as far as how to defend the play you mentioned, I'd love to hear some conversation about that! In your 12u case, i would agree, just give him 2nd. but, I think it might be defendable at a higher level. i think it might work to have F6 cover second, F3 tail the kid about 10 ft behind as he walks and F4 maybe close in between the runner and 2B.P disengages and runs right at the runner, hopefully coaxing him back toards first since its unoccupied. then P turns and fires home. I'm not sure. id really love to hear some discussion about possible defenses of this play. the thing is, if you give the kid second, not a huge deal (a bit demoralizing though, and it takes off the force.) but in trying to defend the play, it could go terribly wrong. best case: runner on 1b with an out at the plate, maybe even a DP, (super hard to pull off, unrealistic really) worst case: a pile of overthrows, a run scores and 1B makes it to 3B...can really change the tides of the game. Here is an example of that play being run in the MLB. 1B does not start walking before the pitch, but he basically pretends to steal with a terrible jump to bait the catcher. once that rundown is started, its awfully easy for 3B to score, even in the MLB.