I am seeking clarification on base stealing/leading off in 9U USSSA baseball. Can you lead off? Can you steal or do you have to wait till ball reaches home plate? I saw a 9U modified ruling for base stealing in 9U. Does this apply to 9U USSSA commonly played in Georgia, NC, and Tennessee? Sorry for what is probably a dumb question, but we are starting up a 9U baseball travel team for the first time and are wanting to be clear on such things so we can prepare for our season.
As I understand it, it just depends on how the tournament is classified. "Closed" bases mean that you have to stay on the base until the ball crosses homeplate (just like Little League). "Open" bases mean that it's full on baseball with with leads & stealing as you see fit. Each tournament will tell you whether it's open or closed bases.
I know there's typically a rush to go to Open bases, but in my experience, until 12U, open bases mean that just about every single and base-on-balls is an automatic triple. Steal 2nd on the 1st pitch and steal 3rd on the next. I've always thought that a modified open (can get lead, take secondary, but not steal until ball crosses plate. AKA: a delay steal) would be be better at 11U on down.
USSSA LEADOFF/STEALING 9u
Posted - 07/27/2016 : 14:40:21
