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16 replies

Clarification of the hit and run

M Mariner50Member
I would like some clarification on the hit and run to support a discussion my son had with his all-star coach (14 yr old Pony player). I have been coaching for 9 years and have always taught my players that on a hit and run the runner at first must first identify whether the pitch is a strike first before running. I also make sure to explain to them that they will not always get a good jump, and they don't have to go if they consider the pitch to be marginal. My son's coach wants them, when recieving the hit and run sign to go at the first movement of the pitcher to home regardless of where the pitch is and for the hitter to protect the runner at all costs swinging at the pitch in any close location. I consider this technique more of a run and hit than a hit and run and not the best way to teach the fundamentals. Can someone provide a clarification. My son was trying to explain the difference to the coach, however he wouldn't allow him to finish. I would just like to have someone provide another opinion to the issue. Thank you.
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L larrythompson500+ posts
Interesting terminology. My high school coach, 25 years ago, introduced me to the run and hit vs. the hit and run.

I guess I always think of the hit and run as a mandate for the hitter to protect the runner, and for the runner to go (like a steal), but look back on the 2nd or 3rd step to check the flight of the ball.

The run and hit simply tells the hitter to swing if they see a pitch they like, and the runner is to treat the play as a steal like above. However, unlike the hit and run, the runner doesn't necessarily have to go if they don't get a good jump.

We may be talking semantics here???
S svd16u10+ posts
Well said larrythompson. I would find it very difficult for the runner to see whiether the pitch is a ball or strike. By time he would realize one way or another he would get a horrible jump. Like thompson mention a true hit n run is where a the runner straight steals of a righty and get a bad jump on a left (waiting tell he committs to home) and the batter is trying to work oppossite hole due to the fact that the fielder is cover the base allowing for a 1st to 3rd to happen. It is a must swing for the batter to protect the runner due to that fact that he may be getting a late jump. A run and hit is a straight steal both on a right and left hand pitcher and the batter has the option of hitting the bat. With a hit n run the batter swings whiether it is a ball or a strike, where on a run n hit the batter only swings if it is a good pitch to hit.
CM Coach May1,000+ posts
Hit and Run. In order for the hit and run to be effective the runner must steal this is the whole purpose of the hit and run it opens up the right side of the infield when the second baseman goes to cover the bag. The hitter is taught to protect the runner by swinging unless the ball is either very high out of the zone or in the dirt. Ideally the ball is hit through the right side behind the runner that is stealing allowing him to go to third at least. The runner after two to three strides looks back at the ball while he is stealing so he can get a read. If it is popped up he holds and gets back. If it is a line shot he holds up and sees it through. If it is a ground ball he is on top of second putting pressure on the middle if it is fielded and if it is hit behind him he knows he goes straight to third. Great pitches to hit and run on are 2-0 3-1.
L LOW337100+ posts
Hit and Run:
Runner- don't get picked, make sure pitcher goes home. Don't worry about getting a good jump. 2 or 3 steps look in to find ball if you can. Could be WP / PB. Could be fly ball, if the ball is put in play, and you lose sight of it, look at 3B coach for help. It is not a straight steal, you are banking on the hitter putting ball in play.

Hitter- Hit the ball on the ground, wherever it is pitched and keep it out of the middle of the field. In a perfect world the ball is behind the runner and you 1st to 3rd him. Hitter must swing at just about anything (except at him). Must swing on pitch out to keep the catcher back. Protecting the runner is just that, keeping the catcher back.
CoachB25CoachB25Honorary "Old TImer"
Great stuff. We do one thing that many posters don't believe in. We ask our hitter to hit the middle to top part of the ball. We also ask them to hit to the right side. We work on this and ask them to "let the ball get to them" in order to ensure our success. We create the situation in practice and if unsuccessful during this part of their BP, they leave the cage.

While we work on the hit and run, we are not big proponents of it. We'd rather run and hit. In this scenerio, the hitter hits! The runner is stealing. We count on our speed assuring us of a successful steal and we allow the batter to hit strikes. Why then give this signal? Often, when runners steal, the batter is tentative and won't swing. We are very aggressive. We are telling the hitter, we don't care if that runner has a stolen base, HIT THE BALL! It removes any second guessing on their part and puts the "blame" on us. BTW, we also work on this during BP.
C Coachric1,000+ posts
Most of the Coaches said it all here. Great practice work CoachB. We also train the runners in drills to look in and say out loud,"ball", as a reminder to look in. What they are doing is checking where the ball is and as they pick it up, they respond. We do practice heavily on the hit & run. With a speedier team I would work on more run & hit the way CoachB suggests. Batters in the cage have to complete all of their situational hitting before they can move on to regular hitting.
L larrythompson500+ posts
CoachB...we do the same thing, just left it out of the last post. While we believe this is difficult, we feel that if the player has the mind set to focus on the top 1/2 of the ball, he will be successful more times than not. We use this same approach during some batting practice drills to convince players they are seeing the ball well. We call it "top half" and tell the players they are successful if they are beating the ball into the dirt/grass in front of the mound.
CoachB25CoachB25Honorary "Old TImer"
larry, Coachric, have you read up on what the Olympic Softball Team did with tennis balls? We are going to do a similar concept. We are hoping that it will enable our hitters to feel more comfortable "letting the ball get to them." If so, it should increase our chances at the plate of having successful hit and runs. We will run into group of young men someday at our school that don't have the speed we've been blessed with and so, we will someday have to hit and run more. Until then, it's run and hit.
Last edited by CoachB25
E ECBfan10+ posts
Coach May, I agree with your description of the hit and run but I prefer the 2-1 count or the 1-0 count. If the batter's job is to protect the runner, then he would have to swing even if the pitch is out of the strike zone. In a 3-1 count, the batter would be protecting the runner even though the pitch would be ball 4. Also, in a 2-0 count, the batter would be swinging even if the pitch is a ball when, otherwise, the count would be 3-0.
I prefer the batter trying to drive the ball in a 3-1 or 2-0 count. JMO.
C C_PEN_Bears10+ posts
We use the hit and run on 0-0, 1-0, 2-1 only. And use the run and hit on 2-0, and 3-1.

Our explanation of hit and run...

Runner steals when he is positive the pitcher is going to the plate (no pick-offs). The hitter tries to hit the ball on the ground anywhere but up the middle. Ideally, he will hit where the ss or 2b was playing before they went to cover the bag... but protecting the runner, and getting him over to second with the possibility of a hit is the most important. Think about it as a sacrifice bunt, with a much greater possibility of the hitter reaching base safely.

The run and hit...
We use the run and hit in a hitters' count (2-0,3-1). We use this as a straight steal. In this situation, we tell our hitters to swing if they get a pitch they can hit a double on. B/c we have this... A straight steal is an automatic take. Like CoachB25 said, it takes the thinking away from the players. (Which us coaches know is always a good thing)LOL.
Hope this helps.

www.blastbat.com
goMOgoMO100+ posts
one small clarification - some folks have said that on the hit and run, the runner must look in after a few steps to see the flight of the ball. I thought this was supposed to happen on a straight steal as well. I always have my runners "peak in" at the ball to see if/where its hit. I don't know why this would only be on a hit and run.

Also, for us, a straight steal is the same as a run and hit, unless they get a take sign. I tell my batters that getting a steal sign doesn't mean they shouldn't look to hit a pitch in a good location (unless they've been told to take).
Last edited by goMO

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