Quote:
Originally Posted by Little Jimmy
"So a pitcher steps on the plate with both hands together, and the umpire calls an IP, whereupon she steps off the plate. Now we call a dead ball. Why? If there is no infraction as your UIC states, why bother killing play if there's nothing to do at that point since the IP is nullified?"
The USSSA mechanic would be to not call the IP until the hands separate to pitch. If the hands separate, then the IP is called.
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With all due respect, that doesn't make sense at all. You are supposed to call/signal an IP the moment the violation happens, by rule. In this case, the violation happens when she steps on the plate with her hands together, not when she separates them afterward.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Little Jimmy
" I don't believe USSSA feels that that's the case. I think, like in every other softball organization out there, that the IP violation is still there, and the umpire administers the penalty."
My state UIC was on the national rules committee. They write the rules. If I can't take his word for it, who would have better insight?
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Again, I'm not trying to belittle your state UIC, but I've run across a few times where umpires at those positions aren't always correct. I've even experienced at national camps and clinics where two instructors would not agree on a particular ruling. They're human, it happens.
But if he IS correct, and that's how USSSA Softball wants to treat this, then he needs to make it happen by changing the IP rule in the rule book and case book. As written, USSSA is the same as virtually every other fast-pitch organization out there, and they would need to change the books to clearly show how they are 180 degrees different.