No Additional Umpires Needed

I went to the Super Regionals where Arizona and Stanford played some great games. Arizona took the series 2-1 and advanced to the College World Series for Women's Fastpitch Softball.

As I watched the games with my family on Saturday evening, I noticed that while there were 3 trained Umpires on the field, there were 200+ wanna be umpires in the stands. While some comments brought some laughs, most were extremely derogatory and in my humble opinion uncalled for.

I had the unique perspective of sitting directly behind the homeplate umpire and with the exception of a few "it could have gone either way" calls, the umpires generally had it right. The moans from the crowd generally came from pitches that were knee to waist high, but were way inside or outside. It was purely the perspective the fans had by sitting to the right/left side of homeplate. The umpires definitely did not deserve the derogatory comments.

Umpires are human and I need to remember that. I'm committed to not exercising my umpire skills this year and I hope all involved with Trouble will try and do the same.

By the way, the one funny and what I considered to be a harmless heckle was "Hey Ump...you need to check your long distance plan because you just dropped that call". Even the umpire chuckled.

No "pickle" Between Home & First?

As I was watching the Super Regional tonight between Stanford & Arizona, I was reminded of a rule that so often as a coach I forget to remind my players of. When there is a runner on 1st, 2nd, or both, and the batter hits a ball that rolls slowly up the first base line to the pitcher or first baseman with less than 2 outs, they are asked to stop and get tagged out so the runners can advance safely to the next base without being forced out. However, the batter can't ever step backwards between home and first or they are called "out" and the runners must return to the previous base. That's right...Dead Ball...and the runners go back.

When running between any other base, forwards and backwards is definitely permitted. But, be careful, you may find yourself in a bit of a "pickle".

Fielding Basics

If/When the wheels start to fall off while fielding, STOP and remember the basics.

Use Your Knees - Players must use their KNEES to lower themselves to the ground instead of lowering their gloves using their waists.

Hands Out Front - Players must keep their hands (including their glove) in front of (forward of) their heads to allow their eyes to see both the glove and the ball (at the same time) without having to take their eyes quickly off the ball in order to see the ball into their gloves.

Focus on Bottom of Ball - Players should work on fielding the bottom of the ball.

Bunting Tips

The correct use of the Batter's Box is very important for bunting. A batter has a much better chance to bunt the ball in fair territory if they stand in the front of the box because they are already in fair territory. But, if a batter wants to angle more bunts down either foul line, then they'll have to move back in the box. Give it a shot...nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Baserunning Tip #1

Want an easy way to teach your baserunners when to start their leadoff? Any player that uses the rocker or sprinter start needs to start her leadoff as the pitcher starts her stride. For those players using the foot forward or the baseball leadoff, they need to start their leadoff when the pitchers hand gets to the top of her motion. Adjust it for each player a little if needed, but applying this tip should help your runners get the good jump.