Outfield strategy

[Rick M]

Feel like we can catch 5 bloopers for every rocket hit to gap.

As the parent of a pitcher, every dying quail that drops on the edge of the outfield grass is like a dagger to the heart. Somehow, when an opposing player hits a shot to the wall, it's easier to think "nice hit, kid."

 

[Rambler34]

Ours plays deep in 16U. DD is a CF and I would say she typically plays about 185' from the plate. We started playing back early on in 10U and for our team the cardinal sin was letting a blooper fall in front of them without selling out. If the OF sells out and your IF does the same they can cover that gap most of the time. The only time she will play up is when we have to prevent a run from scoring on a ground ball.

She normally plays just a step or two away from dead center so she can see around the pitcher. She does adjust left or right depending on who is throwing for us.

The biggest thing I can say about outfield is the importance of footwork. The difference between a good first step and a bad one is the difference between an out and a double.

 

[EmToTheDee]

As the parent of a pitcher, every dying quail that drops on the edge of the outfield grass is like a dagger to the heart. Somehow, when an opposing player hits a shot to the wall, it's easier to think "nice hit, kid."

Two thumbs up to this from a fellow pitching parent.

We just did a 14A tourney without our two best outfielders (injuries). All the pitching parents had to take long walks to the farthest corners of the complex to avoid our muttering from being overhead by anyone. The adult beverages were opened a little sooner than usual...

 

[uncdrew]

Two thumbs up to this from a fellow pitching parent.

We just did a 14A tourney without our two best outfielders (injuries). All the pitching parents had to take long walks to the farthest corners of the complex to avoid our muttering from being overhead by anyone. The adult beverages were opened a little sooner than usual...

Amen to that.

My DD is only 9 so I don't stress it too much, but the amount of unearned runs she has. Sheesh...

 

[Ksphenom]

DJcarter1966 is right about adjustments.

So for 12u against an average hitting team I like the corners in a little more shallow than the CF. Especially if your pitcher is painting corners.

I like taking advantage of bad hit's / foul balls. Stuff just outside the infield.

Good hitting teams or your #3, #4 pitcher getting reps I go deeper with LF/RF.

Hardest thing for this age is to charge a ball coming at them straight away. Especially the low trajectory hits.

I put the most athletic in CF and they can circle around if someone hits a blast to LF or RF over the kids playing shallow.


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[testandor]

Nothing (OK, many things) drives me crazier than a decent contact team hitting bloop singles all day long. But if a girl gets into one and sends it to the gap? Fine. Good for her. I'll remember that next time.

Exactly! I don't even mind if they hit one over their heads. But those dinkers and doinkers in front of them, especially the ones that seem to hang there forever, drive me crazy.

 

[Rolling Hard]

12u- Girls weigh 68 lbs to 168 lbs. Bigger hitters play deeper than what you think is needed and smaller girls shallower than what you think is needed.

 

[barndog]

A lot more responses than I thought I'd get. Good stuff. Last weekend we played a team that had all of there girls about 180-190 ft deep on a 200 ft fence and didn't move at all. So the one thing I can't figure out is that some of the higher tiered tourney bracket play, are these teams playing deep to prevent giving up a double- keeping the ball in front of the outfielder? I was hoping they'd miss trying to throwdown to 1B or 3B and have 0 backup within 100 feet and our girls could exploit their OF positioning, but they never messed up.

One thing I agree with all of you on is that the 'tweeners' that land on the edge of the infield/outfield all feel in slow motion and are super frustrating when we can't pick up the easy out.

 

[Cornbread]

Research shows that the majority of fly balls are hit center field - away side (right field for right handed batter) and ground balls/line drives are pull side. I typically shade my outfielders 3 steps toward right field line for righty and shade my infield 2 steps pull side. Many times outfielders don’t catch those bloopers/tweeners due to not being shaded appropriately. Of course nothing is full proof in this game but shading is just as important as depth IMO.

Also, know your outfielders! Who goes back on balls the best/worst, who reads balls the best/worst. Then position them to be successful.

The key to great outfield play is to get a good read and sprint early. Too many outfielders coast early and try to sprint late

 

[Cagman]

Playing outfield 15’ from the fence doesn’t make much sense or maybe girls that don’t listen. You’ll have 10 balls fall in front of you for every 1 that goes over your head. And 15’ from a fence it will be a homerun regardless. Even at the HS Level, I’m constantly bringing my OF in as they always seem to wander closer to the fence every pitch. They must learn that in travel ball

Especially at younger age. This board is entertaining to read. So many tales of 12U girls hitting 200’ shots and then somehow by the time they get to 16+ and I see them, very few are home run hitters. It’s a mystery.