Special Plays – Judi Garman and Michelle Gromacki

excerpt from the book Softball Skills & Drills-2nd Edition
by Judi Garman, Michelle Gromacki

Special Plays
Certain situations occur regularly in a game and offer unique opportunities to advance runners or to score. Coaches need to decide ahead of time how they want to respond, and the team needs to practice accordingly so players feel comfortable with the call when it is made during the game.

Second-and-Third Play (Ground Ball Go)
With runners at second and third, the runner at third goes home automatically on any ground ball regardless of the number of outs and no matter where the ball is hit (except when the ball stays just in front of home plate and is picked up by the catcher). This is an excellent play because it puts pressure on the infield. If the defense makes a mistake, the offense scores a run. Force the defense to try to make the tag on the runner sliding home, which is much more difficult than the routine defensive play of holding the runner and throwing to first. The play at home requires a quick throw, a tag on a hard-sliding runner, and an umpire's correct call on a close play. The element of surprise (the runner is going?) and the pressure on the infield to stop the run often lead to a bad throw. And if the hit ball goes to the pitcher, the runner has a chance to score because not all pitchers are good overhand throwers. This defensive play is certainly more difficult than the play to first, and it is not practiced nearly as much.

The runner must slide hard at home, creating a difficult tag play as well as tying up the catcher so that she cannot easily make a play on the batter–runner. (The catcher is often not even looking at second.) The batter's responsibility is to hit the ball on the ground, toss the bat away from home plate–knowing that the runner is coming home–and then try to get to second if the throw goes home. The runner automatically goes to second unless stopped by the first-base coach. The coach should hold the runner at first if the play at home happens so quickly that the batter has not reached first base and there is a good chance of her being doubled up if she attempts second base. The runner at second goes to third as soon as she sees the defense throw to home or first. The runner from second should not be in a hurry because the play will be made elsewhere; she must not run into a tag-out at short or third if the infielder is fielding the ball. The fielders' attention will be at home or at first, so the runner has plenty of time to take third base.

If the runner is out at home, your team is left with runners at second and third! Nothing lost and yet so much to be gained. If the defense makes a mistake or fumbles the ball, a run scores on what appears to be a routine ground ball. And if the runner is stopped at first, then the defense has the dreaded first-and-third play to contend with. On the next pitch, call for a steal of second base because 90 percent of the teams won't do anything to stop it. Conversely, how many times have teams missed opportunities to score when the runner stays at third and the ground ball is mishandled, takes a bad bounce, or is a slow roller? By having your runner automatically go on the ground ball, you can take advantage of any of these situations. All the decision making is taken out of the play. The runner is going home on all ground balls. She just reacts! Never again shake your head and wish your runner had gone home. Runs are difficult enough to come by; use this strategy to score on an infield ground ball, which is usually an out. I tried to keep count of how many runs we scored using this strategy over the years I coached, but we scored so many that I quit counting.

First-and-Third Options
The first-and-third play is one of the most difficult to defend, and it is challenging for the offense to run as well. The offense is often willing to trade an out for a run. With runners on first and third, the runner on first goes to second when the pitch is thrown. This runner's goal is to advance safely or draw a throw that may give the runner at third an opportunity to score.

A different offensive situation is set up when the batter walks and there is a runner at third. The batter who is walked runs to first but never stops at the base–she continues on to second. The rules state that the runner may proceed to second (even if the pitcher has the ball and is in the circle) as long as the runner does not stop and reverse direction while the pitcher has the ball in the circle. If the pitcher makes a motion to throw, the rule does not apply. What the defense does is determined by the reaction of the runners, and the runners try to react to the defensive sets. Because offense and defense are so entwined, they are discussed together in chapter 9 (see page 205).

Yet another option is to use a fake sacrifice bunt to open second base for the runner at first. The third-base player must cover a possible bunt, and the shortstop moves to cover third. The second-base player covers first base for the bunt, leaving second base open. If the center fielder covers the base, there is no backup, and any overthrow will clear the bases.

Fake Fall With Runners on First and Second
The batter fakes a bunt, and the runner at first takes a hard lead, turns, and falls down. The runner gets up and takes two steps toward first base, drawing the throw there, and then turns and runs hard to second base because no one is there. The shortstop is covering third and the second-base player is covering first for the bunt. The runner at second is slowly creeping toward third base and breaks to third on the throw to first base (the defense throws to first, thinking the runner is returning there).

Fake Sneaky Bunt With Runners on First and Second
This is a special play with runners on first and second. The coach must first determine that the third-base player is covering third on the steal. Call a double steal, and signal the batter to perform a fake sneaky. (This bunt is not shown as late as a sneaky bunt but not as early as a sacrifice bunt.) This will catch the third-base player off guard, and the goal is for the runner from second to beat the off-balance third-base player back to the bag. The catcher will see that the third-base player is not ready for the throw and will either delay her throw or make a bad throw, which might allow your base runner to score. Like all of the bunts, this one in particular needs to be practiced in order to be properly executed. This play is a great tool for scoring runs.

Washington Play
In college circles, this play is sometimes referred to as the University of Washington play. The batter–runner goes deep down the first-base line after having hit safely. She runs far down the line to give the play time to develop and to give the shortstop and second-base player time to vacate second base. The runner walks nonchalantly and very slowly back toward first base, keeping her eyes on the situation (see figure 4.4). The defensive players tend to vacate second base, going back to their positions and assuming that the play is over. Once the batter–runner decides that she can beat either defensive player to second, she breaks for second before stepping on first base. Once she breaks toward second, she must keep going to second unless the pitcher releases her by throwing or faking a throw. Because the batter–runner has not stepped on first (while returning to the bag), she is able to go to second. To signal the play to the runner, tell her to "go deep" as she approaches first.