had this happen @ pony nationals this week

[fastpitch7]

it went in our favor, but...

R1 on first, 2 outs, batter strikes out. batter heads to dugout, gets about 3ft from dugout cage and someone yells run, she runs from there to first base, R1 goes to 3rd. fielding team starts running off the field. confusion happens. R1 leaves 3rd comes across pitcher circle to go to dugout, batter leaves 1st to go to dugout, F3 has ball in glove tags R1 between pitching circle and 1st base and continues off field. coach yells get back on the bases, R1 (who is now almost to cage heads back to 3rd across pitching circle, batter goes back to 1st.
after 14min of umpire discussion play stands 2outs runners on 1st & 3rd.
first of all the catcher never dropped the 3rd strike (i have it on camera), second, batter was well out of basepath (almost in dugout) when went to first, R1 out of base path coming across pitching circle twice, and tagged by F3 who had ball in glove, Batter left 1st and was almost in dugout again.....
If i had been the opposing coach, i know i would have been ejected.

am i wrong or did the blue mess this up beyond belief. I mean its wrong on like 4 different ways.

btw... our next batter popped out so it didn't effect the game.

[Comp]

Up until the batter enters the dugout, they are legal to run to 1st base on a dropped third strike. Base line and base path are 2 completely different things. The batter or runner sets their own base path and it has nothing to do with the base line. A batter could strike out, walk clear to the far end of the 3rd base dugout (as long as she didnt enter it) and then run to 1st directly from there.

Same goes for base runners, they can run clear to the fence if they want before proceeding to the next base, as long as they are not attempting to avoid a tag. But, even in that case, the runner sets their own base path, if they had run clear to the fence, the new base path is from where ever they may be standing to the next or preceeding base.

Wasnt at your game, didnt see it, cant comment on if it was dropped third strike or not, also have no idea what happened when runners left base or when and if they were tagged or where. If ball was in circle and runners left base, there is the possibility of look back violations, if runner were tagged and time had not been called they should have been out. Again, without being there, seeing it and or knowing why and what conclusions the umpires came to I couldnt answer those questions.

[Jalamander]

the catcher never dropped the 3rd strike (i have it on camera)

From start to finish, please describe the pitch.

[Crabby_Bob]

the catcher never dropped the 3rd strike (i have it on camera)

From start to finish, please describe the pitch.

Put it on youtube.

[carolinafan]

Sounds like a bonehead call from the blues......I have to admit, I saw a few there myself. I posted earlier how in an elite 8 game, the BU refused to get help from the PU on a call he could have clearly seen....it changed the game dramatically! I wish the Blues in these important games would check their egos at the door and ask for help when needed. However in this OP, it says they conferred for a long time, therefore, I would suspect the blues did talk to one another about what they saw. Go to the video as suggested!

[fastpitch7]

have pictures on slr camera. shows ball crossing plate, then catchers glove with ball going in, then ball squeezed in glove. i'll look to see if i still have them, i know i went through and deleted alot of pics that weren't great or not great pics of my dd team.

i thought there was a rule that you had to stay within around a 3 foot distance of the base line. besides the ball never touched the ground, even the batter agrees and all of the parents on our team say that. batter even said at dinner later that night she was tagged by f3. and it was a tag where she walked up and tagged her across her chest. i didn't think a runner could leave 3rd and walk across the pitchers circle and almost to dugout and then back. so basically what your saying is a runner can run anywhere across the field as long as they are not avoiding a tag? doesn't make much sense.

we did lose the game, so the opposing coach didn't have to protest
and time was stopped during the 14min discussion.

carolina fan what team are u with?

[Comp]

Again, base line and base path are 2 completely different things. The only time the 3' rule is in effect is when a play is being made on a runner. And even then the 3' rule applies to the base "path" which the runner sets and has nothing to do with the base line. As long as no play is being made on the batter/runner or runner, they can run pretty much anywhere they like. Only when and if a play is attempted on them are they limited to 3' either side of the base path, and the base path is a direct line from where ever the runner may be to the bag they are attempting to reach. In cases such as a run down, each time the runner reverses direction, they establish a new base path.

[carolinafan]

fastpitch7 my dd plays for the North Jersey Jaguars 14U team. They are a first year 14U team, so hopefully next year they will make it to the finals. Good luck in the future.....

[fastpitch7]

carolinafan your dd team did well. i see the only team that we both played was the maryland stars - blk. we beat them tues morning, but then they made it back to us in the afternoon and eliminated us. good luck next year.

the game with the ? from above was against the hartford extreme during pool play.

[carolinafan]

So I don't have to go back to the brackets-bookmarked on my laptop -what team does your dd play on?

Up until that game, we only experienced one bad blue. He was behind the plate and would take 10 seconds to declare his call and the catchers for both teams constantly had to ask what the call was...very frustrating. I generally sit behind home plate to watch games and during this game, I could not tell what was being called. The blue in the elite 8 was constantly out of position to make the call. However, all in all, I think the blues did a good job in Cary.

Thanks for your compliment to my dd's team. They are a first year team, so we should be back again next year. Also looking to go to ASA regionals, so timing might be a problem.

Maryland Stars were pesky. They had a good pitcher when we faced them in pool. Took the girls a while to get some hits and get on the board. Best of luck to your dd's team in the future.