Third strike

[eddieq]

Just wanted to say that one of the teams made the out in this situation tonight. The also got fired into right field, so nobody got cocky anyway.

 

[Big Daddy Michigan]

Unusually I do a simple “strike 3”, take my mask off and wait for something to happen. Sometimes the players just stand there, sometimes the batter starts toward the dugout. It’s usually a few seconds before anyone reacts that the batter-runner (yes, they are now the batter-runner) hasn’t been put out and we have a live ball. Sometimes a coach or parent will start yelling instructions. More than once I’ve seen the catcher with the ball standing within tagging distance from the batter-runner realize they need to make a play and promptly fire it into right field.

To be fair, I call a lot of community 12u and 10u.

When I'm coaching young or inexperienced catchers before a two strike pitch I'd always say, "Tag her out-throw her out."

I wanted her last thought to be about making a play after strike three. I also said it in that order because I wanted her first thought to be to tag her out.

I must have said it a lot because ten years later a dad of one of my players was talking about a young catcher he was working with and he said, "I'm working with her on tag her out-throw her out situations."