Balk in 12U

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We had a situation arise tonight in dd's game. There was a runner on 3rd base. Our pitcher balked twice to the same batter. The opposing coach tried to say his runner should get to go home since she balked twice in a row. Of course, neither team nor the umpire had a copy of the ASA rules. The ump refused to allow the runner to advance home, but did call each balk a ball. Was this the right call?
Thanks-
Amy

 

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There is no balk in softball. Only an illegal pitch. If it was an illegal pitch the runner on 3rd get to go home. The illegal pitch is a ball.

 

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Balk? ?There is not balking in softball.....


;D

Seriously, the is no such thing as a balk. ?Illegal pitch? ?Oh yeah, but no balk.

 

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The ump's exact word's were the pitch was a "bulk". He was supposed to be an ASA umpire. Our pitcher presented the ball, moved her arms back & then stopped. Is that considered an illegal pitch?

 

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bulk is the baseball term illegal pitch the softball term but they are basically the same thing and the runners do advance.

 

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I had an umpire call an opposing pitcher for a balk this year. I thought it was odd. She took her sign off the rubber and then proceeded to then step on and pitch strait away without a pause. All runners were awarded the next base.

 

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Balk is in baseball, illegal pitch is in softball. If she threw an illegal pitch, the batter gets a ball and the runners advance 1 base. If the illegal pitch is hit, than the batting team can choose the result of the play or bring the batter back and add a ball to her count with any runners advancing 1 base. I have never in all my life heard an umpire refer to an illegal pitch as a balk....not is softball. Are you sure those were his/her words?

 

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I inform my coaches to politely ask the umpire his/her name prior to the game and write it in the scorebook..... if there is a problem later, at least an attempt can be made to educate the umpire, if needed. I tell coaches to let me know when there is a problem and the name of the umpire.... educating umpires and coaches is a never ending process.

 

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Balk is in baseball, illegal pitch is in softball. If she threw an illegal pitch, the batter gets a ball and the runners advance 1 base. If the illegal pitch is hit, than the batting team can choose the result of the play or bring the batter back and add a ball to her count with any runners advancing 1 base. I have never in all my life heard an umpire refer to an illegal pitch as a balk....not is softball. Are you sure those were his/her words?

In my case, there isn't a shadow of a doubt that the umpire called "Balk". That's why I was so thrown back by it. It went in my favor and the result of the play was correct, so I didn't argue what was actually called.

 

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bulk is the baseball term illegal pitch the softball term but they are basically the same thing and the runners do advance.

No - they are not essentially the same thing. Since there are no leadoffs permitted in fastpitch, the pitcher cannot physically commit a "balk". A baseball balk is a rules infraction by the pitcher, committed while pitching from the "stretch". Since there is no comparable situation, or pitching movement/method covered in the rules in fastpitch, there cannot ever be a balk.

Any umpire using this term in a fastpitch softball game would lead me to believe that he/she is probably unqualified to umpire the game in a fair manner.