At this level there is a fair chance 3rd will be left uncovered, you will have to try it and see.
Bunt and run
- Thread starter chigolf
- Start date
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Yep, I would try it too. Speed kills as said above. I would make the defense prove that they could field they play correctly.
- May 17, 2012
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Do your team a favor and don't bunt and run with a runner on first and zero outs. So many coaches at the highest level get this wrong.
Amen to that lol. DD's MS & TB coach both do this too often and it drives me bonkers. Runner on first, nobody out, 0-0 count and I know exactly what is coming....generally most of the other do as well.
If the lineup is set a certain way as far as speed & bunting ability it can be very effective and has it's place. I would say first to third on this play should not happen too often by 14U.
- Jan 31, 2011
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My take is this. Many old school coaches follow the rule, "Get em on, bunt em over, drive em in". Many times you can manufacture a run with a runner on 2nd. I like the "bunt & run" play with runner thinking 3rd base. Fast runner on first gets a good jump with the pitch; and a well placed bunt, 3rd base is definitely an option. Too many kids are just happy to get 2nd base on a bunt. Why not coach the kids so they are thinking 3rd base on a bunt & run? Put the pressure on the defense and make things happen.
- Feb 15, 2016
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If I have FAST and savvy runner I just have her steal second and then we work from there! However, I agree with what you said. I like to send that runner and give the batter a bunt sign. The batter knows to bunt a good bunt pitch only. If the pitch is in the dirt or high she lets it go and we play the odds on the steal. If she gets it down the runner keys the SS and most likely gets 3B even against good 16U and 18U defenses. SS sees the steal and moves towards 2B , 3B has to cover the bunt, and then FAST runner blows the doors off everyone to 3B. LF does not have a chance to get there...
Yep...very often that's exactly how it works.
The way we run bunt defense (runner @ 1B) is if F5 fields the bunt, F2 hustles their butt to cover 3B. If any other player fields the bunt, F5 reverses course and gets back to 3B. I don't love having LF cover the base for a couple of reasons - they probably aren't going to get there, and there's no back-up if they miss.
We had this happen to us a few times early last year in our first year of 14U. To solve the situation coach had our 1B automatically throw the ball to whomever was covering third for a few games. The bunt is fielded, throw to first, throw straight to third whether the runner is going or not. It at least got the girls in the mode to expect the runner to be going. They worked on a few different scenarios on who fields the bunt and who covers third so that someone is always there. We actually generated a few outs this way early on, but as the year went on it happened less and less.
It's been statistically proven that a runner on first with no outs has a better chance of scoring than a runner on second with 1 out. Granted, it's only 3% but it still matters in that one game. As far as running from first to 3rd by the baserunner on first? You might not want to try that against my team. We'll get you out 9 out of 10 times. Then again, we're a TB team.
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