I am trying to be as respectful as possible, but a steal to 3rd base? I don't know the statistics on safe steals to 3rd in NCAA, but I do know around my parts 14U TB catchers will gun you down unless you can catch them off guard or the SS is sleeping. I like being gutsy, but that is off the charts for me.
Steve, I liked your story on the steal home. You had to do something except pray for a hit out of a .130 batter.
When my TB team was a young 10U team I faced my first ITB, and i'll never forget it. I did not bunt the runner over because very few players on my team could bunt well. I had no confidence the kid at the plate could get the bunt down, so I let her swing away & ultimately we lost the game because of our inability to bunt. So, we worked and worked and worked on bunting from then on. A year later as an older 10U team, I got a compliment from an umpire in which he had no idea how good it made me feel...He said after a meaningless game that I had a great bunting team.
I love the pressure a good bunt inflicts!
I like seeing posts where coaching are exploring and thinking out of the box. I can't say that I do it that often. So I appreciate redhotcoach's post.
I agree that the steal option in NCAA would be very uncommon. I haven't seen it, but I also didn't have Natasha Whatley on my team. But the errors that could occur on a steal attempt could also take place on a bunt. I saw a college game once where the 3B and P bent down, hit heads, and both sat down backwards on the ground. Bad footwork on a bunt cost an otherwise good Czech Republic team a game at the European Championships. So I will grant redhotcoach that it might work sometimes, and with selective execution, the right players and defense, perhaps more often that I might think. But, I am a little cautious about using it.
BB875, there are moments that you can't get out of your head! It is like a video in my head.