Crowding the plate

[mmeece]

Don't get too caught up in where they stand in the box. The truth of the matter is that it really changes little to nothing in terms of what pitch they can/can't hit. In fact, the most important thing they have accomplished is forcing you to call pitches in a pattern they have dictated. Pitch to your pitcher's strengths and stay unpredictable. Hard stuff in and soft stuff away has worked in baseball and softball for many, many years. In-game adjustments are critical for both sides. If my hitter's stance changes your pitch calls then I'll just have them set up on the line before the pitch and back up or open their hips as it comes in. It's always been funny to me that as a pitcher in baseball I was taught that if a hitter crowds the plate then he WANTS the ball inside and the opposite as well. In softball, you hear the opposite taught.

 

[coach james]

We instruct our catcher to signal us the box location of each hitter as many benches are located a fair distance from the plate. Doesn't always work as pitching control is needed, but it gives us an educated guess on where to pitch the hitter.

I like to watch the swing pattern and body language of the girl who is on deck... See if she is a contact swing or is aggressive... Over rotating, or casting etc... Then when she steps in the box I've got an educated guess as to how to call her based on her positioning.

 

[Laphoneman]

You also have to figure in the strike zone for each umpire some umps will extend the strike zone outside if batter is crowding he is setting up inside see how far out you can get away with. Other than that I just mix it up at all 4 corners. Keep it moving up or down fast or slow

 

[MattM]

Good input from everyone. What I have found is that the better hitters setting up close many times will kill that outside fastball even when mixed with other pitches. Sideways breaking pitches like 2 seam cutter moving into the batters hands seem like the best option but our pitchers and most at 12u don't have control over this. Working with what we have, throwing a few in the river with two outs no-one on base seems a reasonable approach especially early in the game. One game I could have done this as the first three innings went 123. Keep mixing in outside pitches that are either changeups for strikes, or fastballs that are out of the zone. Also may start experimenting with drop ball but not for a strike. She does not have full command over this pitch so target it low below the strike zone on the outside corner but if she hangs it up could be trouble. As said above some batters are just going to get their hits and you have to tip your cap.

 

[spleen1015]

Had a D1 pitching coach tell me at a camp that you'd be surprised how many players really can't hit an inside pitch. So many players work on hitting the outside pitch and ignore inside because everyone thinks they can hit inside when they really can't.

 

[Powerof9]

Steady diet of high and in on hands, and low away.