Baseball tryouts are a time to evaluate the basic skills of your players and from there determine which players would make the best team composition for the upcoming season, league or tournament. According to Coach Joseph Pero of McIntosh High School in Georgia, the three most important skills you need to test your players on are their fielding, hitting consistency and running.
Outfield Fly
Catching fly balls in the outfield and getting them quickly back to infielders will prevent your team from giving up unnecessary bases. Have a line of outfielders stand on both sides of the outfield and position a player on both the right and left of second base a few feet into the outfield grass. Have a coach stand between first base and home and hit a fly ball or grounder to the first outfielder in left field. The fielder must catch the ball and throw it to the second baseman on his side of the field and then sprint to the end of the fielders' line in right field. A second coach standing between third base and home then hits a fly ball or grounder to the first outfield in right field and the drill repeats itself.
Fence Hitting
A coach needs hitters that can connect level with the ball on a consistent basis. Have your player stand 3 to 5 feet back facing a fence in his batting stance. You stand at a 45-degree angle to the side of the player with a bucket of rag balls and toss underhand pitches to the player. Watch the balls to ensure they hit the fence no higher than the player's shoulder. This is how you will know the player is hitting the ball level.
Base Running Simulation
This drill used by baseball coach Hank Gola helps to recreate game running situations and builds players' short-burst running stamina much better than having them run circles around the bases. Split your team into two even lines behind home plate. You stand on the pitcher's mound and hit two bats together once. When the bats sound, the first pair of runners takes off for first base. The first runner runs through the base as if beating a ground ball and the second rounds the base for second.
After the runners hold their bases, hit the bats again and the next pair of runners takes off to repeat the same pattern as the first pair. Meanwhile, the runner that was previously on second rounds third and sprints to home plate, and the runner previously on first runs to third base. From this point forward in the drill, the bases will be loaded and two runners score every time the bats sound. All runners that score return to the end of the opposite line they started in. Repeat the drill until you are satisfied in your observation of the runners' techniques.
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