- Jan 22, 2011
- 1,634
- 113
I'm not going to question the umpire unless I see the play. Especially in 8u and 10u pitches occasionally come with a high arc resembling a slow pitch trajectory. I don't like calling them strikes, but occasionally they catch enough of the back half of the strike zone you have to call them. According to a coach an umpire in a tournament I am UICing for this weekend in a game Friday called one for a 3rd strike. The coach keeps insisting to me that it is an illegal pitch in fastpitch.
On Friday after the game the coach complained to me:
1) in USSSA and AST (a break off from USSSA) that it was an illegal pitch in fastpitch if came in with an arc more than 6 feet and he had recently seen an illegal pitch called in an AST tournament for that.
2) I patiently told him this was USA softball and I had gone down that rabbit hole several years ago when I first started umpiring because I was aware of the slow pitch rule, but there is no such rule in fastpitch, but I would review the rules again.
3) Saturday he came up to me still insisting it was an illegal pitch. When I told him I had looked it up and found no fastpitch rule in regard to the height of the pitch, he still insisted it was illegal. I asked him to provide me the rule, rule supplement, or casebook reference saying it was illegal. He said he knew a lot of umpires who had told him it was illegal, and he has umpired a bunch of "friendlies." He said he was going to call a friend who had been the UIC of a local rec league for several years. He did, but his friend didn't answer.
4) I politely asked him when he found it, to provide me the rule, rule supplement, or casebook reference saying it was illegal, and walked away.
On Friday after the game the coach complained to me:
1) in USSSA and AST (a break off from USSSA) that it was an illegal pitch in fastpitch if came in with an arc more than 6 feet and he had recently seen an illegal pitch called in an AST tournament for that.
2) I patiently told him this was USA softball and I had gone down that rabbit hole several years ago when I first started umpiring because I was aware of the slow pitch rule, but there is no such rule in fastpitch, but I would review the rules again.
3) Saturday he came up to me still insisting it was an illegal pitch. When I told him I had looked it up and found no fastpitch rule in regard to the height of the pitch, he still insisted it was illegal. I asked him to provide me the rule, rule supplement, or casebook reference saying it was illegal. He said he knew a lot of umpires who had told him it was illegal, and he has umpired a bunch of "friendlies." He said he was going to call a friend who had been the UIC of a local rec league for several years. He did, but his friend didn't answer.
4) I politely asked him when he found it, to provide me the rule, rule supplement, or casebook reference saying it was illegal, and walked away.
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