“What is the Best Count to Hit In?” - Jack Marchese, Sun Prairie East High School
Coach Marchese is entering his 14th year at Sun Prairie East, 4th as head coach and 30th year overall. Prior to Sun Prairie he served as head coach at West Allis Hale. He leads one of the most successful programs in the state of Wisconsin, as Sun Prairie has a state record 9 WIAA Championships. In 2024 Coach Marchese’s team finished 27-5 and finished runner up at the State Tournament. Their most recent state championship was in 2021 and they returned to Appleton in 2022. In 2025 Coach earned his 200th win and was voted Big Eight Coach of the Year by his peers.
In baseball, the best count to hit in is thought to be 3–1, followed by 2–0. These are called "hitter's counts" because the pitcher must throw a strike to avoid giving up a walk. This often means the pitcher throws a fastball right down the middle of the strike zone, which is easier for the batter to hit.
We tell our guys to be on time and find the barrel in these counts. When a batter is ahead in the count, they statistically perform better. Their Batting Average and On Base Percentage both go up. Here is a breakdown of all the counts and what we tell our players at Sun Prairie East to expect:
3–1 Count: This is the best count for a batter to hit in. The pitcher must throw a strike because he doesn’t want to walk the batter. This lets our hitters shrink the strike zone and look for a specific pitch they can sit on and hit hard. Hitters statistically hit .361, OBP is .702, and SLG sits at .687.
2–0 Count: Like the 3-1, our hitters shrink the strike zone and look for a specific pitch they can sit on and hit hard. Statistics show hitters hit around .346 and OBP is .347. When they make contact on a 2–0 pitch, SLG jumps to .873.
1–0 Count: We tell our guys to sit on a pitch. If they get it they shouldn’t miss it. It usually leads to an aggressive swing at a fastball. This is a great opportunity to shrink the zone and be aggressive in their happy zone.
The 0–0 Count: Many coaches believe you should swing at the first pitch because it is often the best pitch you will see in an at bat. It typically is a fastball right down the middle. However, as high school pitchers get better, that pitch is less predictable.
3–0 Count: While this is technically the most favorable count, many batters choose not to swing to get a walk. However, if the manager gives them the "green light" to swing, it gives them an extremely high expected weighted OBP.
Our best hitters live in these counts (1–0, 2–0, 3–1), they shrink the zone and sit on pitches. They focus on their "happy zone" and only swing at pitches they can hit hard.
Our least successful hitters live in “Pitcher's Counts” (0–2, 1–2): These are the hardest counts to hit in. Pitchers have the freedom to throw whatever pitches they want and they can expand the strike zone and have hitters swing at bad pitches. In 0–2 counts, pitchers only throw strikes about 36% of the time. (MLB.com) However, hitters have to swing at marginal pitches, which can lead to marginal contact.
