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Fun weekend contrast: Friday night game on a turf field with lights and then a Saturday afternoon game with the backstop fence looking like it had 20 years of rust and working the second game of the day where the batter's box was merely a suggestion at first pitch

I really don't enjoy it when a coach asks the plate umpire, "Where was that one?" or "Where did you have that?" or anything having to do with where the location of the previous pitch was. Whether the coach is aware of it or not (and...they are) the message they are sending is that they think the plate umpire missed a strike. I also find this more common the younger the players are. I simply do not see this at the Varsity level and above in my market. This summer at Cooperstown, we were discussing this around the campfire one night and someone simply said, "Stop...stop doing that, brother." I said, "What? Excuse me? Stop doing what?" He continued, "Stop telling them where you had the pitch..." and I looked around at our other brothers there and I followed up with, "Ok, so...what do/should we say when we asked where we had that pitch?" And without hesitating he simply smiled and said, "Tell them, 'Coach, I have a ball.' Eventually, they will figure it out and stop asking you. If they continue asking you, you tell them, 'Coach, we're not doing this.' and then issue them a ball/strike warning." Well, brothers that was several months ago and I have returned to my market and have rolled out this mechanic with great success. I typically have the above exchange once in the first inning with each team and then...I don't hear anything about it for the rest of the game. ~Dawg

I've been taught to drop step and "open the gate" for the catcher to side he goes to retrieve the ball, just like you would on a foul pop. Keep the "gate" open and hold on to the point of plate while checking the status of the ball to make sure it hasn't gotten lodged or gone out of play. If the ball ends up right or left of the side of your initial step, you can take another drop step to get square to where the catcher's throw will be coming from but otherwise hold on to the point of plate From there you should be out of the catcher's throwing lane and able to track the fielder covering the plate (most likely the pitcher). As the throw happens use whatever read steps needed to get yourself into the "wedge" and your eyes into the "window" to make the call.

In NFHS, the grabbing the 2nd out of the B/R is more a penalty out to discourage crashing the fielder at the base. The penalty for 8-2-2 specifically directs the out of the B/R for the runner failing to slide legally or veer and does not allow the umpire to take into account whether a double play was possible: "The runner is out. Interference is called and the ball is dead immediately. On a force-play slide with less than two outs, the runner is declared out, as well as the batter-runner."

What part of the exception applies here? Did the runner arrive at the base before the ball? Here is the full wording: "A runner need not slide directly into a base as long as the runner slides or runs in a direction away from the fielders to avoid making contact or altering the play of the fielder. The umpire my use judgement due to the unusual nature of a play such as when a runner does not slide and is safe at the base before the throw arrives or slides directly to a base from a position not in a direct line between bases, as long as there is no issue with safety or interference. Interference shall not be called."