Scorekeeping Question

We have always believed in very strict scoring. Looks like most here do too.

Take a look at the NCAA scoring rules.

https://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/Stats_Manuals/Baseball/baseball_softball_scorebook.pdf

One of the notes is to always give the hitter the benefit of the doubt if an exceptional defensive play fails to get the out which is consistent with the above comments.

In practice, especially in early season, my wife and I are shocked at what gets scored a hit in NCAA D1 softball.

Makes us feel a little bad for all the “hits” we took away from all these kids over the years, lol.

CoachJD said:

That said, your last sentence sounds like it should be a hit. A "desperate attempt at another base" sounds to me like A) they couldn't get the batter-runner and B) the runner they tried to get was safe. That should be scored a hit. There is some subjectivity in deciding whether the batter-runner would have been safe, but if we're assuming it's obvious she would be, that's not a fielder's choice.

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As I have already been corrected on in this thread, if there is a force out made at another base, it's a FC, regardless of whether or not the batter would have been obviously safe on the play.

reagansdaddy said:

Okay, that confuses me. Is that always the case, because I don't think so. A ground ball to F5 with a runner on first and F5 throws to second but the runner from first beats the throw is still a fielder's choice even though the runner was safe. Is it based on whether or not the fielder turns down an expected out at first? If so, then why are hard hit balls to CF that result in a force at 2nd considered Fielder's Choice?

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You have to look at the play and judge for yourself. If the hitter would/could have been put out on the play and the fielder chooses to take an out at a different base then it is a FC. Hard ground ball through the infield to the OF is usually a hit unless the OF tries to make the play at 1st. IE: The common throw from RF to 1st base.

Score keeping is subjective and up to the viewer. A lot of things are HTBT.

Agreed. That makes sense.

I've seen it all in score keeping.

I am pretty hard on scoring because I have seen the fake stats for so long when I was younger. A force out is a force out...no
matter if it was nice ball to the outfield that the runner is forced out at second or third. Its NOT a hit...a runner was forced out
on their at bat. Its unlucky they hit a nice ball and the runner was forced out, but it is what it is...a FC.

Cant scorekeep on the premise of..."she deserved a hit".

So if a outfielder robs a batter on a diving catch...do you give the batter a hit because she deserved one? No...its an out.
Unlucky for the hitter, but oh well.

Eric F said:

As I have already been corrected on in this thread, if there is a force out made at another base, it's a FC, regardless of whether or not the batter would have been obviously safe on the play.

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I interpreted "desperate attempt at another base" to mean that runner was safe, too. In that "Everybody safe" scenario (where the batter-runner was obviously going to be safe), it would be a hit.

CoreSoftball20 said:

I am pretty hard on scoring because I have seen the fake stats for so long when I was younger. A force out is a force out...no
matter if it was nice ball to the outfield that the runner is forced out at second or third. Its NOT a hit...a runner was forced out
on their at bat. Its unlucky they hit a nice ball and the runner was forced out, but it is what it is...a FC.

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This isn't even being "pretty hard on scoring." That's just the rule. There's no room for interpretation here. No wiggle room. No subjectivity. If the defense gets the force out, it's always a fielder's choice.

A batter can hit the ball off the wall. If the runner trips and falls and doesn't get up and make it to the next base and she's forced out, it's a fielder's choice. It's not a hit. Sucks for the hitter, but that's how it goes sometimes. Make a note in your scorebook that she actually hit the ball 200 feet and the runner in front of her has coordination issues or something.

One more scenario:

Runner on 1B, slow grounder to F6 with very fast batter/runner. No chance to get the out at 1B, but there is a chance at 2B. F6 throws the ball wide of the base in an obvious throwing error. There is no force out for a mandatory FC, and batter/runner would not have been put out with ordinary effort. FC w/error, or hit w/error?

I'd say FC on the batter w/error (Batter safe at 1 on a FC, Runner safe at 2 on error).

Not sure if this is the same in all rule books, but in NCAA rules one of the options to score a FC is:

14.7.1.1 When a ground ball is put in play and any preceding base runner
is out on the hit or would have been out had no error occurred.