Yikes

[Tksjewelry]

My first high school tournament game starts in twenty minutes. Pray for me! (and more so my partner) 

[Thunderheads]

Just another game......you'll do great!!!!! Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk

[Tksjewelry]

Reserve summer league tournament, 2 games as BU including the championship (I only expected one game). 1 tight call for 2 games was all I really had and not a peep from either side. Both games ended in run rules. All in all, not a bad day. 

 

[MadMax]

@Tksjewelry, but you had been calling high school age ballgames prior to this, right? The level and intensity of play is no different (sometimes worse, because some high school kids should not be allowed on a field don't have quite the talent of their peers). Let me guess where the nerves came in – it was regarding the hard-and-fast application of the NFHS ruleset, eh? I experience much the same up here, wherein the majority of leagues and tournaments I work use a hybrid of the NFHS ruleset (because that's what the ballplayers are used to) with a whole slew of modifications to allow for a continuous batting order, etc. Showcase ball will use either OBR or NCAA. But really, actual High School ball feels different because of the adherence to the "letter and code" of the complex NFHS rule book.

Surprisingly, by-and-large High School coaches are better behaved than Travel/Tournament coaches of the same age group.

[Tksjewelry]

@MadMax I'm still not sure what rule set we were under, my partner only said we were under a weird combo of Fed and OBR so I'll assume it was Legion. Partner just said to call under OBR and if anything crazy came up we'd get together. The highest age I've done is 14u Majors but I know some of my 14u games were better players and faster pitchers than these kids were. I walked onto the field at the top of the last inning to cover an ump who went down in the heat (he'd done 5 games that day already) and after seeing the skill level during that inning, I felt fine. The next two games were a breeze. 

Only one coach came out on one close play it went like this:

Coach: the ball beat the runner right? 

Me: yes coach but the tag didn't. 

Coach: but the ball beat the runner. 

Me: but the tag didn't. The force was off. 

Coach looks around the bases and says: oh, OK thanks. 

I'll say it was so different in atmosphere than kid games. Misting fans, tournament people offering you cold water every inning, in between games sitting in the air conditioned announcers booth and people offering food, water, gatorade, and cold cloths. 

 

[Majordave]

The biggest difference for me in older age player games (HS and up) is the parents and fans and coaches/players all really understand the game and tend to know the rules better.  Not all of them but most (fans and rules).  Thus you don't hear as much stupid stuff and have to deal with clueless questions and comments.

And, of course, everyone is so much faster.  Especially college.  You'd better understand angle over distance and have your running shoes on and your eyes open.

[Tksjewelry]

The biggest difference for me in older age player games (HS and up) is the parents and fans and coaches/players all really understand the game and tend to know the rules better.  Not all of them but most (fans and rules).  Thus you don't hear as much stupid stuff and have to deal with clueless questions and comments.

And, of course, everyone is so much faster.  Especially college.  You'd better understand angle over distance and have your running shoes on and your eyes open.

Holy cow were some of these kids fast. I had a few dingers to the fence so I really got to practice my over the should watching the runner while hauling a$$ through the working area to get to third. My partner didn't like this mechanic at all, he told me after the game to stop using it. I'm nodded and said OK but that's what I learned so I'll keep it for now and talk to UIC about it. (he wanted me to stop and pivot, go to second and collapse back to home with no other runners on, didn't make sense to me) 

[lawump]

How does one "collapse back to home?" 

I'm just wondering.  I've never heard that one.

[Majordave]

I'm gonna pick a nit here but, to me (and maybe several others-not sure), a "dinger" is a euphemism for a homerun. A well hit ball to the fence could be a line shot, line drive, warning track hit, etc. Of course I know the sound bat makes is a ding but dingers are homeruns. (Maybe not in Omaha?  Hmmm)

When the ball is no doubt extra bases and not a "trouble ball" you need to go out on then your method of getting from A to Bish to Cish is fine so long as you see the base touches and potential OBS calls while the runner advances and you get to the position. Again, so long as you are able to watch runner and adjust your path to bounce back toward 2B and get a good look if the runner aborts his attempt to 3B and there is a play on him at 2B (which is all yours of course) then by all means do what you did. I wasn't there and cannot tell from description if you were overcommitted to 3B or not. But, if he saw what I referred to with potential play at 2B then your call. 

Is he saying plate guy has 3B rotation responsibility with no runners on?  No, No, No!  I've done it as plate guy when it was obvious my old, fat, can't run, might die if they try partners got hung up. One time my partner trucked an F3 and they both rolled in the dirt around 1B so I took the play at 3B from the plate (and banged an out BTW!) because if I didn't it wasn't going to be covered. 

Love baseball and umpiring. 

[Tksjewelry]

You're probably right it was warning track hit(?), right to the fence. I only glanced once to make sure I wasn't going to run into a player (like f1) but kept my eyes on the runner, learned my lesson on that one when a partner a few months ago missed an obstruction just looking for the touches. Luckily, I had it and called it. Honestly, I'm not sure I would have been able to keep up with these gigantor kids had I stopped and pivoted at first. I did have a few that looked like triples but ended up doubles. I was able to see it and stop to see a potential play, learning about reading the players on here helped me with that. I've really slowed down my calls since learning that which has cut the grumbling down to near zero. 

@lawump I have no idea. UIC said it was old school and to forget about it. 

I have no idea why that posted that way. I was quoting @Majordave. Weird. 

[Umpirechick1]

Glad you had a chance to do those.  I love my HS games.  The baseball isn't always as good as some of the tournament ball (usually just because the schools are smaller), but you don't hear the stupid stuff that you hear in the younger age groups.  One of the funniest things was said in a JV game when I called batter's interference, and the 3rd out of the inning. The coach came out and asked for an explanation of my call, which I gave him.  He smiled and said "Cool - you DO know what you're talking about."  I just said "Yes, coach, I do" and walked away.  But I know in a tourney game, a coach or parents would've been going crazy over that same call.

[Tksjewelry]

Glad you had a chance to do those.  I love my HS games.  The baseball isn't always as good as some of the tournament ball (usually just because the schools are smaller), but you don't hear the stupid stuff that you hear in the younger age groups.  One of the funniest things was said in a JV game when I called batter's interference, and the 3rd out of the inning. The coach came out and asked for an explanation of my call, which I gave him.  He smiled and said "Cool - you DO know what you're talking about."  I just said "Yes, coach, I do" and walked away.  But I know in a tourney game, a coach or parents would've been going crazy over that same call.

I'm glad I did too, broke the fear zone I had for those games. One of the coaches from the host team (already eliminated by time I got there) was a coach of a 13s team I do a lot, he helped set the tone for me with the playing coaches.  I'll get to do more next year but no plates until I get better equipment, per UIC, which I'll have by time season starts next year. Shoot, with all perks (like misting fans and air conditioning) I'll sign up for those tournaments any time!