New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
‘It’s like a lost art’
Why H.S. coaches rarely call for the bunt
With the 2021 Class LL baseball championship game scoreless in the bottom of the fifth, Westhill had the speedy Mika Petersen on third base and Omari Lewis at the plate with less than two outs.
It was a situation that could have called for a bunt to push the runner home, or would have been in another era. But bunting did not cross the mind of Westhill coach Mike Riveles.
“It didn’t because knowing his contact rate is pretty good and he has speed,” Riveles said, “with him, at the time it wasn’t the right call.”
Lewis swung away, hitting a screaming one hopper that was knocked down by the Norwalk third baseman. Petersen was thrown out at home by three steps.
That was the closest Westhill came to scoring, losing to Norwalk 1-0.
In another generation, Riveles might have been more confident to call for a squeeze bunt in a game with little offense.
But these days, the bunt is used less by coaches across the state — a trend that mirrors what is happening across all levels of the game. And as players are asked to bunt less, its practiced less, thus leading to fewer players with the skills to drop a bunt down and coaches less confident in calling for it.
“It always blows my mind, we are teaching kids how to bunt in high school ball,” Riveles said. “I think the game has just changed. Ten years ago, the kids came in knowing how to bunt.”
Once upon a time, bunting was one of the most important
facets of the game.
These days, it is a skill that is not prioritized.
“I hate to be cliché, but it’s like a lost art,” St. Joseph coach Jim Chaves said.
There are a couple reasons why.
One is the trend toward advanced analytics, which is used at all levels. Advanced stats tell teams that with a finite number of outs in a game, teams shouldn’t give them away. Another is summer baseball has shifted to fewer practices, a loaded game schedule with a concentration on showcases in front of scouts. Less practice time, means less chances to practice the skill of bunting.
“I’m not trying to say anything bad about summer ball, but I think a lot of it has to do with AAU and the showcase mentality,” Chaves said. “They don’t play small ball in the summer, you’re there to show off for the scouts and bunting is not sexy enough.”
Because of that mindset, most players are going to the next level with no idea how to do it.
“Just about every freshman we have sucks at it,” UConn coach Jim Penders said. “You think about it: They’re all the guys who hit .400 for their high school team, and they’re the last guys that learn how to bunt. So, when they get here, it’s like, ‘OK, you’re not a .400 hitter at this level. You’re gonna all have to learn how to bunt.’ So, we work on it every day, a lot of repetitions.”
What is more attractive? “People are looking for the three-run home run, the Earl Weaver special,” Danbury coach Shaun Ratchford said, “opposed to bunting the ball and moving the runners.”
Weaver, the Hall of Fame manager, was known for his love of the three-run home run during his days as the Baltimore Orioles manager.
Ratchford has won two FCIAC titles and one state title (2004) and said when players get to the program, he has to start at square one with them.
Penders said he doesn’t bunt as much as his opponents because they can hit for power or “Earl Weaver It,” like Ratchford noted.
“There’s a few guys in the lineup that can bunt for hits, but I’d rather see if we can hit a double here,” Penders said. “We don’t employ it as much as I did when I didn’t have that kind of a lineup.”
At Southern Connecticut, the Owls’ baseball team used wood bats up until a couple of seasons ago. Coach Tim Shea, who won his 500th career game earlier this season and considers himself a small ball coach, said that the switch has made him reconsider some things he used to do.
“Sometimes you question it a little bit when you have a couple of kids on your team that change a game with a three-run home run,” he said.
But the bunt remains in his strategy.
Shea called for a squeeze bunt during the 2005 Northeast Regional. The bunt put down by Bob Pentino was successful and the Owls clinched a spot in the Division II College World Series.
“That’s unheard of now,” Shea said.
While many in the game have moved away from bunting, two prominent programs continue to use it often. Both Danbury, led by
Ratchford and North Haven led by Bob DeMayo, still call for bunts often.
“It doesn’t mean you are giving yourself up, it means that you are trying to get a runner to a different place,” Ratchford said. “But if you run hard and are able to control where the ball goes, you have a chance to get a hit.”
DeMayo, the longest tenured coach in the state, is known for bunting often, sometimes multiple times in a row to get runners moving and to put pressure on the defense to make plays.
“They start throwing the ball and you never know when it is going to stop,” the five-time state championship winning coach said.
And to those who say that he might be giving away an out.
“I say don’t worry about it, we have advanced the runner,” DeMayo said. “When you get them at second base, the chances of scoring jump up tremendously.”