Big innings win baseball

Naturally, you have to coach to get outs to avoid the big inning. Yes, it often happens. However, if you can score one run every inning, you are going to win the majority of your games. I think it is important to get the lead first doing whatever you need to do then coach from there. Don't forget waiting for the big inning in high school ball just might have you waiting long into the season for a win.

Of all the games I do, it is clear that a break down in the fundamentals is what most often leads to a big inning... a dropped fly ball, a throw to the wrong base, a error.......all seem to feed the big inning.....

The vast majority of big innings come from walks and errors. Sometimes you get them from just flat out hitting the ball throughout the line up. But most of the time it is walks and errors. Therefore throw strikes and play defense and you will avoid the big inning. When you are playing an inferior team you do win with big innings. The other team walks a ton of guys and cant make plays. But when you are playing a quality opponent the team the executes will win. Getting down the sac bunts. Executing the hit and run. Making routine plays and throwing strikes. Hitting cut offs. Etc. The bottom line is you are going to beat the teams that cant throw strikes and cant make plays. The teams that you need to prepare for are the ones that can throw strikes and can make plays. That is where the execution and fundementals come into play.

I had seen some stats from big XII teams....when they score 3 or more in an inning they win 80+ percent of the time. That got me to thinking about our level.....Our team won close to 90% of the games that we scored 3 or more in one inning.

We do not sit back and wait for the big inning. We preach hard about making something happen first....lead-off man on, pick-off, etc. I agree that walks and errors help lead to the big inning. On defense we call it 'killing the clown'(don't let the circus get started). If you make an error, do not let it snow ball into something big.

Check out :baseballtips.com/print/big_inning1.html

throw to the right base/hit your cutoff man - keep runners out of scoring position. not doing that keeps the big inning in order.
steve
http://www.leaguelineup.com/raiderbaseball

Main reason i rarely look for a double play at this level. I'll keep my 2bag and SS close to normal depth and look for a single lead out most the time..Not many double plays turned in high school. Don't walk them..Takes 3 or 4 singles to score a run also..We live away 85% of the time..High School umpires will usually start calling the zone on the black if you pound it there. takes a bunch of disciplined hitters.

How does your offense get a big inning?

Getting on base and not wasting outs.

In the early innings, personally I don't like to see sac bunts. Later innings, different story.

There are only three outs per inning. The odds of the big inning are greater if none of those outs are wasted or given away.

JMHO

One must coach the team within the limits of the teams talents--some teams do not have bombers thus you play "smallball"--others have the power bats so you wait for the "eruption"

It is all a matter of coaching philosphy and using your teams talents to the utmost

If I dont have "bangers" I cannot wait for a big inning becuase it aint going to happen--on our current team we have "bangers" but we still play "hit and run" because we also have an abundance of a speed, and play aggressively to make things happen--if the "big boppers" happen to unload that is a plus but we do not wait

Coach you team in accordance with their talents--don't try to make them what they arent--it won't work

Excellent point TR. You have to coach what you have not what you wish you had. Last year we had a line up 1-9 that could flat out hit. We hit .368 as a team. We rarely played for a run early and most of time we didnt need to later. Other years we have had a strong 1-5 and a weak 6-9. We did what we had to do to manufacture as many runs as possible throughout the game. Every team is different and as TR said you have to coach what you have and make the most out of it. The most important thing is to know what type of team you have and then execute it as good as you can.

When you play for the big inning you'll generally score more runs in the season. On the other hand there will be a few times when you'll be shut out waiting for something to happen. When you've got a very strong pitching staff you don't need the big inning as much as you need a run here and there. In that case, it actually makes sense to give up an out to get a run now and score fewer runs over the course of the season as long as you can avoid the shutouts, etc. This is especially true in HS ball where small ball is more effective due to weaker defense.

If you have a mediocre pitching staff and decent hitting you want to play for the big inning because you probably aren't going to win the 2-1 games very often.

Oops! I think I just agreed with TR again.