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A can of corn! A piece of cake! There's one for your back pocket!



Hello Again Everyone - It was a busy weekend around the state with many invitationals and tournaments etc. Check out the Week 5 results page on The Fastpitch Chronicle website and while you are there check out some other pages for updated information such as:



1) Jeff Agnew's Fort Atkinson team winning on Thursday and giving him his 200th career win. There is a link to the article on the Week 5 roundup

2) Tom Drohner's SPASH club won a pair of game son Saturday and one of them was his 200th career win so check that out too

3) I also added in the fact that Tom Drohner has won 8 conference titles since taking over at SPASH



There is a Fastpitch Chronicle messageboard listed on the home page of the site and one of the areas for messages surrounds Wisconsin High School girls' fastpitch. If you want to join the group just register and I'll get you set up on my end.



There are Fastpitch Chronicle certificates for Triple Plays and I know there was one somewhere in the Madison area last week as the umpires who worked the game told me about it. There are also certificates for no-hitters and perfect games that are seven-inning games. Sorry, no five-inning certificates. Although noteworthy, a five-inning game is a shortened game and anything can happen in two extra innings.



I'd also issue certificates for multiple automatic home run games for players and for hitting for the cyle. All you have to do is tell me and give me the address to send the certificate to.



Here are some questions from some readers you will most likely enjoy.



Hey Bob,



Here is a situation that the umpires in the audience may be able to help me with:



Here is the situation: With a runner on two, batter sharply singles to center. The centerfielder fields and runs the ball into the infield, stopping the lead runner at third, and the batter at one. With the centerfielder

holding the ball, standing between second and the pitcher's circle, and with both runners standing on their respective bases, she requests time from the umpire. He refuses to grant it. After the play, when I questioned why it was not granted, he said "I will not grant time so you can avoid throwing the ball to the pitcher". I just got done teaching this technique in practice the night before. I want to avoid an unneccesary throw to the pitcher that could result in a poor throw and allow the runners to move up. I tried to find this in the rule book, but couldn't seem to locate it. Please help clarify.



(As a follow-up, let's say the batter hits a single to right with nobody on. The right fielder fields it, and runs it onto the infield and stands with the ball in the basepath between first and second, preventing the runner from having any chance to advance to second. Can she call time and have it granted? Otherwise, what prevents her from walking over to first and standing two feet off the bag and holding the ball? She isn't obligated to throw it to the pitcher. Theoretically, she could stand there all day if time is not called?



Am I missing something? Or should these umpires have called time when it was requested if both runners were stationary on the bag?

Thanks,

Joel



OK - John or Marcy - handle this one.



Hi Bob,

I had, in the past couple of games ,this happen and have had a couple of different takes on it too. I wrote to Marcy but she hasn't replied yet but here is the note I wrote:

A situation came up this weekend regarding the intentionally removing the box. Actually I had seen it happen in our previous game also (we did have the same umpires though). As the batter is preparing in the box, she kicks dirt over the front of the box. I was told by the umpire that is just something that happens and they had discussed it in their association meeting as being acceptable. In our next game I asked a new set of umpires the same question and they would rule that it was a violation. He said they had discussed it in their association and that is how it would be ruled. Interesting to note they are in the same association... Would it also be correct then that if a player digs in on the back line of the batter's box it would also be a violation?

Thanks,

Michelle



Bob,

We have been to fields in a row and got warned for kicking dirt on the lines. The batter's box has 3-4 inches of powder and or sand in the box. My girls pushed the dirt out forward and were warned for disturbing the line. I pointed out that we are right handed and not running or dragging or slapping. Can we push the dirt out behind us? They said no, you can not disturb the line at all. What do we do with loose dirt to start a game that we cannot even stand in to bat in our opinion?

Brian



Here are two injuries reports that I received this week.

Injury form cleating - Our second sacker has cuts on both legs from plastic cleats right now - covering second on steals. We also have a knee injury due to slipping on second base with plastic cleats. MRI is scheduled for Friday.

Brian



And here are some answers from Fastpitch Chronicle rules interpreter, John Peterson concerning questions on a previous Fastpitch Bulletin.



Bob here are my answers on these plays:



Hey Bob - We had a strange play that I have never seen Tell me how you would call this:

Runner on first base with no outs. Batter squares to bunt and pops it foul. Batter does not know where ball is and starts to run to first. Baserunner gets a good jump but sees that ball is in air and starts to go back to first. The catcher catches the pop foul bunt and tries to get a double play by throwing the ball to first. The ball hits the batterrunner who was running to first. The ball then bounces off the first base coach who yells "GO!" to the runner who made it back to first (hence tagging up).The runner breaks to second on the coach's command. In the meantime, the batter does not realize the ball had been caught and hearing the coach yell "GO!" keeps running and is now almost directly behind the runner. The second baseman who was covering the bunt retrieves and throws to second to the shortstop covering. Both runners slide into second almost together. Both are on second. What is the call? T

The umps called the runner out due to interference by the batter who should not have been running. It did not impede the play. I thought the runner should be safe. It is something I, and my very longtime assistants have never seen happen before, but again dinosaurs have small brains and short memories. :):):) Take care buddy!!!!!



The batter-runner is out on the catch. Rule 8-6-18 , page 69, applies to this situtation.

"After being declared out ... a runner intentionally interferes with a defensive player's opportunity to make a play on another runner." The ball is dead and the runner closest to home is declared out.



The operative word is intentional. In this play description the umpires ruled batter-runner interfered on the throw ao the runner is out and defense has double play.



If the umpires had ruled that the batter-runner did NOT intentionally interfere on the throw then the runner (R1) who was at first is no longer in a force situation. She legally tagged at first after catch and advanced to second. Unless she is tagged at second, she is safe there. Batter-runner's slide into second is irrelevant unless she interfered with the fielder's attempt to tag out R1. Since batter-runner was out she can't be called out for passing R1 (if that happened).



John Peterson





Hi Bob, I m confused about a play that occurred in our game last night. The ruling was in our favor but I m not sure how they came about it. We had a runner on 2 and our girl ripped one to the outfield. The outfielder touched the ball and then it went under the fence. They awarded the batter 3 bases. Something about 2 plus 1 and something to do with the outfielder touching the ball. I tried to find the rule in the book but couldn t. Do you have any insight on this one? Thanks Tim



This play is covered under Rule 8-4-3h, page 66. Two bases from the time of the pitch are awarded when a fair batted ball rolls under a fence.



However, under 8-4-3j if the umpire judges that a fielder intentionally carries, kicks, pushes or throws a live ball from playable territory into dead-ball territory the award of two bases is from the time the fielder carried, kicked, pushed or threw the ball.



John Peterson



There are have been several more reports submitted that surround the slipping on hard rubber bases and on home plate by kids wearing rubber/plastic cleats. There have also been a couple of reports about some players getting cleated by rubber/plastic cleats.



Keep sending your injury reports to me. I'll keep logging what gets turned in.



I noticed in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated (Pages 52-53) that Matt Holliday of the Colorado Rockies is pictured wearing what appears to be Nike cleats that are not metal. On the facing page, his teammate Garrett Atkins is wearing metal cleats. A collegiate softball coach pointed out to me last week that there are several or more than several major league players wearing some sort of composite cleats.



That's about it for tonight folks!

Keep the scores coming in and keep sending in those injury reports and crazy plays that take place or rules questions.



Keep it Rising!

Bob