"Deeking" In High School Ball

Tuz....Please don't tell me it happened in one of our games this week?

Would a fake bunt and then full swing fall into the same realm as a "deke"? Maybe it varies intent. Is inducing a slide to a base the same as a SS feinging a pop up on a hit and run? What about relaying pitch locations from the runner on second. Saw that last year. Or how about a CF pretending the ball went under the fence for a half second to get the runners to stop and then throw a kid out a third, saw that in the same game by the same team.

Pathetic

I'm not sure if it is "deek" or "deke." However, what is an allowable "deek"/"deke" in high school baseball? Is it addressed in the rule book? And what is the protocol for being suspended for subsequent games? Is the punishment defined by the conferance, IHSA, or what? It seems like an unacceptable "deek" will cost a player 2 games in the Southwest Suburban conferance.

Usually for a deek to work, it requires the other team to fail to do something fundamentally correct.

Tuz...What happened? Varsity or sophs?

Sophomores.

Spoke with an IHSA umpire today. He told me that there is no deeking allowed in high school ball. He stated that deceiving a runner is considered interference/obstruction and all base runners and the batter are safe. Had no comment regarding ejections and/or suspensions.

Tuzigoot,

Saw a classic "Deke" last weekend at the college level. My older son's team was playing Rockford College and they put the pickoff on at second base. The pitcher made the fake throw to second with the SS and 2nd baseman diving and kicking up dust and screaming for the centerfielder to get the ball. No one was fooled, the U of C dugout went wild and the opposing coach dropped the F bomb, when our assisatnt coach confronted him later. Must not be any rules against the "deke" at that level or the umpires did not know the rules. My first experience with seeing the "deke" to that degree; heard about a number of potential "dekes".

Is this IHSA umpire correct in his calling interference on the offense for being Deeked?

Dekeing is part of the game. It is the baserunners fault if he gets picked off because of a deke.

My college coach last year taught me a very effective deke at 3b. It is simple, but basically you act like there isnt a play with body language when there actually is. It makes the baserunner come into third standing up instead of sliding if his head isnt in the game. Another one is yelling cut while there is a perfect throw to you. Same outcome. I probably deked 3 kids last year with those two.

If the baserunner or the coach have their head in the game, the deke will never work.

quote:

Originally posted by KennySmalls:

My college coach last year taught me a very effective deke at 3b. It is simple, but basically you act like there isnt a play with body language when there actually is. It makes the baserunner come into third standing up instead of sliding if his head isnt in the game. Another one is yelling cut while there is a perfect throw to you. Same outcome. I probably deked 3 kids last year with those two.

That's not cricket!

quote:

Dekeing is part of the game. It is the baserunners fault if he gets picked off because of a deke.

If the baserunner or the coach have their head in the game, the deke will never work.

That's baseball!

A decoy catch by the infield cutoff to try to hold the hitter to a single, on a throw towards home, is no different than most of the dekes described here. I don't see much wrong with basic bluffing by fielders. Heck, a pitchout could be considered a form of a deke.

There used to be a center fielder on my sons travel squad who, regularly, threw out lazy runners to first base on routine singles. He had an incredible arm and got to the ball very quickly. Everyone's seen it, but this kid had the fake down to a science in his body language...everything would indicate a toss back to the infield and he would fire across his body to first and nail these hitters. The way he did it was a classic deke attitude.


The only deke that is annoying to me is the old ball hidden in the in the glove trick