On deck hitter on the field

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Aug 12, 2014
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This happened in our 10U rec game, using NFSHSA rules with some modifications, but none of the modifications address this. We were in the field, there some runners on base, and their batter hit a grounder that got through to the outfield. The usual rec chaos ensued, and while a runner was coming around third toward the plate, the on-deck hitter went onto the field (I'm assuming to get the bat out of the way but I really don't know why) and was in front of home plate. The throw home was very late and way off-line, so we weren't going to get the runner anyway. I pointed it out to the ump after the play, and he blew it off without an explanation - I think he totally missed it. After the inning he came over and said something to the effect of "at this age they sometimes forget to wait until the play is over." Okay, but shouldn't it still be interference or something?
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
This happened in our 10U rec game, using NFSHSA rules with some modifications, but none of the modifications address this. We were in the field, there some runners on base, and their batter hit a grounder that got through to the outfield. The usual rec chaos ensued, and while a runner was coming around third toward the plate, the on-deck hitter went onto the field (I'm assuming to get the bat out of the way but I really don't know why) and was in front of home plate. The throw home was very late and way off-line, so we weren't going to get the runner anyway. I pointed it out to the ump after the play, and he blew it off without an explanation - I think he totally missed it. After the inning he came over and said something to the effect of "at this age they sometimes forget to wait until the play is over." Okay, but shouldn't it still be interference or something?

Assuming you are talking NFHS riles There is no interference call unless there was actual interference with the play. In most games below 14U I would have handled it much the same way - either say nothing as there was no call to make or in lower levels I would perhaps had a quick word to the player not to do that and a word to the coach to remind his players to be careful.

If the On-deck hitter had interfered with the actual play (i.e. in the umpires eye the player interrupted the defense's chance to get an out then this is addressed in NFHS rules:

Rule: 7-5-4
ART. 4 . . . The on-deck batter shall not commit interference with the defensive team.
PENALTIES: (Art. 4)
1. When the interference is with a thrown or pitched ball, the ball is dead and the runner closest to home is declared out. If no play is obvious, no player is out, but runners shall return to the last base touched at the time of interference.
2. When the interference is with a fair batted or foul fly ball, the batter is out. When, in the judgment of the umpire, the interference prevented a possible double play, the runner closest to home shall also be declared out. Other runners return to the last base touched at the time of the interference.

There is something similar in most rule sets.

Also, as an umpire unless you are a coach approaching me with a specific question about a call, you are not owed an explanation (in this case it is a pretty easy discussion - the on-deck player didn't interfere with the play so there is nothing to call). That doesn't mean I am not approachable and would more than likely happily talk to a coach quietly if he wanted to talk about it between innings but I am probably not answering a question from the crowd. That is a rabbit hole you don't want to go down. Again, it is not that I wont talk to someone in the crowd, just not about rules interpretations or specific plays etc.
 
Aug 12, 2014
644
43
Also, as an umpire unless you are a coach approaching me with a specific question about a call, you are not owed an explanation (in this case it is a pretty easy discussion - the on-deck player didn't interfere with the play so there is nothing to call). That doesn't mean I am not approachable and would more than likely happily talk to a coach quietly if he wanted to talk about it between innings but I am probably not answering a question from the crowd. That is a rabbit hole you don't want to go down. Again, it is not that I wont talk to someone in the crowd, just not about rules interpretations or specific plays etc.

Thanks for the reply. I am the coach, I guess I didn't make that clear. I approached him in the appropriate manner - I asked for time, jogged over to the plate, and calmly pointed out that the on-deck hitter was standing in front of the plate during the play - so I should have received an explanation of some sort, even if it was that he just didn't see it. I didn't yell or argue and calmly went back to the dugout after the non-reply.

I didn't know what the rules are concerning an on deck hitter being on the field during a play, and I appreciate you providing the explanation.
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
Thanks for the reply. I am the coach, I guess I didn't make that clear. I approached him in the appropriate manner - I asked for time, jogged over to the plate, and calmly pointed out that the on-deck hitter was standing in front of the plate during the play - so I should have received an explanation of some sort, even if it was that he just didn't see it. I didn't yell or argue and calmly went back to the dugout after the non-reply.

I didn't know what the rules are concerning an on deck hitter being on the field during a play, and I appreciate you providing the explanation.

No problem. We all learn when people present scenarios such as this and it is a good exercise to think it thorugh - "what would I call", "how would I explain my call to a coach", "what is the actual rule" and so on. MTR and Comp who have been at softball umpriing way longer than I have on occasion have corrected my understanding when I have got these sorts of questions wrong which helps my umpiring as well.

The reality is that 10 rec you are going to get varying quality of umpires anyway. He may not have seen what you saw. He may not have known the rule. He may not be sure how to handle a coach's question. Or he may be great - and on a nothing call this is how he likes to handle it - not how I would do it but everyone is different. Hard to say without being there. Weird stuff happens in 10U.

Good you didn't make anything more of it than you did. As described, there was no call to be made.
 
Aug 12, 2014
644
43
The reality is that 10 rec you are going to get varying quality of umpires anyway. He may not have seen what you saw. He may not have known the rule. He may not be sure how to handle a coach's question. Or he may be great - and on a nothing call this is how he likes to handle it - not how I would do it but everyone is different. Hard to say without being there. Weird stuff happens in 10U.

Oh I know. Most of our umps are pretty good, and this guy was fine as well. As I tell my players and their parents, the calls are whatever the ump says they are, and the strikezone is whatever he calls a strike.
 

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