Heh, I actually contacted the state director about this, and his reply was: Be a smart *** and cover home plate and then have the pitcher try getting in the strike zone.

No, really, his reply was: The plate shouldn't be covered intentionally because we need a reference point in order to determine the pitching box. The next time I had the pitcher, he said he got an interpretation from the state director and proceeded to cover the plate. I told him, my interpretation which the state director backs forbids the intentional covering of the plate. Next thing I knew, sent the sucker's sorry a** to the parking lot again. This kid just didn't get it.