Round 4 scores

what's so bad about the call is that dusty actually did touch the base. he even stutter stepped to touch it. he didn't hit it square on top but did hit the back corner. (i was sitting about 15 foot from first on the hill) i talked to the 1st base coach after the game as well. i think the big argument coach pope had was that the umpire took the game out of the kids hands (imo). i hope some of the parents have a picture to prove that dusty hit the bag. that would be interesting huh???? if the 1st base ump really saw it and is really sure he saw it then i give him credit for making the call. but i would have to be 10,000% sure i was right before i would make such a big and ridiculous call.

 

MyThoughts, if there is even the slightest possibility that Dusty hit the bag, then this ump is a chump. He embarassed himself & the profession IF IF your view is accurate. Sitting on the bank at West doesn't put you on top of the play.

Did they have a 3 man crew? If so, the guy should have been in clear position to see it.

By the way, to the poster who compared this call to ignoring a balk....Horrible analogy. No ump ignores balks ever (unless the game is out of hand, in which case the strike zone changes & the calls get generous). We are talking about a technicality on a home run in the 4th round of the playoffs. I have umpired in Regional final college level (never made it to Rosenblatt). I can assure you that I would have said: "Coach, the way I saw it, the kid's toe caught the corner of the bag."

In basketball, the catch phrase is "no harm...no foul". Incidental things are ignored for the good of the game. I have to support my ump brother for making what he thought was the correct decision...but as for me, no way Jose do I call Dusty out.

 

As for the rule, I have not called high school for 20 years...But I think this rule has changed twice.

...Originally the defense (with the ball still live) had to either go directly to the bag before time was called & ask for an appeal OR put the ball back into live play (batter in box, pitcher on rubber) & then step off, verbalize the appeal, throw to the bag.

...Next I think came the 'automatic call'. As soon as the ball became dead, the umpire would make the call w/o appeal.

...Now I think the rule is a 'dead ball appeal' in which the defense simply asks the umpire for a ruling w/o putting the ball in play or touching the bag. The appeal has to be made...It is not automatic. \

Anybody know if this is accurate? I ask this because I suspect that Randy's objection to the umpire probably had to do with the legality of the manner in which the appeal was made. Once that was clarified, I'm quite certain his closing vent was the pettiness of the call at that point in a game.

 

South Meck Appealed

The Charlotte Observer newspaper today states "South Meck appealed to the first-base umpire.....".

I've heard 2 different opinions on the particular play in question regarding the West Forsyth runner in yesterday's game. One is that he missed the bag "by a foot". The other is that the runner "did a stutter step and touched the corner of the bag". Two very different observations of the same play........

It's a shame that a game of this magnitude could have something like this occur. I hope that the West Forsyth player really did miss the bag by a foot, because if I'm an umpire that's the only way I would make that kind of a call. However, if the West Forsyth player did a stutter step and even grazed the corner of the base, then he should have been called safe.

The benefit of the doubt should go to the runner. Who's to say his cleat didn't touch the base? Or, the side of his shoe didn't touch the base? I hope the umpire was 100% sure. Because if he was only 99% sure then I think he made the wrong call......

 

What a horrible way to lose a game. I feel sorry for WF.

 

Any more scores?

Boxman, where are you?

 

Amen. If West loses this series, that moment will burn a long time.

As for the impact:
...The run would have given West the lead.

...The kid who missed the bag was Dusty Snow, who pitched the entire game. You know that Dusty carried this frustration with him to the mound. You have to wonder how much the mistake/call impacted his pitching the last inning when S Meck scored.

...In the same inning, West subsequently loaded the bases, but did not score (grounder ended the inning). With another out....who knows.

 

If the ump was only 99% sure then I KNOW he made the wrong call. He has to be certain that the runner missed the bag. Not, "he may have missed it", or "could have missed it". This is a call that has to be 100% certain before being called. Like was said above, if there was even a remote possibility that a cleat barely touched the base, the ump has to igore the appeal. To do otherwise is to jepardize the integrity of the sport.

 

It was a shame that this happened. No one wants a game to be affected in that way. There were a lot of shoulda, woulda, coulda's in that game on both sides, but speaking as a SM supporter, I agree with Coach May...it's a bogus call.

...and I doubt anybody sitting in the grounds watching the game were paying attention to whether Dusty touched the bag or not. They were watching the ball leaving the yard. I salute the Titans for the way they never gave up. Many teams would have hung their heads getting behind 5-0...but they didn't.
There were some great plays made in the field by both teams. There were many scoring opportunities left on base for both teams and both teams played their hearts out. Kudos for the players on both sides...they all battled all night.