How long would it take?

[harmbu]

How long would it take you to make the call on this play?

Runners on first and second with one out. High popup on the infield near the first base line about halfway between home and first. The plate umpire yells "infield fly, batter's out!" The first baseman misses the ball, it hits in fair territory and bounces untouched into foul territory.

I know that the ruling is a foul ball, but in this instance the umpire continued with the out signal and the offensive coach asked very politely, "Wasn't that a foul ball?" The umpire called timeout and went to the base umpire to clear it up. The correct call was ultimately made and we have to give the umpires credit for getting it right, but doesn't it worry you that a varsity high school umpire even needed to ask for help on a play as simple as this. I guess both teams were lucky to not have anything really confusing happen in the game.