Good feedback and take-aways from all... thanks.
We graduated most of our starters so this year's team comes in with very sparse experience at the V level. Some of their actions had me questioning some of our specific offensive directives in these situations. As I re-thought through the various scenarios, I was left unsure that we had the best approach, particularly with the 1st & 3rd reads offensively. Over the last five years or so, we have moved up in competition level and have built a much stronger non-league and tourney schedule. It becomes apparent that the skill level of the defense can be cause for changing our old approach and tactics. One thing I'm rolling around in my head is, as 3b coach, take a position much further down the line toward home plate to get a better read on P and MIF picks and call the yes or no on sending R3.
For 1st and 3rd defense, we run four plays. Throw thru, MIF pick, P pick and C pump and throw to 3rd. These still seem to cover everything pretty well.
I'd love to hear further dialog here on 1st & 3rd reads offensively... Freddy, what do you do against good competition when your 3b coach does NOT know what the defense will do? IEBSBL, would love to hear back from you with your take on my follow up questions and any further input. Coach 2709, I like a lot of your approach but wonder, can R3 really have enough peripheral to watch for all possibilities (C throwing behind him, P picking, MIF picking and throw thru) and still make a good read on throw down? Seems like if he is watching for P and MIF pick, he would have to shift his eye sights before catcher releases the ball.??
Trojan-skip, Doc, others? More, more, more.
So, 1st and 3rd offense... keep it rolling.