What a weird way to start the year...
 

Worked a Juco doubleheader yesterday, and boy was it the strangest two games I've ever worked. Multiple events that I had never seen before happened in the same game...some of which were recently discussed on the board here.

We had FOUR pulled feet at first base in a single game. I've never had more than one in a game. Every single one was close. I have always been taught that the sequence to sell the bang-bang pulled foot is (1, optional) Point at the foot; (2) Sweep the arms and call "Off the Bag!", (3) Signal safe. By the 5th inning, my partner commented that I was giving a clinic out there on this mechanic. Ironic, since one of my goals this year is to Improve Timing and SLOW DOWN, but I didn't point on any of them and on the first one, I did some sort of batwing safe signal with one arm ready to sweep and the other extended. D'oh!

A batter hit a near-homerun fly ball that failed to clear the fence by less than an inch. It popped up off the top of the wall and was caught by F9. I have never seen that in a softball game. The BR managed only a double because she was trotting.

A runner who left the base early on a fly ball was obstructed while returning...but there was no play on her and she returned safely.

I had to call the 5-second hands-together IP timing violation...and frankly, it was more like 8 seconds.

I have been officiating softball for 18 years, and I saw my first Fake Tag obstruction, ever, at any level.

Since we aren't supposed to have watches, I carry a Withings step tracker (like a Fitbit) in my pocket on the field, because it has a clock and I like to start on time. I lost it somehow during the 3rd or 4th inning, probably while selling one of those pulled feet. I figured it was gone. Between innings after the 6th, I looked down wondering if I should use my game fee to buy a new one...and there it was! Luckily I had not stepped on it.

Game 1 was extra innings, and Game 2 was halted for darkness in the 7th with the home team leading and the visitors rallying.

I gotta say, I'm looking forward to "boring" games the rest of the year!

I hope your arms were up, not one arm out. This is not an IP, merely a pitching violation resulting on a ball on the batter.

Good catch. We administered the situation correctly.

To pick nits and terminology, is "pitching violation" the preferred term for the 5-second call? I was reviewing this after the game and found NCAA 10.8: "An illegal pitch is a pitch that is thrown by the pitcher that is in violation of the pitching rules or is an effect for a rule violation." I read this to mean it is a dead-ball IP.

Look at rule 10.18 and the effect. This is referred to the "10-10-5 rule," which the pitcher violated.

The pitching violations after 10.11 have individual effects.

Bit by another unnecessary rules difference, teebob. Timing violation for 5+ seconds in NCAA, illegal pitch for 10+ seconds in ASA and NFHS.

Thank you for the clarification, Steve. I'll refer to it as such going forward.

Big Slick: Yes, this violation is covered in both 10.18 as well as 10.2.3. Even though it is duplicated, the violation and its effects are consistent in both sections.

What? No BOO? :p

Seriously, I still have a good two and a half months for my start. I KNOW it won't start like last year, when I had that perfect game, so it'll prob be more like yours.

I have an interesting coda to my story about that game : We had a small 'friendly' 16U tournament that was scheduled for 1st weekend in October, but it got rained out. Rechedule date? November 1. I'm working the first two games that morning, so I worked the plate. Guess Who was pitching for one of the teams in that game? Yup, the kid that pitched the perfecto. (might have been the same catcher too) In some ways it was a good thing that the first batter smoked a line drive double on the first pitch, and then she walked a kid - then it was lights out. Same great pitch placement, and a little smoke to go along with it. Her team slaughtered the other team, getting their 15th run B4, Game probably took 50 minutes. :D Nice way to END the season.

No BOO, but the home head coach did get a warning for noisemakers/equipment misuse. The players were banging balls on the bench and the visiting coach complained to me right away. Forgot to include that in the OP.

Like I said, I'm looking forward to boring games, and no more 6-hour doubleheaders.

In my first scrimmage the home team only had balls with the NJCAA stamp, not NFHS. Of course we played and afterward it was addressed with my chapter.

If this happens in a 'real' game we'll play, then report the incident to the UIL (the HS sports governing body in TX). If the visiting team is willing to supply NFHS stamped balls then we must use them (per rule), again reporting to the UIL that this occurred.

Rookie.