SeanColorado

I know. Not a great approach.

12u fastpitch playoff game. I'm BU. Top of first, runners on 1st and 2nd, 2 outs, 2 strikes. Shortstop says to catcher "if she goes get her at third". 3rd base coach (also HC) says to F6 "yeah you just go ahead and try to throw her out" before pitch is thrown in a taunting tone. I'm in C and here it clearly. Strike 3 inning over. As he's starts walking back to 1st base dugout I tell coach, in a quiet but direct tone, not to speak to the other team's players. He starts to respond and I say "coach, that's enough, we're not discussing this". Bottom of 3, PU calls time and walks out to P for a 10 second conversation. I'm in A and can't make out what's being said. HTHC comes out of dugout as PU is walking back to plate asking what that was about. He was instructing pitcher to not lick fingers and then grab the ball for a pitch. HTHC as he's walking back yells for the entire neighborhood to hear "oh we're playing by those rules today!". PU issues a warning telling him to knock it off and "this is your warning". Start of bottom of 4, I'm in shallow right and HT is slowly taking the field as HTHC gives them individual fielding positions. One of the girls is bawling profusely, tears streaming down her face. About what, I don't know... PU tells HTHC she can't take the field in that condition for her own safety. He gets in PU face yelling "you can't tell me who I can play and can't". PU tosses HC. PU says "you have 5 minutes to leave the field". Ugh, I know. HTHC says "if I have 5 minutes I'm going to make them count". I play rodeo clown telling him he has to leave and explain to AC he is now the HC. HTHC leaves, but then in the 5th inning comes back and is back in sight. Technically he is off the property, but the fields are in a basin and he's basically on the street curb. Equivalent to the upper deck area above his team's dugout. I didn't notice at first, but I'm in C and VTHC (3BC at the time) points out that he's back and asks for a forfeit. I said no, we're not calling a forfeit, pause the game, tell new HTHC that he needs to be out of sight and sound. He argues that he is off the property line. Again coach, he needs to be gone now. He calls him and finally makes his way to parking lot. HT wins 8-7. Feedback welcomed as I've learned so much from this forum. My real question in all of this is "does PU have the authority within the rules to prevent a player from taking the field for crying?". In PU's view, she couldn't see creating a safety issue. Does the warning/conversation in top of 1 seem appropriate?

To touch the plate, no, I would say he did not have to alter his approach. To avoid contact, yes, he would need to.

In my scenario, the pitcher was there before the runner about 1-2 seconds before ball arrival. In my opinion the runner did attempt to avoid contact with the pitcher (head and should duck away from the pitcher's arms. The legs collided, which was pretty unavoidable given the set up of the pitcher. The runner did not slow down and was able to get a foot on the plate before the collision...call it a fearless runner. In this case I felt it wasn't runner interference. Agreed the slide makes this whole situation easy. IMO, this is the central issue here, but replace pitcher with catcher. The pitcher knows they have the size advantage, and set up over the plate. The rule comment is: A catcher shall not be deemed to have violated Rule 6.01(i)(2) unless he has both blocked the plate without possession the ball, and also hindered or impeded the progress of the runner attempting to score. Straddling the plate making a collision without a slide unavoidable...is that hindering or impeding?

The runner did actively try to avoid contact. They were by far the smaller of the players and lost the collision as far as impact goes. The way the plate was straddled there is no chance of avoiding contact without either sliding or coming to a halt before the plate and tapping the plate with a foot. Would that change your opinion? No rule modifications in this case. I appreciate the feedback...first time caller here.

12U, OBR rules. Runner on third, wild pitch. Runner heads home, catcher retrieves ball from a short backstop. Pitcher covers home and sets up straddling the home plate (centered over it) about a second before the ball arrives. No must slide rule, but the runner would have a hard time running through the plate without a collision. Collision occurs when they don't slide, runner is safe... But, if runner doesn't slide and is out, is this obstruction? It's certainly asking for an injury.

Hi, Just starting out into competitive umpiring after some time covering rec leagues. First game was today with a 15-14 walk off win for a 10 year old tournament. Appreciate the wealth of knowledge from everyone. Cheers!