NAME OF ACTIVITY:
Homerun Derby
GRADE LEVEL:
K-12 with modifications
EQUIPMENT:
1 bat, 1 ball, 4 cones or markers per game, 1 home plate
HIGHLIGHTS:
Skills of baseball including: pitching, hitting, fielding.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Personally, I run several games at a time with 3-4 players per team.
However, If you are limited on space, you can have any number on a
team. I use the smaller numbers just so I can get more at bats for
each player.
Field set-up: set home plate where you want
the hitters to start. Set the first cone (marker) directly in front
of home plate at a distance (appox. 20 feet) where you want the pitcher to
stand. Directly inline the first marker and home plate place the
second marker about 20 feet away from the first marker. Do this
again with the last two markers. Your set up should look something
like this:
Out
Single
Double
Triple
Homerun
For a game: Divide the players into two
teams. One team will start off in the field, the other team will
start off hitting.
The pitcher for the fielding team will pitch from
about the first cone. The rest of the fielding team will scatter
about the field. Play starts by having the pitcher toss to the first
batter. IMPORTANT - THERE IS NO BASE RUNNING IN THIS GAME. ALL
BASES AND RUNS ARE KEPT ON A BOARD OR IN THE HEAD OF THE PLAYERS.
The batter will bat until he/she gets a hit or makes an out. The
cones will determine the type of hit. If the batter hits a ball that
touches the ground anywhere between home and the first cone, the batter is
out. If the batter ball First touches the ground past the first cone
it is a single, past the second is a double and so on. When a player
gets a hit, it will be announced what hit that player earned, and what
bases are now occupied. Following are the rules:
After 3 outs batting team goes to the field.
There are no walks, no hit bats men, and no
automatic strikes
The only foul ball is a ball that first touches
the ground behind home plate.
Three strikes is an out.
If a fielder catches a ball in the air, it is an
out no matter where he/she caught it.
Runners on base (imaginary) move the number of
bases earned by the batter. (Ex. runner on 1st and Allen comes to bat,
Allen hits a double. The runner on first get to move 2 bases, so now
the runner on 1st goes to 3rd and Allen's runner goes to second).
VARIATIONS - you can make this game much
easier by eliminating base hits. A marker can be placed for a
homerun and anything that is not a homerun is an out.
HELPFUL HINTS: 1.
Use tees for younger players. 2.
If opposing pitchers have trouble, let each team pitch to their own
hitters. 3.
Use a run rule to limit the number of runs that can be scored in an
inning, or switch after each player has batted once or twice (depending on
how many players you have on a team). 4.
This can be played indoors as well, you can mark areas on the floor and up
the wall if necessary. (Inside I have room for a single and double
on the floor, then part way up the wall is a triple, and higher on the
wall is a homerun. 5.
The distance of the markers needs to be in proportion to the skill level
of the players and the type of ball being used.
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