So 2020 has been the year of oddities...I swear I have had more "firsts" this year than ever before, and frankly, I am so thankful for this thread. Because I have read it many times, and some of those "firsts" I knew the answer to because of this thread. So on that note, let me add a few more that I had this weekend:
1) I was doing a tournament this weekend, on Saturday I had the 9/10U games, and one of the teams was actually 7/8 playing up, first games that weren't coaches pitch. I can't remember the last time I did a game below about 13 years old, but it was easy money and kind of fun to see the little kids. Anyways...both coaches said this was about learning, go ahead and instruct kids if anyone saw anything, (HS rules were in effect but they didn't want balks called, etc)
Well it quickly became apparent that one coach lied, he wanted to win, not learn. His team was up to bat. His son was batting (might have more to do with it) and his son hits a dribbler up 3B line, and I mean like 10 feet from the plate and spinning like crazy. Well I do what I normally do, except I forgot the defensive team was 7 and 8 and don't react the way 14 - 18U catchers do....I went to be on the line to observe fair/foul and I don't even know what the catcher did, but basically I knocked his little behind to the ground in a collision. Idk if it was his fault or mine, but ball came to rest right on outer half of chalk. I took out the only player who had a chance to field the ball.
So I called time, brought the coaches together, and said I was calling umpires interference on myself and we were re-doing the pitch. The coach who wanted to win said "that isn't in the rule book" and I said "umpires interference is", the re-do is not, but it was the only way to be fair in a game where we are trying to learn.
So my question is, did I handle it okay given the age group and situation. And what would the "official" rule be when an umpire collides with a catcher trying to make a play....again, I think it was more that fact the kid was 7 or 8 because I have done a LOT of games behind the plate and never had this happen with a single older catcher. I think I just reacted a lot faster than the catcher did and got in his way.
2) Yesterday, 14U semi-final game of same tournament, two-man game, I am HPU. Runner is on first, clean single to right-center, so I am heading for third base per my rotation. R1 should have easily been heading to third but screwed up and got a bad read, and 3B coach held him up (dugout was yelling at base coach for holding him up). Then as I am walking back to plate, the batting team dugout is yelling to BU that the batter-runner was obstructed after rounding first, apparently F3 was watching the ball and in the batter's path.
The BU told them, "well you should have kept your guy running, if he keeps going it is obstruction, if he goes back it isn't". I know that is not correct, but didn't want to throw my partner under the bus because they let it go.
After the half-inning, I went and told the team "I didn't see it b/c I was heading to third and watching for the play to develop with R1, but even if obstruction occurred on batter, since there wasn't a play being made on him, the penalty for obstruction is to be placed where he would have ended up (judgment) if the obstruction had not occurred. But since R1 stopped at 2nd on his own and 3B coach told him to stop, the batter never would have gotten past 1st, even without the obstruction, so there was no based to award", and they seemed to like that explanation better (I never said my partner was wrong, just that nothing would have changed even if he had called it).
I guess I am just wondering if I was correct in what I said?
3) Same tournament, now 14U championship game and I am BU. Nobody on base so I am in A position, right-handed batter is up to plate. Batter squares to bunt, and the bat is easily out in front of the plate but held square. The pitch basically blasted the batter in the chest and the HPU said he got blocked by the catcher standing up in front of him. I said the batter did not offer at the bunt attempt b/c he never had a forward motion with the bat and therefore awarded the base. Of course the defensive team was pissed, but basically he squared with the bunt, and in trying to react to the pitch coming at him, left the bat out front and fell backwards, but never motioned forward with the bat.
I am 99% sure I remember reading the difference between baseball and softball was that softball only required the bat to be out front, baseball required a forward attempt to bunt.
I know this would fall under the "had to be there" but was I correct in the criteria for whether a base should be awarded or not?