2nd and 3rd, 1 out (infield in)

This is a great baseball situation and a situation that has many decisions to be made. Let's first understand the score of the game.

If the infield is in, the offensive team is either well ahead, tied, or down by one. There would be no other reason for the defensive team to have his infield in if this were not the case. Having said that, I've seen coaches bring their infield in during other sitautions. That's for another time though.

Many times the infield coming in is a deterrant to the offensive team to not go on contact. However, at amateur levels of baseball I believe that this situation is always(provided the defense actually knows when to have the infield in)a "contact" play at 3rd base. This means that the runner at 3rd should aggressively attack home plate on all ground balls. Let's look at the consequences.

If the infield is in, they are looking to throw home on all ground balls. If the ball is indeed hit on the ground the runner at 3rd should break towards home on the contact play. The runner at 2nd should break towards 3rd. The runner at 2nd base should always follow the lead runner in an "infield in" situation with the contact play on. Here's why.

If the offensive team has a big lead, at the least you created another 1st and 3rd situation. With that big lead there is a good chance the defense will concede 2nd base to you on a steal attempt shortly thereafter if you would like.

If the offensive team is tied, you force the issue here and if they cut you down you have a 1st and 3rd situation. I think at the amateur level, 1st and 3rds might be better than 2nd and 3rds if you need one run.

If the offensive team is down 1, again you create a 1st and 3rd if the batter is thrown out at the plate. You have attempted to tie the score but failed. Now, you have runners at 1st and 3rd with 2 outs. If you were not aggressive, you would have had runners at 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs. You need 1 run to tie. What situation would you prefer? Me, I'll take the aggression and the 1st and 3rd. I'm thinking I'm going to try and steal a run with one of my 1st and 3rd plays. If they don't bite on defense for one of my plays? Well, at the least I'm back to a 2nd and 3rd 2 out situation.

Too many times the defense dictates what the offense does without the offense thinking beyond the obvious. Just because the infield comes in, the offense should not lose it's aggressiveness. In fact, in this case, I believe every amateur coach should put the contact play on here. There just aren't enough risks to even make it a debate.