Round 4 scores

Southern Alamance 5
South Central 1

SA leads 1-0

 

North Lenoir 14
Randleman 6

NL leads 1-0 in Eastern 2A Finals

 

Chatham Central held off a late inning comeback to win 5-4 in game one over Bessemer City

leads 1-0

lumberton won 4-2 over DH Conley

leads 1-0

 

South Meck 7, West Forsyth 6 .....

After South jumped out to a 5-0 lead, West Forsyth charged back to take the lead. South tied it in the 6th and scored the go ahead run in the 7th.

West lost one apparent run when a runner was called out for missing first base on an apparent HR.

WP: Andress

 

Missing a base on a HR

JMO but on a HR that leaves the yard where there is no way a play on the runner can be made I have never understood the call of calling him out if he misses a bag. The umpire should point to the bag and give the player the opportunity to go back and touch it. In a moment of excitement a player can sometimes miss a bag especially first base. What impact does it have on what he has accomplished? How is he gaining any advantage by missing a bag on a HR that he has hit out of the park? There is no play that the defense can make on the batter. Now on an inside the parker I can see where you call him out because he has gained an advantage by not touching the bag. Taking a run off the board and taking the accomplishment away from the team and player in a situation where he has jacked one out of the park for missing a bag is a bogus call in my opinion. Others might disagree but I would not want that call called against me or my oponent. I just dont see where missing a bag on a HR has any impact on the game. Again point at the bag and give the player an opportunity to touch it. The player should make sure he does and the coaches should make sure he does of course. But rewarding the opposistion for a player not touching in this situation does not jive with me.

 

Change the Rules?

To re-write the rule books as we start the semis of the 4A playoffs would be quite an accomplishment. Asking an umpire to just let it go because it doesn't make sense quite frankly just doesn't make sense.

Many a baseball player has rounded the bases with no problem ... unfortunately for WF the South Meck first baseman did what he probably has been taught since Little League, and that is to watch for the runner as he rounds the base to see if the runner has touched. A good job by the umpire to have been watching also, so when brought to his attention he could make the right call. Kudos to the SM first baseman!

 

I don't think Coach May was suggesting that we change the rules right now. He was just stating that he doesn't like the missed bag rule in this situation.

 

Coach May, I have to disagree with you. Rules by nature have to narrowly defined, inflexible & uniformly applied.

If missing a bag on a home run is acceptable, then what should the rule be?? Carry this to its logical conclusion: If the kid hits it out, should he be allowed to skip circling the bases & go straight to the dugout? Or should he be permitted to run around the park celebrating & high fiving parents & fans?

Dusty Snow made a Little League mistake at the worst possible moment. I feel bad for him, but this rule needs no adjustment in my humble opinion.

By the way, I'm curious if anyone knows what the controversy was. The morning paper suggests Coach Pope argued the call. South Meck's coach made a comment that implied that the dispute centered on the manner in which the appeal was made. Anyone have any info??

 

It's a tough call to make for the umps, particularly in the playoffs. Some umpire crews may have ignored it (or not looked for it). Kudo's to them for doing their job but I really hate it for the WF player. I have this mental image of Mark McGwire missing first and having to go back and tag it again while the Maris family watched him break their fathers record.... It seems like all big moments in baseball are bitter/sweet.

"If my memory serves me correctly" (to borrow a phrase from Iron Chef), I have seen this call a couple times over the past few years. In each case, no appeal was required or allowed. It was explained that, if the umps saw it, they were to call it. It happened to us too ... the bag missed was 3rd, no appeal was necessary or made and the runner was called out as soon as he touched home plate.

 

I agree with Coach May completely on this one. Its not a matter of changing any rules, its a matter of getting umpires to use GOOD JUDGEMENT.

Everyone agrees that WE MUST HAVE RULES. However, I believe the best umpires are also the ones who use the BEST JUDGEMENT in pressure situations when its a big game, or a bang-bang play, or in heated moments, etc. Anybody can learn the rule book and say you're an umpire, but to me being able to make the best call under pressure is what defines a good umpire. That's just my opinion.

This is almost exactly like the situation we had at the beginning of the year when some umpire in Caldwell County decided he was going to start enforcing the rule on players leaving the dugout, and the players were simply celebrating a homerun.

Whenever the ball leaves the yard, this is such an accomplishment that I simply don't believe the umpire should call a kid out unless THAT KID does something awful extreme (i.e. showing up the other team, unsportsmanlike, whatever).

Hellfire, everybody who has ever umpired will admit that they've missed calls, so why would ANY umpire want to call a kid out who just hit a homerun, even if the kid did miss first base. The ump should've turned his head.

Again guys, to me its not just enforcing the rules,,,, we've got to enforce the rules,,,, but we've also got to use some common sense and get the best calls. We don't want to open up cans of worms where we have umpires calling kids out for every little picky-a$$ rule in the book,,,, and there are some very strict rules that don't get enforced if you've ever read the rulebook. They gotta use common sense.