- Jun 1, 2015
- 501
- 43
Caught this on the local 11pm news and was curious of the result/ruling (Varsity HS Softball - ASA rulebook):
Team A is up to bat - no outs, runners on 1st and 2nd, batter with a 2-0 count.
Batter lets a high/outside pitch go by and immediately heads down for 1st base thinking it's ball 4. The runners at 1st and 2nd, believing they are being forced, advance to 2nd and 3rd respectively, without being tagged out.
Team B (the home team) comes out to discuss with umpires, saying it was ball 3 - books were checked, field umpire is checked, and it IS ball 3. Batter returns to the box BUT the umpires agree to let the runners stay where they advanced to. Team B's coach plays the rest of the game under protest. Team B went on to lose the game, pending the outcome of the protest.
What's the correct call in this case? Can the runners stay at their advanced-to bases if they felt "forced" by an incorrect assumption of the count by the batter?
Team A is up to bat - no outs, runners on 1st and 2nd, batter with a 2-0 count.
Batter lets a high/outside pitch go by and immediately heads down for 1st base thinking it's ball 4. The runners at 1st and 2nd, believing they are being forced, advance to 2nd and 3rd respectively, without being tagged out.
Team B (the home team) comes out to discuss with umpires, saying it was ball 3 - books were checked, field umpire is checked, and it IS ball 3. Batter returns to the box BUT the umpires agree to let the runners stay where they advanced to. Team B's coach plays the rest of the game under protest. Team B went on to lose the game, pending the outcome of the protest.
What's the correct call in this case? Can the runners stay at their advanced-to bases if they felt "forced" by an incorrect assumption of the count by the batter?