5 man IF

ns09

Addicted to Softballfans
You're saying it's a lie that good teams run it 100% of the time and you don't even know who covers the bag?:rolleyes::rolleyes:

I'm sure that sounds retarded, but I have seen good teams just run a straight 4-4, and we're new to the 5 man, and I'm the 5th man and just wondering what you guys do on balls from the OF and who takes cuts and so on. I feel I should always cover the bag, and let 2nd and SS take cuts but I usually end up taking cuts and it is a big cluster-**** so just trying to get a sense as to what you guys do.
 

bearski

Addicted to Softballfans
your in michigan.so am i were do you play at? dont wanna sound dumb but im confused on your Lingo. when i say take cuts i usually mean hit. Like lets go get cuts.so im not sure what your asking. if your the 5th man you dont play the bag you plate to the right of the bag. its like basically doubling up the ss in a sense. you would get any that gets to the left of the SS and any that gets over or thru or next to your pitcher.

you would also catch the shallow fly balls and be the cutoff in most situations.
 

ns09

Addicted to Softballfans
your in michigan.so am i were do you play at? dont wanna sound dumb but im confused on your Lingo. when i say take cuts i usually mean hit. Like lets go get cuts.so im not sure what your asking. if your the 5th man you dont play the bag you plate to the right of the bag. its like basically doubling up the ss in a sense. you would get any that gets to the left of the SS and any that gets over or thru or next to your pitcher.

you would also catch the shallow fly balls and be the cutoff in most situations.

lansing area. I mean taking throws in from the OF, I understand how to play it on the IF, its just taking throws from the OF that I'm confused with. I'm sure over time we'll get used to it, but only played like 1 tourney playing 5 man, and a few league games.
 

coolluvr4u1976

#1 bomb dropper
NS09

If you are the 5man, you always cover 2nd base, the SS and 2b are the cut off men......that way you guys are not all running for the cut and nobody is covering it or you have a cluster @ 2nd and no cut off guy.......
 

johnsonrod

Starting Player
well my one guy was a right handed batter only hits right field..weird.hits homers and everything i got another guy we call him automatic left hander but usually on first pitch will hit over the first basemans head to mess them up then go left.you gotta have placement hitters not allstars but you can easily destroy a 5 man. i would say 6 or 7 of my guys can hit it out at anytime soo

thats kinda how i felt the first time i heard of 5 man but a line drive single is a line drive single no matter how many ppl are in the OF. and most fly balls, and a lot of 'deep' line drives will be caught with 3 OFers

im just saying that as a former "non believer" i see the extraordinary benefits of running a 5 man and cant wait till the next time i play in a mens tournament which will be with better players and we'll be more capable of successfully running a 5 man IF.
 

ns09

Addicted to Softballfans
If you are the 5man, you always cover 2nd base, the SS and 2b are the cut off men......that way you guys are not all running for the cut and nobody is covering it or you have a cluster @ 2nd and no cut off guy.......

this is what I thought too. But 1 guy said that the 5 man is suppose to take all the cuts, so i was just curious as to what you guys do.
 

bearski

Addicted to Softballfans
it depends we play it as a goof.so listen to someone who plays it for real. like i say the team we played with it didnt have a chance.anyone from michigan that plays the 5 man please please come to Octoberfest its at liberty park. Sterling heights michigan. Oct 2 fun tourney 250 a team. please play the 5 man let me know your team name i will see if we can punish you. if we dont play against each other its still fun

you can dress in costume i seen gorrillas,hotdogs, people dressed as clowns
 

Fro Joe

Snowden is a hero.
please come play that at liberty.i beg you 5 man people.

it depends we play it as a goof.so listen to someone who plays it for real. like i say the team we played with it didnt have a chance.anyone from michigan that plays the 5 man please please come to Octoberfest its at liberty park. Sterling heights michigan. Oct 2 fun tourney 250 a team. please play the 5 man let me know your team name i will see if we can punish you. if we dont play against each other its still fun

you can dress in costume i seen gorrillas,hotdogs, people dressed as clowns

I think you guys should rename your team the "Five Man Killers" and play C to show those guys what's up when they play 5man. I mean C is the level where you start to see all teams using it. Sounds like you guys would never lose a game. When you guys get your rings you owe me one for giving you this advice.
 

AmishFusion

Addicted to Softballfans
NS09

If you are the 5man, you always cover 2nd base, the SS and 2b are the cut off men......that way you guys are not all running for the cut and nobody is covering it or you have a cluster @ 2nd and no cut off guy.......

our pitcher covers second alot also
 

johnsonrod

Starting Player
I think you guys should rename your team the "Five Man Killers" and play C to show those guys what's up when they play 5man. I mean C is the level where you start to see all teams using it. Sounds like you guys would never lose a game. When you guys get your rings you owe me one for giving you this advice.

i was playing E and think teams with IFers who dont boot routine balls and 3 descent OFers would be dumb not to play 5 man. the amt of double plays that should be turned is actually pretty amazing.
 

kfferg

Banned User
Keeping singles as singles is key. The difference between a double and triple is negligible.

And yes having your fielders keeping ball in the infield would be the second key.
 

bearski

Addicted to Softballfans
this is true.my buddy plays B ball 99% of those guys play a 5 man thats cause these guys can place hit anytime anywhere so yea the gap between ss and 2nd would be too easy for these guys. Thats the point of a 5 man. But when your playing E and D its really rare for a whole team to be able to do this. And in B as soon as the balls hit 9 times out of 10 the outfielder is lined up were the ball is gonna be and its caught. They usually dont even look at the ball they see it hit then they run to the fence turn around and catch.. Thats the point of a 5 man.
 

bearski

Addicted to Softballfans
what happens in E and D level..which i play guys. You get alot of bloopers or accidental hits that should be happen and so a 5 man gets beat alot because the game is not being played like it should be with the skilled players. so you catch it off guard. Perfect example is football The Miami Dolphins running the Wildcat Offense. The miami team sucked but they thru off the logic of football and the Defense.and they did things that they shouldnt of and won games because of it and did it consistently.

Thats what happens with a 5 man played in E and D teams get beat cause accidents happen and people hit the ball when they shouldnt be and so on.. you get my point
 

Fro Joe

Snowden is a hero.
what happens in E and D level..which i play guys. You get alot of bloopers or accidental hits that should be happen and so a 5 man gets beat alot because the game is not being played like it should be with the skilled players. so you catch it off guard. Perfect example is football The Miami Dolphins running the Wildcat Offense. The miami team sucked but they thru off the logic of football and the Defense.and they did things that they shouldnt of and won games because of it and did it consistently.

Thats what happens with a 5 man played in E and D teams get beat cause accidents happen and people hit the ball when they shouldnt be and so on.. you get my point
I don't know what kind of E and D teams you see, but I don't see enough mis hits and bloopers to make it worth playing a 4 man when your team is capable of playing 5man.
 

bearski

Addicted to Softballfans
i gotcha.we all got our points from the type of ball we play and players we play against..i wish i lived there it would be crazy. well i invited anyone to come to octoberfest. come have a good time see if im wrong. You dont have to take my word for it please bring your guys and i will show you that its a terrible idea.
 

Pylon #00

Bad Mother****er
I don't know what kind of E and D teams you see, but I don't see enough mis hits and bloopers to make it worth playing a 4 man when your team is capable of playing 5man.

Since the first USSSA E Worlds in 03', that vast majority of the top finishing teams have played a standard four man defense. Teams I ran lost to the eventual winners of the 05' and 08' E East Worlds and they both played 4-man.

Several of the USSSA D Champs the last few years played a 4-man too... Including the top 3 teams in 07'. The only top finishing USSSA D teams I can think of in the last few years that played a 5-man exclusively are TJ Ferra's in 04' and Michigan Mush in 06'.

That being said, these top D & E teams that played a 4 man all had two things in common. They all had GREAT shortstops with a lot of range. And they all had GREAT defensive pitchers.

IMO a good team needs to be able to play both 4 and 5 man well to be successful.
 

Primo

fat and famous pablo
i think the percentage of people in this thread who know anything about a 5 man is less than 2%...."fast outfielders" "protect pitcher"......jfc
 

JoeG3

Doesnt matter, had sex
We play a 5 man exclusively. D level ASA. Just played a pretty good tourney in Shakopee, MN last weekend. Every team in the Open played it, every team in the C played it, and about 12 of 32 in the D played it.

Fast outfielders with good arms is a luxury, just like it is for any team. The important things to have, IMO, are a good pitcher who can pitch into the strong side and field the middle, and solid gloves in the IF.

Team Combat made a DVD with a small amount of info on how they run their 5 man.
 

Primo

fat and famous pablo
thanks pylon. im trying to tell them 5 man in E is ngtg

i think the five man would be more beneficial playing in the lower levels.....

a. you don't see it as much
b. most hitters in E are not capable of taking advantage of teh outfield gaps
c. w/ little room on the dirt, yo'll have guys swinging for the gaps which woudl lead to more fly balls and more DBO's
4. probably have a large amount of hitters who try to change what they do best.....that's always a good thing
 

ns09

Addicted to Softballfans
i think the five man would be more beneficial playing in the lower levels.....

a. you don't see it as much
b. most hitters in E are not capable of taking advantage of teh outfield gaps
c. w/ little room on the dirt, yo'll have guys swinging for the gaps which woudl lead to more fly balls and more DBO's
4. probably have a large amount of hitters who try to change what they do best.....that's always a good thing

this is true. and why we started.
 
i think the five man would be more beneficial playing in the lower levels.....

a. you don't see it as much
b. most hitters in E are not capable of taking advantage of teh outfield gaps
c. w/ little room on the dirt, yo'll have guys swinging for the gaps which woudl lead to more fly balls and more DBO's
4. probably have a large amount of hitters who try to change what they do best.....that's always a good thing

reason why its not seen in the lower levels...IMO, you dont see many high quality pitchers in E and lower. As you know, a pitcher with no control defeats the purpose of running 5man..



If youre a very good pitcher..you arent playing lower level ball..

decent SS, decent 3rd, decent OF...dime a dozen..
 

Primo

fat and famous pablo
reason why its not seen in the lower levels...IMO, you dont see many high quality pitchers in E and lower. As you know, a pitcher with no control defeats the purpose of running 5man..



If youre a very good pitcher..you arent playing lower level ball..

decent SS, decent 3rd, decent OF...dime a dozen..

while that makes sense, you're giving the hitters at that level a lot of credit......in B, if you throw sometihng outisde when your defense is playign to pull, he'll jusat slap a base hit oppo and be done w/ it. I'm not sure that logic applies here......
 

johnsonrod

Starting Player
while that makes sense, you're giving the hitters at that level a lot of credit......in B, if you throw sometihng outisde when your defense is playign to pull, he'll jusat slap a base hit oppo and be done w/ it. I'm not sure that logic applies here......

i think that applies to most every player who knows how to 'handle' a bat, which is a lot of players in E. now, theres a big difference in being able to slap an outside pitch to the right side of the outfield and being able to drive a pitch in between 2 OFers, which i would assume would be the difference in skill between E and B.

even still, with many players who have 'bat control' at E, it most certainly is effective against a lot of E teams, and i cant wait to have a "real" team to use it again.
 
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