Taking third out
2016/7/15 17:02:49
Question
I coach in a girls slow pitch league in the 13 %26 under division. Our games are on a time limit. If the home team is at bat and has 2 outs with less than a minute left on the clock, would it be legal for the coach to tell his next batter to step in the batters box and step on homeplate without receiving a pitch and then claim to the umpire that she is out because she stepped on the plate? This was an attempt to end the inning before time ran out so that his team would get another chance to bat since they were losing the game. The umpire never called the batter out but the coach did. In the time that this was being argued on the field, the time had expired. The game is now under protest awaiting a decision. What is the ruling on something like this (if there is one)?
Answer
Hi Steve,
If I had such a situation as a tournie UIC I would deny the protest as there is no rule to call a batter out just by them just entering the bb and then stepping on the plate. In fact they're just wasting time as I need them to have both feet in the bb before I allow a pitch.
You do call the batter out...When any part of a foot is touching home plate at the time the ball makes contact with the bat. This is the rule the coach must have been thinking about and mis-interpreted.
There are ways to call a batter out when they enter the box but I'll make anyone with those ideas look it up themselves.
Mark
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