Dropped 3rd Stike Fiasco

[SHBroncos]

I coach 11 & 13 year old teams. I insist that my batters ALWAYS take off for first base on a swinging third strike, regardless of the runners on base. They will be told soon enough they're out and I've never seen a rule that says you shouldn't/can't run to first base. If this causes an unnecessary throw to first base, then so be it. Last weekend we had a kid swing at strike two that was in the dirt and he took off for first base. He thought it was strike three. It didn't draw a throw which was good, because we had a runner on third and he would have certainly taken off for home. We also try to remind our catchers when they don't need to throw to first base on dropped third strike... although they should also know when it applies and when it doesn't, but they are young and it's easy to get confused.