Infield Single

The batter hits a little squirt of a ground ball that trickles its way to an infielder while the batter sprints to first, with other runners either running, or evaluating whether or not they should try to advance. The fielder gets to the ball, tries for the play at first— but the runner was just too fast, and they are safe.

Because the batter running to first is a force play, the batter needs to touch the base before a fielder touches the base while in possession of the ball. For the vast majority of plays at first, this means the runner has to get there before the first baseman catches the ball.

One unique aspect about a play at first base— unlike the other bases, where the runner needs to stay on the base or risk being tagged out, a runner running to first can safely run through the bag and down the line. As long as that runner doesn’t make a move towards second base, they can decelerate safely and return to the base once the play is over, as long as they turn to the right (towards foul territory) in doing so. If they so much as flinch in the direction of second base, though, the defense can make a play on them. If the defense does get the out, is scored as a ground out, not a single. However, this is a rare play; the runner won’t have any reason to flinch towards second unless the defense makes a mistake somewhere, and once that happens, the defense might look to go after other baserunners instead of the runner at first.

Since there are runners on, the defense will look to hold those runners as soon as the play at first is over. Rarely, you might see a non-forced runner break to their next base as soon as the throw goes to first, and this can lead the defense to attempting another play, but otherwise, the batter will head back to first with an infield single, and the inning will continue.