[BretMan]

With all the posts about about early season games, I figured I'd check in with some early season experiences of my own. Yesterday was the second day of the high school season around these parts and it was also my first game- a one-umpire, JV matchup between two large area schools with a lot of athletic tradition.

The home team was a private school that really doesn't have room at their location to add a softball field (they have pretty decent baseball field), so they play their games at a local multi-diamond park. They aren't bad fields- with one exception. They are used by a youth baseball league and have pitching mounds! Since the mounds are set at a shorter distance that a full-sized field, the pitching plate for softball actually was a couple of feet up the front slope of the mound. This is only the second time I've ever worked a softball on a baseball field (the other was on a full-sized field and the mound didn't intrude on the pitcher's circle). At least the infield was all dirt, without any grass!

Before the game, the home team coach tries to convince me that on this field it is customary to have a small "dead-ball" area in front of the dugout, outside of the dugout fence, just big enough for a coach to plant a bucket. I'm not buying it and tell him he will have to be behind the fence. He reluctantly agrees.

It's time for the first pitch, we're ready to go and out of the corner of my eye I see...the home team coach plopped on his bucket in precisely the spot I told him he couldn't sit! Before the first pitch of the first game, I get to play Mister Hard-*** Umpire, hold up the game and have a talk with the coach about what I already told him.

We finally get started and it becomes apparent to me that it is pretty much impossible for a softball pitcher to keep her drag foot in contact with the ground when her landing area is a good 8-10 inches lower than the pitcher's plate! I decide to myself that the loss of contact with the ground- that every pitcher in the game had on every pitch- was going to be ignored. As long as the pitcher was keeping her pivot foot parallel to the level ground of the landing area in front of the mound (kind of like the ASA men's pitching rule), I just couldn't see holding the pitchers to a requirement that was all but impossible to meet on this field. Nobody said a word about it all night.

Things are going smoothly the first couple of innings. As one batter bunted a ball right out in front of the plate, I yanked off my mask and took about one step to the left to start clearing the catcher. Then, the catcher yanked off her hockey helmet, whipped in over her shoulder and caught me right in the forehead! We had to hold up the game about five minutes while I got my bearing and got my feet back under me. It left a nice red welt on my forehead.

A few more uneventful innings go by, with only a couple of slightly unusual plays plays. One was an Infield Fly right behind first base that F3 started to park under, then was called off by a charging over F4. It made the on-the-run catch by F4 look like it took more than "ordinary" effort, but since F3 could'a should'a had it easily, I stuck with the Infield Fly call.

The other was a throw to first by F2 on a bunt. This field did not have a double first base (it's optional in our state). The batter-runner was good all the way up the line, staying just foul. But as she made her last step to first, she naturally made it inward toward the bag. The throw nailed her in the middle of the back just as she touched first. The defensive coach pleaded for an interference call, but I told him the runner had a right to exit the running lane just as she reached the bag- or else she could never touch first!

Also had a uniform issue to deal with! As the sun got lower, the right fielders were having a problem seeing the ball. The home team's F9 didn't have sunglasses or a visor, so her coach asked me if it was okay for her to wear a different style hat than the rest on his players (a black hat- the rest of the team had maroon visors). I told him that any hat or visor would have to match her teammmates. If he hadn't asked about it first, I might not have even noticed the unmatching hat. But, since he did, I gave him the standard rule. So I got to be Mister Hard-*** Umpire with the home team coach one more time!

And then...I got nailed again.

A batter swung at a way inside pitch, got it off the handle and shot it straight back. The ball just barely caught the edge of the little ear flap of my mask, but somehow sneaked around it and drove right into my left ear! It opened up a gash on my ear that was gushing blood. It didn't really hurt much- ears just bleed a lot! This one looked a lot worse than it really was. It took another 5-10 minutes to get the bleeding stopped and get myself back into game mode.

Now, this one I've replayed in my head a few times. I really feel that I was properly in the slot and didn't flinch or turn my head. I saw the ball come off the bat and toward me. It was just that the pitch was so far inside- the batter actually stepped backward and had to pull her hands in right against her body- that the ball came off the bat at an odd angle. The ear flap of my mask took some of the brunt, but since my mask is loose and this was kind of a "sideways" hit, I think that it pushed my mask out of the way and let the ball get me.

Oh, yeah- we played seven innings in about 90 minutes, the home team won, the weather was sunny and warm, the season is finally underway and I made it through my first game just a little bit bloody and bruised! Here's hoping that everyone has a great season.