Infielders only at their positions, two teams. You start with a man at first and no outs. It becomes a scrimmage now, however you can only steal, bunt for a hit, sac bunt, fake bunt/ steal, bunt and run, squeeze or safety squeeze. It gets very competitive. Pitchers throw their bull pen on the mound, everybody has to work, catchers middle infielders working runners, etc. We play 3 innings, loser runs. It gets VERY intense and it works all aspects of small ball, defense and offense. It takes about 20 minutes and a lot of work gets taken care of.

Submitted by:
Earl Smith
Cathedral City HS

We use it to start practice when stretching is a bit lazy. Put half of the guys at first and the other half at the plate. One pitch, the runner is stealing on the pitch (coaches pitch, pick once in a while) Hittters treat it like a hit and run, however your team does it. Runners advance to third based on location of the hit. Put a coach at third. Players get a lot of work in, in a game situation. Plus the players get a lot of conditioning and it speeds up the tempo of practice.
Submitted by:
Earl Smith
Cathedral City HS

We learned that we need to focus on the last 3 innings of the game, and how they are (or can be) much different from the first 4 innings. Pitchers must throw strikes, players must play catch, hitters must execute a play, runners have to be smart but aggressive. Separate the team into two groups - defense and offense - discuss the importance of execution in the final 3 innings (where plays can be magnified both positively and negatively). Both teams are coached separately and points are awarded or taken away for positive and negative plays. Example, first pitch balls, walks, not freezing a runner, missing a cut-off man, missing a bunt, not executing a squeeze, not hitting behind the runner are all negative plays; first pitch strikes, throwing out runners, taking the extra base, holding a runner to one base, are all positive plays. The last 3 innings are when games can be won or lost, and by practicing their importance, players will then understand the value of execution.

Submittted by:
Mike Fontana
29 Palms HS

Make batting practice a game. To help the players focus on executing offensive success, we award are take away points during batting practice. We keep points throughout the week and award a winner at the end of the week. Players earn points for executing the hitting situation correctly - sacrafice, hit and run, hit behind the runner, runner on third, infield in, two-strike approach. You can modify or change depending on the drill you want to cover or focus on. It teaches them to take batting practice to the next level and to visualize and compete to be successful.

Submitted by:
Mike Fontana
29 Palms HS

The goal of this drill is to have your team compete with 2 outs in a ball game. In this drill, there is 6 consecutive outs and when a group gets that their round is over. Their goal is to stay alive and hit for the entire time that is agreed. If the group gets 6 consecutive outs before the time, then record their time and you will compare that time with the other groups. Obviously, if a group stays up for the entire time then they win but there might be more than one group that hits for the total time.
Reward the group that wins by giving them: extra batting practice like free swings, time off of running after practice, some type of treat, or they don’t have to put away any gear. Coaches discretion on reward.
Treat this drill as if doing a base hit round. The coach makes the decision if it is a base hit or not. Foul balls are treated as a foul it does not go against the hitter, however if the hitter strikes out then he is out.
How it Works: Put the team in groups of 2, 3, 4, or all together as a team. If you have two groups, put one on defense so they compete on making the play, however no runners are involved, or you could just have them shag. Using three or four groups: 1. is hitting live. 2. is in the cage. 3 and 4. is shagging. You can do the entire team but when you run out of baseballs have the guys run out and shag baseballs but do it with a time limit so you can get conditioning done as well. Give each group amount of time to hit. For example, each group gets 5, 10, or 15 minutes or whatever you choose. As soon as the coach makes the first pitch the clock starts.
If the batter gets a base hit, he stays up at the plate until he is called out, his turn is done for now until it comes back around to him (this is 1 out). If the next hitter gets out, then that would be two consecutive outs and the third hitter would be up but if he gets a hit then the outs start over. For example, lets say that five hitters in a row do not get a hit at all then there would be 5 consecutive outs so the pressure comes upon that 6th hitter he must get a hit “to extend the inning” therefore the outs would start over again (back to one after he gets out). But if he makes the 6th consecutive out then that group is done.
This drill builds team camaraderie and a mental toughness. When there is 2 outs in a ball game I will yell out “6 out drill” and I have noticed over the years we have become a good 2 out hitting team because the hitter wants to "extend the inning."

Submitted by:
Jon Austin
Cajon HS

Objective: To work on turning double plays in the infield and to work on live reads off the bat in the infield and outfield.

Set up: A coach will throw batting practice with an L-screen and bubble being used. There will be a full defense on the field, including a catcher. There will be 4 hitters in each hitting group. You are either in a hitting group or playing your defensive position. If there is more than one player per position, they will alternate. The outfield works independently of the infield. The outfielders work on catching and fielding ground balls and then throwing them into the piggyback (pitcher) who is behind a screen in shallow centerfield. It is important to let the outfielders know that they need to get good jumps and cut off balls in the gaps, make it as game like as possible. On offense, the hitters work on situational hitting. They don’t run the bases until the last round. They only run a hard 90. We have each hitting group go 3 times through the rounds. If a ball is hit in the infield, they are turning 2. In the last round the infield will throw across to 1st. If a ball is hit to the outfield, the outfielders react and the infielders get ready for the next pitch. They work independently of each other.

Offensive Rounds: Defensive Rounds
Rd. 1 2 sac bunts Rd. 1 defense plays bunts live.

Rd. 2 1 hit and run Rd. 2 Infield turns double play

Rd. 3 1 Move the runner over Rd. 3 Infield turns double play

Rd. 4 1 Drive the runner in Rd. 4 Infield turns double play

Rd. 5 1 Drive the runner in Rd. 5 Infield throws across to 1st.

*In round 5, the hitter runs a hard 90.
Submitted by:
Estevan Valencia
Redlands HS