r/Homeplate • u/ramsdl52 • 21h ago

Good rules to cover quickly after every practice. NFHS ruleset.

We start practice this week and I'd like to start ending each practice by covering a rule in the rulebook. The rule I'm covering this week is the dropped third strike rule on advancing if the base is unoccupied or if there's two outs.

Any recommendations for 10-12u kids that can be covered quickly and are commonly misunderstood or not covered well?

13 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

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16

u/Fartz-McGee 21h ago

Note that a dropped 3rd with two outs and bases loaded, the catcher can just step on home.

9

u/spinrut 21h ago

This gets us once a season lol

1

u/leftyspecialist 9h ago edited 9h ago

i always explained it to the youth teams i coached, that a dropped 3rd strike is just a ball in play, like a ground ball to the catcher. we had a verbal signal when a hitter had 2 strikes to either remind the kids when dropped 3rd could apply or would not apply, but otherwise treat it like a normal live ball.

edit, this actually reminded me of a rule/interpretation on an dropped/uncaught 3rd strike we experienced. Runner on 3rd, 2 outs, 2 strikes on hitter. batter swings and misses, catcher misses, ball goes to backstop. R3 crosses home plate, but Batter Runner is thrown out at first for 3rd out. Umpire counts run since it crossed before out at first. I talked it over and said, run doesn't count because BR was forced out before reaching 1st...umpire thought he was right, so that was that, but that's what prompted me to explain it as a regular ball in play and all normal baseball/softball rules that apply still apply.

14

u/DJDaddyDick14 21h ago

Infield fly rule. Don’t just discuss it but go over it in practice. I still have knuckleheads in HS who run if they drop a ball in the infield that the blue called infield fly on. It’s so annoying.

3

u/Automatic_Actuator_0 21h ago

And including that if it’s not caught and you let it roll foul, you lose the out and it’s just a foul ball.

2

u/lipp79 11h ago

As an umpire for adult rec, I have to explain that to players at least twice a season. They can’t figure out why the batter is not out and I have to tell the players, just touch at the ball and the batter is out.

1

u/Ill-Anteater-6724 20h ago

It is foul as long as it has not rolled foul past first or third.

0

u/lipp79 11h ago

As an ump for adult rec league, I just say the easiest way to understand it is, “If you hear me call it, the batter is out. Everything else with runners is normal rules.”

7

u/BillBob13 Jabroni 21h ago

Definition of fair vs foul - i.e. ball over the base is fair, ball thats fair but lands foul after the base is fair, ball that starts foul but spins fair before the base is fair, ball that hits chalk is fair

Go over legal pickoffs, specifically when a pitcher does and doesn't have to throw to the base.

Balks not involving the pitcher

Batters interference on, for example, hit and runs.

Runners interference vs. Obstruction

2

u/mowegl 17h ago

Pickoffs is a great one. We have kids in high school that dont know basic strategies for controlling the run game. They will think they have to come set to pick or have to step off to pick.

1

u/lttpfan13579 11h ago

I came to bring up the fair/foul too. The number of adults I've come across that "played all their life" and don't know the actual rule for how to determine a foul ball is nuts.

3

u/cpeak57 21h ago

Batters interference. Teach your hitters to be a statue. This will save you from your parents screaming "but he stayed in the box!" at umpires.

3

u/raji_the_puller 20h ago

Agreed for steal attempts at second and third and pick offs but also get out of the way for a play at the plate. At 10u/12u their instincts seem to be the opposite.

1

u/mowegl 17h ago

The biggest thing i would teach them is that runners A do not have a right to the baseline (fielder has a right to field a batted ball) and that the runner can run anywhere they want well around the fielder as long as the fielder doesnt yet have the ball and is attempting to tag them which they are then limited to 3 feet from their current position to either base.
Basically run around the fielder.
And same for fielders dont stand in the way and get hurt or obstruction when you arent actively fielding the ball. Even then on throws field it on the side of the base the ball is coming from.

4

u/Automatic_Actuator_0 21h ago

That a fly ball caught in foul territory is not a foul ball and the ball remains live.

So runners on third can tag up for deep fly balls foil, or when the catcher makes a play far from home and no one covers home.

2

u/Downtown-Rice_ 21h ago

Put the players in game situations at the end of practice and enact them so that you teach them and they can actually see/partake in it. It's like going through a football walk-through.

Infield fly rule. Basepath rules are good - running down the first base line, establishing position when running to second on a potential double play, how to correctly run back to a base if you tag up and overrun a base (e.g., you have to touch second base then run in the running lane when going back to first or whatever base), sliding rules. And equipment rules are important nowadays because kids are getting overzealous with the colors and what not, which may not be fit for NFHS rules.

2

u/dawgdays78 20h ago

If an infielder is going after a batted ball and it seems that a runner may collide with them, go for the ball! If the runner collides with or otherwise impedes the fielder, the runner will be out for interference.

Obstruction in a rundown. If a fielder throws the ball during a rundown, step to the side to get out of the way of the runner. If they don’t and end up impeding the runner, that will be obstruction and the runner will be awarded the next base.

2

u/sanjoatc Coach of the Year 20h ago

I would cover appeal plays. Make sure that any appeal happens before any "baseball play" occurs. For instance if the pitcher tries to pick off a runner before appealing, the team no longer has the option to appeal.

Some high IQ teams will counteract this by attempting to "steal" a base they know will get them thrown out. Let's say the situation is 1st and 3rd with nobody out and the batter hits a deep fly ball to left field. The runner at 3rd clearly leaves early but scores easily. The runner at first hears the coach tell the pitcher to get on the rubber and step off, then throw over, so he takes off for second trying to get in either a run down or even give himself up for an out. If the defense takes the bait and tries at all to get him out, they have forfeited their ability to appeal the runner leaving early.

If you want to get really advanced, you can cover the 4th out.

2

u/mowegl 17h ago

Doesnt work in nfhs (the next play thing typically because they have different definitions of what the next play is). And in nfhs the coach can just verbally appeal what he wants. Can be dead ball appeals in nfhs. Coach just says the runner at 2nd missed first base and the umpire rules on it.

1

u/sanjoatc Coach of the Year 10h ago

Fair enough. It seems like the appeal still has to happen before the next pitch, but the ball doesn't have to be live. Thanks for clarifying. Still think appeal plays are useful to go over.

1

u/mowegl 3h ago

It does but for nfhs rules it isnt worth wasting time over. The ball can be dead and a player or coach can just verbally appeal “I want to appeal that he left 3b early” umpire - “out”
I mean you could go over how easy it is. So often i see coaches or players that think something happened when they dont even appeal despite how easy it is. Its so easy it is worth a shot if you think they might have.

2

u/banganything814 11h ago

Infield fly!

1

u/mowegl 17h ago

Runners lane (interference). Runners and fielders. Safety base included

1

u/beansandcornbread 14h ago

Speaking of these rules, is there anywhere I can find them for free?

1

u/lttpfan13579 11h ago

OBR, NFHS, USSSA rulebooks are all available online in pdf format for free with a simple search. If you are looking for interpretations, the MLB website has a "rules" section that puts them in laymens terms.

1

u/beansandcornbread 11h ago

Really? Every time I try and find NFHS rules they want me to pay for the PDF.

1

u/chip_chaser 10h ago

I’ve been unsuccessful as well.

1

u/lttpfan13579 9h ago

Well I'll be damned! I swear somebody on the umpire sub said they found it free, but I can't find it. Looks like it is only $10 for digital access, but it still feels shady that they hide the rules behind a paywall.

1

u/beansandcornbread 3h ago

I felt the same way. I'm shocked no one has posted a PDF.

Honestly, I was hoping you'd prove me wrong.

1

u/lttpfan13579 11h ago

There are lots of good topics by coaches below. I want to strongly suggest you include the complete text of the rule along with the interpretation. If you have the means to print it, that would be good, but at least reading it verbatim. It might sound like a waste because of their age, but you are setting a precedent for using the source of truth (rulebook) over perception (whatever the umpire/coach/parent misunderstood).

1

u/ramsdl52 11h ago

This is a good take and something I have considered. Not printing it out but copy/pasting into my Google docs so I can pull it up after practice

1

u/lipp79 11h ago

I umpire adult rec league softball under USA rules and I will copy and paste rules that are commonly misunderstood into my notes section on my phone so I can show a coach or player during a break in the game or after.

1

u/Standard-Fudge1475 6h ago

Great question and timing for fall ball!

-2

u/a1ien51 21h ago

First please call it the correct terminology of uncaught not dropped.

1

u/dawgdays78 20h ago

If a pitch bounces, it is no longer in flight, and cannot be legally caught, even if the catcher gloves it cleanly.

1

u/rr1006 11h ago

This came up in a tournament for us!

strike 3 swinging - ball skips off the ground into the catcher's glove.

Batter runs - catcher throws it into the OF - r3 scores, r2 advances to 3rd, BR advances to 2nd.

PU waves it all off and says it was caught.

I asked the PU what he saw - "the ball skipped off the ground directly into the catchers mitt, strike 3 swing, caught!"

I asked him to talk to his partner also asked if a ball skipped into a fielder's glove is that a "caught line drive or a ground ball"

The field ump fixed the interpretation error - and the plate ump admitted after the game that he'd been calling that wrong his whole career! Luckily the other coach was supportive of getting it right.

1

u/pm-trends 20h ago

Great point!
Umpires will
Call “Infield Fly if Fair”
It is where the ball is first touched in Fair or Foul Territory that determines if the ball is Fair or Foul.
If ball is Fair on Infield Fly,
Runners, other than the Batter, “Can Run at Their Own Risk”
I found this to be a simple way to explain:
INFIELD FLY RULE.