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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