Scoring question - Fielder's Choice or a hit? Earned or unearned run?

[JoeKC]

I guess I need to make sure my DD does not pitch for a team with a bunch of "mentally challenged" players.......LOL

Good luck with that....they're teenage girls....

 

[Elk Grove Hurricane]

FC and an RBI is how I would score it for the hitter, and unfortunately for the pitcher I would call it an ER. Life isn't fair.

 

[flipper14]

Correct.

Addendum - The fact that the fielder chooses to attempt an out at another base or check a runner doesn't automatically make it a fielder's choice. The scorer can judge that the batter would've beaten out the ground ball and therefore score it a hit. That was not the case here, however.

This is probably a cause for a lot of mistakes in scoring. For example, let's say you've got a runner at second and the batter grounds to the SS. If the SS attempts to tag the runner going by, and in doing so allows the batter to beat the throw to first, that would be a fielder's choice, not a hit. The scorer must judge whether the batter would've been safe without the fielder's 'attempt' to get another out. If unsure, the scorer should rule a hit, but should weigh the evidence and not just 'give' a hit. Just more reason to see that travel ball stats are so sketchy. Very few scorers are clear on all the scoring rules.

That's also why softball is much harder to score than baseball. In baseball it's much easier to tell if a player would reach safely or not because of the distance between the bases. In softball, there are so many bang-bang plays it makes it much more difficult to score.