just refuse to play situational game strategy and it most likely cost us a victory today. Now I didn't watch the game due to work, but I went back and reviewed the play by play and concluded that we had at least four excellent potential scoring opportunities that were wasted due to our lack of a game strategy that has been a staple of the game for many years. 1st Inning: After Brown and ***an walk, Greene takes a strike (good girl), then gets ahead in the count 2 ball and 1 strike, and then proceeds to foul off 4 pitches before striking out looking. My question to coach is, can Greene bunt? A bunt would have advanced the runners at a minimum to 2nd and 3rd and maybe she beats it out for a hit to load the bases. So now you at least would have had runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out and Bailey, Ritter, and Peck due up. Bailey flew out to center for the second out which would have scored Brown easily on a sac fly. Instead, Bailey flies out for out number 2 and Ritter grounds out to end the inning. Thats one run. (This exact scenario has happened many times this year) 3rd inning: Aldridge leads off with a single and Brown, who is a great bunter, comes to the plate. Why didn't coach have Brown bunt Aldridge into scoring position with one out? With Browns speed she may have had a chance to beat it out for a hit, but if the sacrifice is executed you are left with 1 out and a runner in scoring position at second base. The next batter ***an, pops out to the shortstop for out number 2. The next batter Greene singles to right field allowing Aldridge, who was still on first to go all the way around to third base. Now, if Aldridge would have been sacrificed to 2nd base would she have scored on Greene's single? I do believe she would have since she went from first to third she would have most likely gone from second to home. That's run number 2. That brings us to the 4th inning: same situation as the first inning. Ritter leads off with a single followed by a Peck single putting runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. The next batter is Bennett. Can Bennett bunt coach? Bennett is a 5th year senior and you are telling me she can't bunt. That is a coaching issue as every single player in a softball lineup should be able to sac bunt. A bunt would have advanced the runners to 2nd and 3rd again with only one out. If she bunts there anything can happen. The defense could have thrown the ball away trying to make a play to get a lead runner or just flubbed the play allowing Bennett to reach but let's just say they play it soundly and get the out at first. Now that would have left you with runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out and Thrunk coming to bat. Thrunk of course strikes out which would have only been the second out and yes she would have failed to plate the run with less that 2 out, but she would have only been the second out which would have brought Aldridge to the plate with 2 out and 2 on. As we know Aldridge lead off the next inning instead of batting with two out in this inning and homered. Had she batted in the fourth and homered that would have been a 3 run homer. Because Bennett did not bunt and advance the runners but rather hit into a double play Thrunks strike out ends the inning, Aldridge doesn't bat, and we miss an opportunity for another at bat with runners in scoring position. Does she homer there? I don't know but I do know she did homer leading off the next inning. Those are runs number 3,4 and 5. Ballgame we win. And in the 5th inning: After Aldridge leads off with her home run, Brown singles. Instead of ***an, who is a great bunter, sacrifice her to second, coach goes with the steal, not a horrible decision but a riskier one versus the sac bunt. The result of course was that Brown left early and was called out, something she has done a few times this year. If ***an had bunted Brown to second base you would have had two opportunities to score the run with Greene and Ritter. Because we chose not to bunt, we ended up with zero opportunities with a runner in scoring position. So these instances validate my point that we do not play situational game strategy but rather station to station hoping for the 3 run bomb that never came. And this was one game. I will be accepting apologies from those of you who were ripping me a new one and adamant that I was wrong in my opinion. Well, here was just one game and we missed every single opportunity we had to play the tried-and-true strategy of situational ball by advancing runners. It has been a staple of bat/ball sports for longer that I've been alive. If that's the way coach wants to play it and it does seem that it is, then that is fine. Of course, all these scenarios are predicated on us actually executing the bunt, but my point is, we didn't even try. At the end of the day I support our team, coaches and players, and want them to do well, which is why I am pointing this out. GO HOKIES!