[Rich]

Originally Posted by jTheUmp

Single-umpire (me) 9th grade game last night.

Bases empty, 2 outs. Pitch is swung on and hit. BR takes off for 1st. I didn't immediately see where the ball went, but I "thought" it was fouled back behind me. I put my arms up and call out "Foul ball", only to then see the ball bouncing slowly up the first-base line in fair territory. The players continue running the play out as if they hadn't heard me (but I know I said it loud enough for at least the coaches to hear in the dugouts).

BR reaches first safely.

I DON'T SAY A WORD, AND LET PLAY CONTINUE FROM THERE, WITH BR AT FIRST.

Luckily (if you can call it that) for me, the next batter struck out for the 3rd out of the inning.

I've been beating myself up over this ever since, because I IMMEDIATELY KNEW what I should've done, and I didn't do it. And the reason I didn't do it is because I didn't want to go over to Team A's coach and say "Coach, I screwed this one up and I'm sorry".

I have learned three things:
1) I need to improve on watching the ball all the way to the catcher's mitt.
2) I must ALWAYS make sure I know where the ball is before I yell out "Foul". Better to call it late then to call too early.
3) When I screw up and I know I screwed up, don't try to ignore it. Swallow my pride, fix the mistake as much as the rules allow, and move on.

Try not calling any fouls behind you at all.

Here's how:

(1) Batter fouls ball back to the screen.
(2) Reach into ball bag and grab baseball
(3) Hand ball to catcher