8U Machine Pitch-Pitcher Position

[Guest Dave S]

Here's the Association's rule on the pitcher position at 8U machine pitch:

Sec. 2-The Pitching Machine

(A) The pitching distance will be measured from the discharge, in front of the wheel. The manager may position the pitcher on either side of the machine at a distance not to exceed 5 feet from the side of, and not in front of the 40 feet pitching distance;

My question is how long does the player have to stay in that location, until the ball is dropped in the machine or until the batter makes contact with the ball? I would like to be able to move him into a better defensive position if I don't get penalized from doing so.

[basejester]

You're going to have to ask the body that wrote the rule how it should be enforced.  If I were umpiring the game, and had no other direction, I would not allow the pitcher to charge in front of the machine prior to contact.  We should, in my humble opinion, assume in the direction of safety when there is ambiguity in a safety rule.

[Mudisfun]

My league for machine pitch requires the pitcher to be to the left of the machine at a marked spot. The pitcher must be there regardless of batter position and must remain there until the batter makes contact. We set the machine to 40MPH so from ball drop to plate is pretty quick. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jjb]

Not sure I understand what you mean by "a better defensive position". Are you just wanting to get him to be in a position to handle a ground ball through the middle, or are you looking to end up with an extra shortstop? If he's going to pitch one day, maybe you should leave him where he is and teach him to play the position...

[ZebraStripes]

The "pitcher" should remain in his starting position until contact is made.  You are hoping to get an extra jump on where you believe the ball is going and that's not going to fly.