Pirates’ relief pitcher Octavio Dotel knows a thing or two about staying composed in crunch-time. Dotel was sent in to keep a 3-3 tie with the L.A. Dodgers Wednesday night. The tie seemed to be slipping away when Dodgers’ Jamey Carroll hit a double. To make matters worse, Carroll ran to third on Dotel’s wild pitch. With a runner on third base and no outs, Dotel kept his composure.

He responded with three outs: a comebacker by Rafael Furcal, striking out Matt Kemp and a ground out to Manny Rameriez.

The Pittsburg Pirates went on to win the game 4-3. Pirates’ Ronny Cedeno sealed the win a single line-drive in the 10th inning.

“You can’t start thinking about it, like ‘Oh, my, they’ve got a guy on third, it’s the ninth inning. You’ve got to keep yourself relaxed as much as you can and go pitch by pitch, and that’s what I did,” said Octavio Dotel.

Many ball players can get rattled when things don’t go as planned. You might throw a wild pitch, walk a batter, or strike out. When things don’t go as planned, many players become frustrated, dwell on errors and then speed up their routine.

Playing angry or frustrated baseball can cause more errors, poor decisions and mental mistakes. You’ll want to maintain your focus on the task at hand. Focus on what you have to do to throw a good pitch or to make a successful hit. You can focus on seeing the ball well at-bat or focus on the catcher’s mitt if you’re a pitcher.

Another strategy: stay calm.

“If you watched that inning closely, he never panicked. He knows the game is on the line. He knows a runner is on third base. He knows he’s facing a great lineup. But you still make your pitches. That’s what a veteran guy does. He’s figured it out. He knows how to control himself. That was impressive,” said teammate Evan Meek of Dotel.

Your baseball psychology tip for today is to refocus the moment you find yourself losing composure or dwelling on the past. Remember that no one can make you feel frustrated but yourself.

You can lose their composure for several reasons. You might lose your composure after making stupid errors, not meeting your expectations or feeling angry or frustrated with your performance. Milton Bradley of the Chicago Cubs shows his anger by throwing temper tantrums on the field.

Recently, Bradley threw his helmet and a water cooler in the dugout after a fly out in the sixth inning against the White Sox. Bradley struck out two innings prior to the incident. Manager Lou Pinella was tired of Bradley’s behavior and removed him from the game.

A loss of composure can also result in more mistakes. Rick Porcello, Detroit Tigers pitcher, lost his composure after the Minnesota Twins got a few hits recently. The Twins hit two runs, a single and home run, rattling the rookie pitcher. Porcello then gave up a combination of hits and walks to send eight batters to first base.

These are just a few examples of what can happen when players lose composure. Even professional baseball players get frustrated and angry sometimes. Frustration can happen at any time during the game. When players are angry, they can forget about the rules of the game.

No one can feel frustrated but yourself. Composed baseball players don’t let strike outs or other mistakes ruin their mindset for the rest of the game. Composed baseball players approach can let go of their mistakes because they know that frustration can harm their performance.

First, you must be able to identify what situations cause you to feel frustrated. Do you feel frustrated after you’re down in the count? Do you get upset when your teammate makes a scoring error? You’ll want to know which situations cause you to become frustrated so that you can respond more effectively.

Then, you’ll want to use positive self-talk to help you manage your emotions. For example, after a strike, you might take an extra check swing and tell yourself to focus on the ball.

Your baseball psychology tip is to respond more effectively to your mistakes. Mistakes are part of sports. You’ll want to keep your cool by using positive self-talk or taking an extra few seconds to regroup.