[Skahtboi]

Last night I was working a Dixie Belles (15U) tournament. Last game of the evening, I was in the field and a colleague who umpires out of the same association that I do high school for was coaching first. Last inning of the game, colleague's team was down 20-5. (Fixing to have a run rule if his team doesn't score 6 runs.) R1 on first. B1 hits a grounder straight to F4 who charges, toward the diamond, makes a great one-handed grab and tosses to F6 for the out at second who then fires across the field to F3 to complete a beautiful DP. Now, before I continue, let me mention that F4's momentum carried her forward one step after the release of the ball, where she collided with R1. F4 didn't alter the direction of her progress or anything of that nature. As I am jogging back to the A position, my colleague(the coach) looks at me and asks, "What about that interference, Blue?" Dumbfounded that he would want a call against his own team I ask, "what intereference?"

"My runner and the second baseman collided. The fielder who doesn't have possession of the ball has to vacate the running lane," is his response.

"Coach, I am assuming you are referring to obstruction, and what I have here is incidental contact. The fielder's momentum carried her forward as she was completing the play. She cannot simply disappear when she releases the ball. It is the job of the runner to avoid the contact of a fielder making a play on the ball. Contact was incidental."

Coach: "That's bull!"

Next batter popped up to the infield for the third out. As the girl's line-up to the congratulate each other, every coach thank my partner and me for the game that we called, except the coach/colleague. As he walks past us he looks at me and says, "wish I could say 'good game Blue,' but that call was terrible." Yeah...that one call cost his team the game. It was all that I could do to keep from saying that, but I didn't. Like I said, I was embarrassed for him.

[Edited by Skahtboi on Jun 28th, 2003 at 04:19 PM]