1st and 3rd Play and hitters approach at the plate

1st / 3rd Defense

You are taking a chance when you put the play on you describe. It ocmes down to knowing the team you play (do they hit and run or try to steal), the situation of the game and types of runners involved.

Early in the game and it's tie or one run - I say throw straight through. Typically you wouldn't want to waste a suprise 1st/3rd offense early in the game and take if off the table for later innings. If you have slow runners on the bases then throw straight through because the chances of a double steal are pretty slim.

Late in the game and it's a tie or one run then you may want to put the play on. Still it's a gamble and this is where you have to know the team. If an offense knows you run this play all the time they are going to hit and run all the time. The odds are in their favor.

Pick and choose your spots when to run it.


Offensive philosophy

Find some key phrases and a gameplan and preach it. I tell my guys "hit the zone" - this tells them to swing at strikes. I know that sounds like a no *bleep* sherlock statement but it's amazing how many guys just don't understand that.

During BP I quiz my guys all the time - "was that a strike" and they tell me yes or no. I do it even when they take a pitch. It gets them thinking about what types of pitches to swing at. Once they know the zone or hit the zone then they get more discipline at the plate and walk totals go up.

The hitting with counts is a very good idea and will work. But if you have a philosophy - preach what you want them to hit and look for - then it sort of helps out a little more.

What I am getting at is we tell our guys to attack fastballs - especially early in the count. We want them to look red and take the off speed / breaking stuff early in the count. Your average high school pitcher (at least in our area) cannot get a curve ball over for a strike on a consistent basis - at least enough to get you out if you just take it. By attacking early then you are forcing that guy to throw more fastballs. Runners on base makes them less sure about breaking balls in dirt - helps us with hit and runs - pitchers want to get ahead through fastballs so don't fall behind and walk more guys.

Plus it's an ego thing - you throw it hard trying to blow it by me and I am going to swing hard trying to launch it into orbit. I like our chances in that ego concept.

If you face a good pitcher who can get the curve over then it's still a good philosophy. You are going to get fewer fastballs so take advantage of the ones you do see. Attack and hit the ball where it's pitched.

We do work on drills quite a bit on staying back, pitch recognition, working the other way to help us with off speed / breaking pitches.

1st & 3rd
Any time we are in dbl play depth (1st & 3rd included), we cheat up the middle and deeper. This puts us in a position to be able to react later to a base runner attempting to steal 2B. By being closer to the bag and not being rushed to break to the bag we can react better to a batted ball.



Offensive Approach
My favorite BP session goes like this:
Groups of 3
4 Rounds Total
10 Swings Total
Rotate Each Player Through Each Round Before Moving To The Next Round

Round 1
4 Swings w/ a 0-0 Count
*When going through the first rd, hitters should try and understand what the pitcher is probably trying to do - get strikes on the outside corner
*Because of the pitcher's approach we should be looking to drive the ball up the middle

Round 2
3 Swings w/ a 0-2 or 1-2 Count
*When behind in the count, try and make the pitcher's job tougher. Get closer to the plate and choke up on the bat to improve control.
*Leave pitches above the hands and dirty curves alone. (These are generally pitcher's out pitches when way ahead.)
*Always make a pitcher pay for making a mistake with a pitch. (Battle At The Plate And Hit The Mistake)

Round 3
2 Swings w/ a 2-0 or 3-1 Count
*Be selective. Drive everything we swing at.

Round 4
1 Swing w/ Runner On 3rd Base & Less Than Two Outs
*Pressure situation. One chance to drive a fly ball to the outfield to score the runner from third.
*Look for a ball up in the zone that we can drive. Be selective. The pitcher is the one with the pressure on him, not you.



Another tool I have used in teaching smarter hitters is a breakdown of Batting Average in each of the different counts. I broke down 3 games of our own to try and show my team and then I stumbled across this stat for All Major Leaguers over an entire season. I will try and dig up that paper and will post the breakdown here when I find it.

Here are the Batting Averages broken down by count. I don't have the source or year on my handout but I believe it was in the mid 90s.

0-0 .191 _______________ 0-1 .210 _______________ 1-0 .304
1-1 .243 _______________ 0-2 .050 _______________ 2-0 .325
2-2 .158 _______________ 1-2 .140 _______________ 2-1 .263
3-0 .110 _______________ 3-2 .204 _______________ 3-1 .282

Nick25:
One simple answer to your shortstops problem. If he has to break real early, then yes; he is playing too far from the bag. Have play a little closer (we don't know where they are going to hit the ball anyway) and he needs to wait until the pitch clears the hitter to go cover.

All 1st and 3rd defenses are based on the ability of your catcher... if you have a stud that can throw 'em out; then throw it down there. If you cannot throw out many runners, you'll have to get into all the different 'plays'. (this year I'm working on all the different plays)...

Nicholas25:

I believe the simple answer to your concerns is "it depends on the situation". And I do not mean by that to dodge the question. For example, with runners on first and third and no outs in the late innings in a close game I might bunt. If I know you are going to run the shortstop/2B cutoff play, I will probably hit and run. With no outs early in the game and knowing nothing about the opposition's defensive tendencies, I might fake a sacrifice bunt on the first pitch to see who covers where. If 1B is staying home and 3B is charging and SS covers second, I might safety squeeze. If the opposition catcher has no arm, I will steal second on the first pitch. If the opposition catcher has a great arm I will hit and run or maybe delay steal. Depending on the hitter, of course. In short, with one out, I will do whatever it takes to avoid a double play before the runner from third scores. With two outs my options are more limited but I will try to get the runner on first to second as soon as I can without hurting the hitter's chances for RBI success.

And on and on. Certainly you have to practice all those different scenarios in order to put them into play when the time comes. Personally, I love 1st and 3rd situations. It is my favorite situation to watch or coach.

Good luck this season.

TW344

Our middle infielders "L" to the bag. They creep forward and hold their area when the runner goes. This allows them to be closer to the bag while not vacating their area. They will then break across to the bag (thus, an "L" route) after the ball goes through the hitting zone.

If you are running that play, there is no reason for the second baseman to be earlier if he is decoying on a throw straight through.

I agree with ncball. This is the only way I have ever heard anyone teach it.

I agree with the previous two posters. I've found that from the time the pitcher kicks his leg up to move toward home, we can take 4 creep steps. We start with our inside foot (closest to the bag) as our first step. By that time the ball has crossed the plate. We are ready to field the ball, or push off the outside foot to break to 2B.

Our 1st & 3rd Defense: We are in DP depth up the middle.

2nd ALWAYS works the cut angle, whether we are throwing to 2nd, 3rd or P.

If you have a good 2nd baseman (usually a senior) he can always read the runner at 3rd and determine whether he needs to cut or not.

Sometimes we call a cut and other times we throw to the bag.

I believe by giving a "consistent" look that it is tougher to scout and therefore tougher to "put something on"

This is obviously with the runner at 1st moving on the pitch.

Just my 2 cents!

I put this 1st & 3rd play in a number of years ago while Coaching LL. Then as it was so successful I carried it right into HS.

My goal with the play is to have the 3B runner hold while we get a free shot at 1B runner going to 2B. It has "worked" , confusing the 3B Coach into holding the runner at 3rd on every team we have run it on.

I developed it off the LL play of "throw it to SS so he can throw out the 3B runner going home", which never works , because they always hold at 3B and you have no play at 2B with the SS. So, I thought about it and came up with this.

I call out the play number, and our Secondbaseman comes up to infront of the baseline on the grass. I usually make a comment to him at this point along the lines of "Mike(or whatever 2Bs name is), do you know what you're doing?" He replies, and it looks as though he is going to run the SS LL play from the 2B position. As the play unfolds and the ball is about to be thrown our 2B hollers "Here, Here, Here". The throw goes directly to the SS covering at 2B and we get the out (hopefully) but the runner at 3B has held every time. At the HS level even the 1B runner slows up at times and we've gotten easy outs at 2B without giving up a run for an out.

I think the success lies in the angle being tougher for the 3B runner and Coach to read, and the novalty of the play.

Of course this only works once, but in alot of cases after yelling "Stay, Stay!" at the 3B runner and then giving up the out, most teams stop running. I also have the play where the 2B gets the ball and only use that on our repeat opponents, and then we go back to the typical plays if they run more.

The play is very easy to put in. Also, we name it with the number "4" to sell it even more.