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Gentlemen:
There seems to be a feeling among most of the umpires in this thread that because the kids are young, or uncoached, or accidentally act a certain way: Because of all those factors the umpire should not penalize infractions.
Nothing is further from the truth. The best time to take care of most infractions is at the beginning of the kid's career as a player.
If a runner goes in front of a fielder and interferes, call him out and return other runners unless forced to advance because the batter was awarded first.
If a batter retreats from the batter's box and interferes, even inadvertently, with no evil intent, somebody is out, depending on the number of outs if the play is at the plate, or the batter if the play is at a base.
You do players a disservice when you overlook such occurrences.
Some calls do depend on the age or training: balks (at the beginning of a season); the strike zone, which certainly varies by age (at least according to most veteran, trainined umpires).
Do your teaching with your umpiring, not with your heart. "I'm sure the young man..." is a feeling that does not belong in an umpire's "arsenal."
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