T1B

Any college baseball afficianado want to explain to me
why the Fullerton coach did not walk that last batter to
load up the bases with 2 outs and hope for a force play at
any base ????
The guy was batting over .300---why not put him on and hope ??

I'm not a baseball coach, but if you think about the entire situation then what he did makes sense (though it certainly is arguable).

Two outs, runners on second and third. On a ground ball there's a play at any base anyway, except second, because the runners will be moving on contact. The only way they score is on a base hit (or wild pitch, passed ball, error, etc.), which is what ended up happening.

If you walk the guy to load the bases then there's a possible play at one more base (second) but there's also the possibility of scoring not only on a base hit but on a walk or a hit batter (which had already happened something like six times during the game). That's a lot of extra pressure to put on your pitcher.

It probably depends on how the coach perceives the capabilities of the two hitters vs. his pitcher, but the way he handled it makes plenty of sense to me.

Mikey--with 1st base open there is NO force play at any base--including home.
I do not know about the next batter's ability-- maybe
he is a .400 hitter, or a very fast runner, or the kind of
guy like minnie Minoso who can "get hit" by a pitch.
I have seen most games in that situation put the guy on. That's all.

But the runner at third will definitely be running on any contact. It might as well be a force at home...except that he has to be tagged. Either way you have to get the ball there before the runner.

What I'm saying is that a base hit beats you in either situation. If you load the bases then you also lose with a walk. I've seen major league pitchers who can't find the plate after giving out an intentional walk. You want to put that kind of pressure on a college kid in a game where one loss means you're out? With first base open he at least has some cushion.

I can explain it raher simply...


What Mikey said.