The Little League Coach

What Ever Happened to Taking a Strike?

Image by williamhartz via Flickr

Last night in the Little League Softball Championship game, down by 4 runs, w/ the 7,8,9 batters up New Jersey went out there hacking??? This is not to single them out, I have seen this in just about every game that is close in the late innings. Baseball/Softball 101 says "Take a strike". For some reason, this isn’t the case any more. I have had coaches tell me "I don’t like to do that because it doesn’t teach anything". Huh?

Of course it does. It teaches kids THE RIGHT THING!

Why do we take a strike?

1. You only have about a 30% chance of getting on base swinging the bat . That means that if I swing and make contact, 2 out of 3 times I am going to make an out. Doesn’t sound like good odds to me. Do you think a professional gambler would play w/ these odds?

2. The last 3 outs are always the most difficult to get. How many times have you seen a team blow a 2,3,4 or more run lead in the last inning? I am beginning to think it happens more often than not.

3. Taking a strike eliminates any chance of your player swinging at a ball. Remove the pressure from your player, they already have enough stress on them. Let them take a strike and settle in. You might get a walk out of it.

4. You need baserunners! You can’t win if you don’t get players on base. Remember the objective is to get the tying run to the plate. You can’t do that if you ground out, fly out, or strike out.

Not only should you take a strike. If you get to 3-1 you should consider taking that pitch as well. If you have a great hitter up let them rip, but any player that is even slightly shaky should be taking 3-1 as well. Once you get up your power hitter as the tying run. Let ‘em rip! But until then. TAKE A STRIKE!

Can you think of another time you should take a strike?

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baseball, Baseball field, batting, championship, Innings, little league softball, new jersey, softball, Strike zone, take a strike
14 August 2008 comment TrackBack-URI

Congratulations to Simpsonville Little League

Congratulations to Simpsonville Little League 11/12 Major’s Softball Champions! Let by 6′1" Carley Hoover on the mound they pull of a victory in the top of the 6th in a seesaw battle over the team from New Jersey! Back and forth it went!

Anyone want to guess what won the game? Pitching of course. Not so much this game, but getting there in softball is a throwback to the old Little League baseball. You really only need two super pitchers to get you there. Oh yeah, and a ton of luck!

All in all, these teams were the most impressive I have ever seen in this tournament. Usually the teams are good, but both of these teams were fantastic.

Congrats to both teams for making it so far! Now it’s time to start fall ball so hurry home!

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baseball, champions, little league, Little League Baseball, Major League Baseball, new jersey, Pitcher, simpsonville, softball, south carolina, Sport, tournament, Youth
13 August 2008 comment TrackBack-URI