Dropped third strike delimma

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Aug 10, 2016
686
63
Georgia
Question about how to play this...

Girl on 2nd, 2 outs
Count is 1-2
Next pitch is a called strike but dropped so either need to tag or throw to first
Ump is super slow/quiet about calling his strikes so it's not super clear that it was a strike.
Runner on 2nd runs to third and catcher throws to 3rd to try to get her out.
Unfortunately throw is a little off, gets away from 3B and runner comes home
Batter makes it to 2nd...

So if the catcher cannot hear the strike call, and thinks it a ball, what should she do?
Ideally the throw to 3rd could have been better but unless she makes the out at 3rd, you still have a runner on first...
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
I am not sure why the play wasn't at 1st... regardless politely tag the batter if thier is any dought.

If the batter takes off towards 1st and it might have been a strike throw it to 1st.

Hopefully worse case will be giving runner 3rd for free if you make the throw to 1st ono a ball.

On a straight Steal of 3rd what are your odds of getting runner Out? 70%?
 
Last edited:
May 17, 2012
2,804
113
I am assuming the batter didn't run immediately due to the umpires slow strike call. Regardless the catcher should have tagged the batter if she was still standing there.

If the batter ran immediately then why are we throwing to third base to begin with?
 
Dec 2, 2013
3,409
113
Texas
So if the catcher cannot hear the strike call, and thinks it a ball, what should she do?
Ideally the throw to 3rd could have been better but unless she makes the out at 3rd, you still have a runner on first...

These are game time speed situations that players will learn with time and reps. I am assuming this is a younger team. Non swinging strikes should be caught by most catchers.

If the catcher thinks it's a ball, and the runner on 2B is running towards the next base, you have to treat it like a steal attempt. Throw to 3B.

If the catcher thinks it could be a strike or anywhere close and she sees the hitter running or making a move towards 1B, then you attempt a tag or throw to 1B. The catcher will need to learn to react based on game time situations. If the hitter doesn't make a move catcher should make a quick tag anyway.

You can't leave it up to the umpire, but it happens all the time. We had an umpire this summer calling balls AND strikes. Typically they don't say anything on a ball call, and on a strike will raise his fist. This took us about 2 innings to get into his rhythm, but it caused some confusion early in the game for the score keeper and catcher.
 
Aug 10, 2016
686
63
Georgia
Yea - the only thing we could think of would be to allow the steal of 3rd to make that possible throw to first or to take time to tag the runner. Ideally, catcher doesn't drop the ball ;)
 
Aug 10, 2016
686
63
Georgia
I am assuming the batter didn't run immediately due to the umpires slow strike call. Regardless the catcher should have tagged the batter if she was still standing there.

If the batter ran immediately then why are we throwing to third base to begin with?

Batter did not run immediately but catcher saw the girl take off for 2nd and made the throw there. I don't think the batter even ran to 1st until the ball was thrown :/
 
Nov 26, 2010
4,784
113
Michigan
I'm afraid your real issue isn't with the ump but with a catcher who didn't catch a called third strike, and then doesn't know it was in the strike zone until the ump says so.
 
Aug 10, 2016
686
63
Georgia
I'm afraid your real issue isn't with the ump but with a catcher who didn't catch a called third strike, and then doesn't know it was in the strike zone until the ump says so.

I will say the ump's strike zone was all over the place as well - sometimes there's no way to tell what will be a strike or not. Yes, ideally she should have known.

In the end, our team won and this scenario may never come up again but just curious what the correct play was - so she'll know the best thing to do next time.

Even watching the game we couldn't hear him calling strikes and there were times where we all thought it was a ball or strike, but it'd go the other way. I know it's something kids should get used to and know better but at their age, it's not always that simple.
 
Last edited:
May 17, 2012
2,804
113
As a coach I would point out that your defense had two outs and your pitcher got three strikes and you still managed to give up a run.

The other aspect is that it was an uncaught third strike so now I am questioning if the catcher even had a realistic chance at getting the runner at 3B. The only possibility for that runner to score in that scenario is for one of your players to throw the ball as far away from home plate as possible, and you obliged.

It isn't the end of the world, just don't make that mistake again. Sometimes as a catcher you just need to not throw the ball.
 

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