[PeteBooth]

Originally posted by Trojans73

For my 1st post on this forum I will ask a rather simply question.

Many, many, many years ago while playing Little League we kids in the dugout would often try to rile the pitcher with our tradition "Hey, pitcher, pitcher, pitcher, pitcher"!

Fast forward to the present day:

In the high school varsity game, how much leeway do you give the players in the dugout? I have been to many games as a spectator and a few as an umpire where the kids will
start clapping or making some kind of collective noise/noise in unison while the pitcher is about to pitch
and continue through the pitcher's delivery.

Just needed some insight from some seasoned umpires on how to handle this. Also, what is the expectation of the coaches?

Any insight would be appreciated and if there are any specific rules on this please feel free to point them out.

HS Varsity is not LL and for the most part you will not see such nonsense because at that level some kids throw in the mid to upper 80's and someone will receive some nice "Chin music" if they employ such bush league tactis.

I am all for cheering etc. but not the nonsense and to date I have not encountered that type of behavior at the HS varsity level.

I have umpired games in which teams don't like each other and you put a stop to ANYTHING that could cause a riot, but as mentioned you don't see the "hey Pitcher" or Hey Batter at the HS varsity level.

Pete Booth