No ball warmup gives Tennessee confidence
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Nolensville, Tennessee players look like a defensive machine while warming up before each game. All the players look like super stars, making highlight plays.
And nobody ever makes an error. It literally is perfect defense.
Of course, Nolensville does not use a baseball while warming up, so that certainly helps.
A product of manager Randy Huth and his late father Jim, Nolensville utilizes a phantom defense while warming up. It’s certainly different but it also has been effective with Nolensville’s stellar defense being a huge reason it will finish among the top three United States teams this summer.
"Knowing we’re a top three team in the U.S. Is crazy. We’ve come a long way from the start," pitcher/infielder Trent McNiel said following Monday’s extra-inning win against Indiana. "At the beginning we could barely catch a ball in the infield but we’ve battled. It’s been a journey."
That defensive journey took its first steps nine years ago. Randy and Jim Huth coached a Little League team that year which reached the state tournament. As strong as that team was, it could not get through pregame infield practice without it becoming a comedy of errors.
After a few games of watching all the mistakes, Jim suggested warming up without a baseball. Just like that a new tradition was born. Jim passed away in 2018, so Randy restarted that tradition this season as a tribute and it was worked like a charm since with Nolensville making its second straight Little League World Series appearance.
"We started doing it without a baseball and people thought it was neat and fun. I thought this year we should do a tribute; something fun, something the boys can take ownership of and now the boys love it," Randy said. "They think it’s the coolest thing. I don’t know if it really helps us get ready for the game, but it keeps them loose and it’s fun and it’s pretty neat. That’s our phantom infield."
Nobody can accurately guess if Nolensville’s defensive performance would be different if it used a ball during pregame but one also cannot argue with the results that practice has produced. Nolensville has been one of the top defensive teams at every tournament and made just two errors in its first three wins, including none in the opening two.
And at the most crucial time, shortstop William Satinoff made a play even better than the ones he and his teammates emulate during pregame. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the sixth of a tie game against Indiana, Clark Thornburg hit a laser which looked like a sure walk-off single.
Instead, Satinoff flew through the air and somehow caught the liner, holding on as he hit the ground. Nolensville scored three runs the next inning and was off to the winner’s bracket final. Again, phantom defense turned into spectacular defense.
Critics might scoff at the pregame routine, but the bottom line is the players completely embrace it. If it builds their confidence and they believe it works than it definitely does.
"It helps your confidence because you’re not thinking about missing a ground ball," infielder/catcher Jack Rhodes said. "It feels like you know what you’re doing and you’re not making any errors."
"It makes me feel really flashy and like I’m being really cool in front of all the fans," pitcher/infielder Drew Chadwick said. "I can’t even describe it. It’s just really fun."
Chadwick and his fellow pitchers have thoroughly enjoyed that strong defense being behind them as well. Because the defense has been so good, pitchers throw loose and free. None feel like he must overpower the opponent and pile up the strikeouts.
The goal is getting outs and these pitchers know their fielders will do that. That especially showed in Nolensville’s second victory, an 11-2 win against Utah. That day Chadwick and William Satinoff combined on a two-hitter despite striking out just four hitters. In a 5-3 opening win against Massachusetts, Satinoff made another hit-saving play as did center fielder Grayson May, who set the tone with a super diving catch in the first inning.
"I have tons of faith in my defense. I can throw it down the middle and they can hit a rocket and Grayson will make a diving catch or they can hit it in the hole and Satty will make a diving stop," Chadwick said. "I have a lot of confidence in them."
That’s the plan, too.
Nolensville coaches want their pitches throwing to contact. They do not care if the opponent hits the ball. They trust the defense will make the plays.
If the hits land out of the park or find the holes, so be it. Nolensville will tip the cap in that case, but its main priority is limiting the mistakes and making the opponent have to beat it to win.
"We talk a lot about our defense, but with pitchers we talk about winning the freebie war. Don’t give away the freebie with errors and walks," Huth said. "If we win the freebie war, we’re confident we’ll win the game, so that’s kind of our focus."
Nolensville has played a lot of error-less games this year and it starts with an error-less pregame routine.
The results that phantom warm-up defense have provided and the impact it has made on the community? Well, that’s just about perfect, too.