wants to get a head start. She can taste third. She is going to round the bag because inside her memory is that game from her 10U or 12U days when she did this, got to third and caused an overthrow there, allowing her to score the game winning run.
It shouldn't have surprised me that this kind of thing can happen in a D3 WCWS game but it still did. So, I know this works there. It really doesn't surprise me when I see this kind of thing work at 12U, 14U, whatever. What surprises me is more teams leave the play to the discretion of their fielders or practice something entirely different.
I have seen teams even at 14U make the bunt defense play I described but completely give up any hope of getting an out at second. They have their SS cover third and then they "encourage" their CF to come and cover second. The CF never gets to that bag soon enough for any kind of play. And when teams see this, they tell their players to round second on sacrifices because they know nobody is going to be there. So when the ball is in the dirt or there is any sort of collision at first, they automatically get third on a simple sacrifice. That's kind of tragic.
What some teams do is condition their players to get the out at first and then throw immediately to third to head off the runner presuambly rounding second. When they do this successfully, they believe they have handled the play very well. But think the whole field through for a minute. If the baserunner from first rounds the bag, which she will do if your CF is covering second, and if the girl who takes the throw at third feels particularly aggressive, she is going to throw to the CF at second to get the runner. Your RF is in foul ground behind first to back up the primary throw, and there is nobody close enough to even touch the ball on an errant throw to second before that baserunner touches the plate. It is a badly designed play.
In my variant where we go to first and then the 2B, covering first, throws to the SS covering second, my CF is backing up that throw. So, if our over-aggression results in a bad throw that gets past the SS, well, the CF is going to have that ball with about 2 seconds to spare to make the throw to third and nail the runner there. I've seen this happen on almost every bunt defense like this where the 2B made a bad throw to the SS. The only time the runner was not thrown out was when she looked up soon enough to realize the CF had the ball and she dove back just in time to be safe at second. Then she stood up, put her hand to her heart and took a deep breath! In short, a proper bunt defense with a throw behind the runner is a high percentage play.
OK, so I think I have said enough but I just want to summarize the whole defense one more time and then talk a bit about sacrifices with runners on first and second, then briefly go over second and third.
C catches and gets balls out to 5 feet from the plate, assuming Bustos didn't beat her there and call her off. P pitches and backs up her corners in case the bunter hits one harder than they expect. 1B charges the bunt. 2B covers first. SS covers second. 3B charges and probably fields the bunt. P, 1B or 3B covers third. RF backs the throw to first. CF backs the throw from first to second. LF backs a potential tyhrow from second to third.
If you want to go for the lead runner at second because obviously the girl at first is very slow, because you know your corners and they are outstanding, because you have a ten run lead, because you just want your girls to have fun, well your defense looks basically the same but your CF is in a different position to back the throw down to second.
When runners are on first and second, obviously the situation is slightly different. Notably, your 2B, covering first, is not going to throw to the SS covering second. Your SS won't be there if she does. She should be covering third. But, no, you still don't want your CF covering second. You simply forget about the trailing baserunner. Your focus must be on getting the out at first and then paying close attention to the runner at third. The 2B must come immediately off the bag at first and charge for the pitcher's circle, ball in hand. The pitcher must be clear of the p[athway between your 2B and third. Your LF must be in a good backup position and, I believe, one of you other players should be in foul ground behind third, tending towards the infield. That can be your 3B unless she fielded the bunt and then it should probably be your 1B.
If your 2B can see a certain amount of distance, she should throw to the SS. The distance is equal to more than one step plus a dive. If the runner has to take two or even one and a half steps before diving, your 2B has to make the throw. It is an automatic. You need to show her this in practice with a real baserunner.
Understand that if your 2B comes off the bag, she should most likely have shortened the distance to third from eighty some-odd feet down to around 60. The throw has become a relatively easy one. And if the runner at third is daring her to throw, she ought to throw.
The SS has a primary desire to catch the throw and make the tag but this is not like a steal because the runner is not necessarily sliding. She may break for home. So the SS has to recognize this, catch the ball at all costs, and if the runner is breaking, she must wheel and throw home. At this point, if you end up with a pickle or develop what is a close play at third, I think your players should be conditioned to eat the ball. You've already made a clean throw to first, then third, and presumably home. Why tempt the fates unless you are that confident in your players. You've already scared the heck out of the baserunner and the play is really over unless you make an overthrow into left where there is now nobody backing up.
One more time, the goal on a sacrifice with runners on first and third is to get the out at first unless the situation dictates something else, unless a coach calls a different defense, unless the bunt is fielded extremely quickly. Remember, the runner at second is going to get an even better lead from her bag towards third. She should get a five step running lead and the time it will take her to get to third is shorter than the time a runner takes getting to second from first. The throw is shorter but I don't think you can get the out at third unless the runner from second is very slow. I would save that kind of play for high levels, very high levels, or a very well practiced team.
To explain this further, I watched a great high school game go into ITB, 0-0. Both teams were very good defensively. Both pitchers were solid. Neither team had more than a handful of runners on base at all, let alone beyond first. In ITB, the visiting team came up and, of course, bunted. A quick play was made on the ball and the fielder tried to nail the runner at third. That would have been a great out, had they made it. They didn't. They were left with runners on first and third and I forget what exactly happened thereafter but the visiting team opened up a big inning and won easily. The home team was defeated on that play when their girls tried to get the lead runner. They went with the low percentage play, lost and got clobbered despite playing neck and neck with their opponent for 9 plus innings.
I like high percentage plays even when sometimes it seems like the wrong play, even when one's baseballl experience migh lead to another type of play. I say get the runner at first and then do something else. I say have your 1B conditioned to cover bunts. I say save getting the lead runner for situations in which it can't backfire on you. Whatever you choose for your bunt defense, make sure it is appropriate for the geometry, time and distances involved in softball, not baseball.
So that's it. I apologize for the length of this piece. It probably could have been a lot shorter. But I have too much energy on the subject. I've seen too many baseball defenses played in softball. It doesn't work, at least not against decent teams. Softball has its own bunt defense. It does not use baseball's.Labels: Bunt, coaching, defense
 
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