Does anyone have their second baseman cover second on a steal? Is there any merit in the idea that you'd rather give up the hole at 2B and not SS? By having the second baseman cover the bag, you also must keep your first baseman back on bunts or there's no one to cover first.
Who's got the bag?
- Thread starter CoogansBluff
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- Feb 24, 2012
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Depends on situation/batter. Slapper at the plate and 2b covers steal, as 1 example.
Are you saying that the default is the SS, but 2B might cover in certain situations?
- Feb 24, 2012
- 125
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For us that would be correct. We are 1st year 12U. There are many times we have 2b cover though. Pitch loction/hitter tendencies/pitch selection/etc...
- Feb 3, 2011
- 1,880
- 48
It depends on the game situation. With runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 out and with 3B playing in, and SS cheating towards 3rd, then 2B would be the best position to take a throw on the steal attempt. In 10u, the risk is high, so coaches concede the steal and don't even allow the C to make that throw, but that would be the proper coverage. More catchers are going to be allowed to make that throw in 12u and there are going to be fewer coaches that want to test a quality C in that position, so there will be fewer automatic steal attempts in a 1st & 3rd situation.
IMHO, too many softball coaches are obsessed with having 1B charging on bunts, regardless of situation. It's my opinion that 1B should only field bunts that come far enough up the line for the player to field the ball and make the tag on the BR herself. In other words, 1B shouldn't be crashing just because the batter indicated bunt.
In my defense, 3B should charge, because she's almost always the primary on a bunt. For the most part, C would be secondary, and P would be 3rd option. Bunt direction and distance obviously will be the main determining factors on who actually makes the play, but under no circumstances should we ever have 4 players converging on a single ball. Too much can go wrong.
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