Out for not touching home.

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10 yr old hits her first homerun over the center field fence, gets caught up in the congratulation ceremony @ home plate, and gets called out for not touching home plate on appeal from other coach. She was devistated to say the least , swore she jumped on plate with both feet, but I could'nt see with all the girls around. What a hard lesson to learn. Don't let this happen to any of your girls.

 

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That ****s!!

 

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Sorry to hear that. I had to make that call several years ago when I was behind the plate. Also saw a game lost because a girl missed a base along the way. The umpire may not like doing it, but it is a rule so....

 

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Are you kiddin me...that does ****..lesson learned for any ball player but for the coach to appeal a home run for a 10u player...come on... I thought this is suppossed to be about the girls....

 

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I saw this happen last year on my dd team. girl on her team hit a solo homerun, ran the bases, coach from opposing team came out and said she didn't touch 3rd, ump called her out. you're right, rule is a rule but to do this to a 10yr old??? great thing about it though, girl never got mad, had a smile from ear to ear all day knowing she hit a homerum and that team went home EARLY! Carma!

 

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Not sure I could do that as umpire of 10U game. Positive I couldn't. I would have to turn other cheek and just not make call. Just me I guess I'm just a lil soft.

 

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I saw that last year in 14's. Girl on our team hit a homerun, called out for missing the plate. Next bat, same game she hit another one. Good for her, she hit every base that time!

 

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what makes it even harder to swallow is that it was late in the game , we were ahead by 3 or 4 runs. Her solo shot had no effect on the outcome of the game we still won...
The parents on the other team were floored that their coaches appealed. Gave her hugs and congratulations after the game. Nice bunch of parents . I guess sometimes they get it more than us coaches do.

 

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Are you kiddin me...that does ****..lesson learned for any ball player but for the coach to appeal a home run for a 10u player...come on... I thought this is suppossed to be about the girls....

Sorry, don't understand that logic.

Should we also not appeal a runner leaving early on a sac fly? Don't appeal a check swing? There's a league that does that - its called Rec Ball.

You don't get to pick and choose which rules are too hard to swallow for a 10 year old tournament softball player.

And, I bet she hits every base the next time and I bet she remembers it for the rest of her life and tells her kids (and players she coaches) about it.

JMHO and if it were my dd I wouldn't want someone looking the other way.

 

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Very difficult learning situation for a player and a team. Teams that come out to celebrate with teammates have to learn to give the player enough room to make it to home and the umpire plenty of room to make the call. No question tough for the kid, I am sure also tough for the umpire to call. Even the opposing coach may have had to swallow hard a couple of times to make the appeal, but he is coaching for HIS team. It made no difference in the outcome, but what if the opposing team had come back and scored 4 runs, and then the opposing coach is kicking himself for not doing everything he/she can for the team. I believe on another thread here (may have been JJ) posters were putting up something to the effect that if it in the rules it needs to be called, if its not going to be called take it out. You can't selectively apply this line of thinking.
Just one opinion

 

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If the player is legging out an in the park HR and misses a base, by all means make the appeal. If it is an over the fence shot I feel it shows very little class to appeal something like that, especially at the 10u level. Give the batter the credit she deserves, she bested your pitcher in that at bat. Don't be a Grinch! JMHO

 

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I'm with the rule book on this one.

Call it now, and that player + anyone on her team + the entire opposing team will never miss home plate again.

 

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Speaking from personal experience on this one. I hit my first over-the-fence at age 12 in a tournament game. I was so excited that I missed 3rd base. The other coaches appealed, and I was called out. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to hit quite a few more through high school and college, but never came close to missing a base again! As a matter of fact, I would make sure I would slow down and almost walk over home plate to make sure the umpire saw it.

 

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So why is it required in all forms of baseball to run the bases for a ball that is clearly hit over the fence ?

It seems it can only affect the situation in a bad way like missing a base in this case......

Hit it over the fence, bow to the crowd and walk back to the dugout sounds like a better solution to me.

 

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Our RF'r hit a gapper this weekend and ran the bases for a stand-up HR, her first. I coach third and she missed third and barely touched home... the umpire saw her miss third but the opposing coaches did not. I let her go on instead of calling her back to third.

It was her first 'HR' and it would have crushed her, but it was the rules. I kind'a blame myself for not pointing to the base as she approached and telling her to touch it ... agree though, this is select/travel ball and you can't decide which rules to enforce / call.

 

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all i'm saying is don't let your girls make the same mistake. Keep an eye on them all the way to home. I accepted the appeal with no quarrels , and my girl accepted the decision as much as it hurt her to do so. I respect the rules, and the coaches decision to appeal.....and look out for his girls. I should have started this thread with " Don't let this happen to you" . Guys you are right ...I don't think she will ever let that happen again, nor will I.

 

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Thanks to our unknown 12u coach this did not happen to us.
Unknown softball DD was told before it happens to make sure to touch all bases.
When it happened the first time our coach held the team back as unknown DD rounded the bases and told the team not to touch her until she touched home plate and do not block the view of the umpire.
What a great day , unknown DD hit another one out the the very next game and they knew what to do with out being told.
Sorry to her that any girl did not get to celebrate her first over the fence home run properly.
These girls work so hard to play the game they love , make sure you prepare
them for when the big day comes.


HELP EVERY GIRL YOU CAN PLAY MORE AND BETTER BALL

 

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Time to put on my cold-hearted, mean old umpire hat...

As the umpire, you don't have any choice but to accept the appeal. A rule's a rule and we don't have the luxury of picking and choosing which ones we want to enforce to make players feel good about themselves. Anything less demonstrates a lack of honesty and integrity.

Having said that, I would have a couple of questions about this play.

- Was the umpire 100% sure that the player missed the plate? On a missed base appeal, the umpire should NEVER "guess" at an out. This is a call you don't make unless you are CERTAIN you saw the miss.

On a home run the plate umpire should always be positioned near home plate as the runner crosses it. At that moment his only priority, duty and responsibility is watching the runner touch home.

- What rules are you playing under? Depending on the sanctioning body, this is NOT something that can be appealed by a coach. The appeal must come from an infielder, either with or without possession of the ball, since it is a dead ball appeal.

While the umpire is obligated to accept the appeal, he is not obligated to accept an improperly executed appeal! If the appeal is not properly made, it should be ignored.

Beyond that, from a coaching standpoint you should always tell your players to stay back from the plate as the runner crosses it. If you give her room to touch the plate and let her touch be obvious, it takes away any guesswork or judgment on the part of the umpire as to whether the plate was touched or not.

 

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all i'm saying is don't let your girls make the same mistake. Keep an eye on them all the way to home. I accepted the appeal with no quarrels , and my girl accepted the decision as much as it hurt her to do so. I respect the rules, and the coaches decision to appeal.....and look out for his girls. I should have started this thread with " Don't let this happen to you" . Guys you are right ...I don't think she will ever let that happen again, nor will I.

BigJag - my comments weren't directed to you.

I was simply voicing an opinion that we as tournament softball coaches don't get to decide which rules should be followed and which rules shouldn't. I also believe that everything is a learning opportunity, when during practice do you work on (or even discuss) touching all bases on a homerun. Learning takes place at games just as much as it does at practice.

Sorry if it came across as an attack.

 

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This missing of home plate incident would NEVER have HAPPENED if the players on the bench had been instructed properly by their coaches as to the ediquette that should be employed by teammates following a career-first homer.

The proper response from teammates is the SILENT TREATMENT. Teammates should not react to the batter at all until after she touches home and returns to the dugout confused and wondering why no one seemed to have noticed that she just hit one out of the park. Then, all at once, they surround her and celebrate!