Running up the score?

[halskinner]

Maybe I missed it but, what if the tournament rules require you play to win at all times?

I recall watching tournaments where they had 'tie-breaker rules' in effect.

What I mean there is that if 2 or more teams ended with the same win/loss/tie record, the first deciding factor was how many runs your team scored.

If that was also the same, the 2nd deciding factor was how many runs your team allowed to be scored against you.

In those situations, you could not be nice and ease up at all. If you did, it might cost you the gold.

Hal

 

[JC heir]

I gotta agree with Hal- especially in a travel ball tournament situation,at least to a degree. In a rec or scrimmage situation, I never met a coach who didnt appreciate a little mercy in a game that was getting out of hand. I have been in the situation where I know I sure appreciated a little mercy myself.

 

[gummi10]

The big thing here is its never easy to be a coach on either side of this equation. If you are the coach that is up you will do something to make someone mad. If you are the coach that is down you will get mad over little things the other team is doing. When i am way up in the game i tell my players just to run station to station a ball in the gap will be a double, dont advance on a passed ball. But continue to swing the bat no bunting or stealing. The whole thing about stepping off the base on purpose to me shows up the other team like you have to give them outs and as a coach on the losing side here i would get mad. Like it said in the other post if you suicide squeeze or put plays like that on and you get the wrong coach in the other dugout it will put your batters saftey in jeoperdy. Every one always wants a good tight game becasue they are more fu for the athletes but if it is a blow out you have to keep integrity i the game and dont try and show up an opponent because we have all been on the wrong side of this and know how our athletes feel already so if they are getting shown up it is twice as bad.

 

[mudbug]

Actually witnessed that situation today. A team way ahead. Bases loaded. Started bunting everyone to try to give them easy out at home plate. Team still scored 4 more runs before the losing team made an out at home. Finally had runner leave the base early too to give them a final out. Right? Wrong? who knows. Many sides to it. As bad as beating someone badly may seem, giving freebie outs may be a slap in the face to them on top of that.

 

[calgofo]

Actually witnessed that situation today. A team way ahead. Bases loaded. Started bunting everyone to try to give them easy out at home plate. Team still scored 4 more runs before the losing team made an out at home. Finally had runner leave the base early too to give them a final out. Right? Wrong? who knows. Many sides to it. As bad as beating someone badly may seem, giving freebie outs may be a slap in the face to them on top of that.

Exactly. What I do know is I sure got an earfull one time for doing that very thing. Sort of like what constitutes a "play" versus "bush league". I did notice that it was almost always the ones going to the parking lot that did the complaining.

 

[alexander58]

Maybe I missed it but, what if the tournament rules require you play to win at all times?

I recall watching tournaments where they had 'tie-breaker rules' in effect.

What I mean there is that if 2 or more teams ended with the same win/loss/tie record, the first deciding factor was how many runs your team scored.

If that was also the same, the 2nd deciding factor was how many runs your team allowed to be scored against you.

In those situations, you could not be nice and ease up at all. If you did, it might cost you the gold.

Hal

Tournaments shouldn't use runs scored as a tiebreaker. It encourages running up the score. Runs allowed should be used, then a coin flip.

 

[Coach JV]

This is a slippery slope. We played 3 seed games last month (in a tropical climate) where the temps were in excess of 90 degrees. We were up on a team 8-0 with bases loaded and walked off as their catcher was in her 3rd
game in a row with no break. She and the coaches thanked us. Later that day
(our third game) we played a weak team and kept pouring it on so we could mercy rule them and get out of the sun. That game ended 12-0 after 3. We showed no mercy and ran, stole etc. so we could get off the field. Heat stroke is the devil in the south

 

[SnocatzDad]

I don't think anyone considers getting enough runs to invoke a mercy rule and end a game quickly is not showing mercy. We're discussing how you would conduct yourself after you reach that mark.

 

[SoCalSoftballdad]

I know as a player I never wanted a team to take "merci" on me. Shame on me and my team if we cannot be competitive. We recently had a team up on us 9 - 1 going into the last inning and we scored the maximum 4 runs to lose 9 - 5. We could have given up but I was proud of the way my girls played in that one innning even though the game was essentially over. I think it all comes down to intent of the other team. If they rub it in our faces, that's unsportsmanlike and I wouldn't like it; but if they are just playing hard like they should be, I have absolutely no problem with them trying to generate more runs and working on situations, no matter what the score is.

 

[3'sDad]

We're instructed, once up by 10 runs and having not played the minimum number of innings, to advance station to station on any hit, no running on passed balls, no stealing and no bunting. We'll mix up the fielders to allow the girls to try a different defensive position and try to get the game finished quickly.

We've gotten calls from our director, who was notified by the opposition teams director, that the opposition appreciated the coaches doing the correct thing and not running up the score any further.