Quote:
Originally Posted by Little Jimmy
I was told about a situation that happened in a JV game yesterday and wanted to see what you guys thought about it. As head of my local association I want to tell my umps how to handle this in the future.
Fed rules. We have a very poor JV team that has problems scoring any runs or preventing their opponent from scoring. At the end of the 4th inning the visiting team was ahead 24-0. Instead of switching places and taking their turn at bat, they convinced the home team and the umpires that they would like to forgo their time at bat in the top of the 5th and simply stay in the field to speed up the game. All agreed to do this and the 5th inning ended 3 batters later.
I was told about this yesterday and it doesn't sit well with me. The only game ending proceedure we have officially is a 10 after 5 run ahead rule. Fed 4-2-3 certainly states that "by mutual agreement of the opposing coaches and the plate umpire, any remaining play can be shortened at any time or the game terminated". But to do so simply by stating you do not want to bat seems to be a stretch. Everyone wants to get these types of games over with as soon as possible but this doesn't seem right to me. Any ideas or opinions?
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Our local listing on this type of sitch would be a forfeit right at the point that the team declined to take their turn at bat. This would be followed by a report to our assignor, who would then send it to the state HS association.
Ball is then in their court. While yes it's JV, and there are no standings etc., there is an issue of the team being classified non-competitive. In previous years (and in sports other than FP), teams have been forced to suspend their season do to issues that have made them non-competitive, injuries, budget, academic, excessive cancellations (not related to weather/grounds) etc. at the V, JV, or freshman level.
As umps, not really our issue, we just report it and the state assoc. takes it from there....however it is not within our authority here to "OK" the game being played in a manner not listed in the rule book.