Home/Baseball/First-and-Third Defense Drill
Team DefenseSituational

First-and-Third Defense Drill

One of the trickiest situational defenses in youth baseball, with runners on first and third, requires the whole infield and battery to agree on a plan before the pitch.

Age RangeAges 11+
Duration12–15 minutes
Group Size9 players
SportBaseball

Equipment Needed

  • Balls
  • Bases

Keep practice balls on hand

A bucket of practice baseballs keeps this situational defense moving through every look.

Shop Practice Baseballs on Amazon As an Amazon Associate, FreeCoachingDrills.com earns from qualifying purchases.

Setup

  • Set the full defense with runners placed at first and third base.
  • Coach calls the defensive play (e.g., "cut and throw home" or "go to second") before each rep.
First-and-Third Defense DrillR1R3Ccalls the playcut?Runners on 1st and 3rd; catcher and infield execute the called play

Instructions

  1. On a steal attempt from first, the catcher receives the pitch and executes the called defensive play.
  2. If the play is "cut," the catcher throws toward second but a cutoff infielder can intercept and check the runner from third.
  3. If the play is a straight throw, the defense commits fully to second base.
  4. Reset with different runner leads and calls so the defense sees multiple looks.
Coaching Points
  • The whole defense needs to know the called play before the pitch — confusion here is what leads to a run scoring.
  • The cutoff player's job is to read the runner from third and react, not just catch and relay automatically.
  • Communication between catcher and pitcher about which play is on has to happen every single time, not just when the situation is unusual.
  • This defense is about preventing the bigger mistake (a run scoring) even if it means letting the trail runner advance to second.

Variation

Practice multiple called plays (throw through, fake and hold, throw home) in the same session so the defense has answers ready for different game situations.

More U12 Baseball Drills