[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Last Thursday was our (MTD, Jr., and me) game of the H.S. baseball season: a jr. varsity DH in Michigan. The MichiganHSAA Mercy Rule is 15 runs after 3 innings and 10 runs after 5 innings. The DH were league games and the Host School was the Home Team in the first game and the Guest School in the second game.

First Game: Going into the top of the 2nd inning, the Visitors are leading 5-0. In the top of the 2nd inning, the Visitors proceed to send (and I am not making this up) 43 (you are reading that correctly) batters to the plate. The Visitors scored 37 runs and left the bases loaded when they made their 3rd out on a called strike three. They sent 19 batters to the plate before they made their first out via the IFFR (that is how they made the 2nd out of the inning 10 batters later). The Visitors scored 8 more runs in the top of the 3rd inning while leaving the bases loaded. The Visitors were not trying to run up the score either. From about the 20th batter on, they did not attempt to score on any passed ball or wild pitch, and even if the batter hit a gapper that would have easily been a 2 base or 3 base hit the runner was stopped at 1B and no other runner was allowed to advance more than 1 base. They kept the bases loaded so that the Home Team could make an easy out at any base. And they couldn't. Final Score: 50-1

Second Game: The Guest School won the 2nd game 21-0 in 2-1/2 innings.

MTD, Sr.