The higher level you go up against training partners start to recognize and defend against baseball bat chokes well. Matt Darcy instead wraps the lapel around the arm so when they pull it out it creates a loop with the lapel that he then feeds his own hand into to get an Ezekiel choke.
Matt Darcy shows an entree into the single leg by posting on their chest making their front leg light. This entry is especially useful in situations where you may not want to get into grip fighting with your opponent or for the use in nogi.
In this video Matt Darcy shows some drills to develop the proper timing for basic kouchi gari.