sub

[chapmaja]

Originally Posted by benbret

NFHS girls varsity fast pitch. I am plate umpire 2nd inning visiting team DP gets a base hit single. Flex runs for the DP so the DP has left the game. 4th inning DP comes to bat but has not report back in. I remembered her. I ask her if she was re entering the game. She she that she was. Home coach was very upset that I had ask her. She though I should have waited and let them report that she was illegal. I explained to the coach that all she would have been was an unreported sub and there was no penalty. Should I have waited and let the home team tell me that she was an unreported sub or was I within my rights to correct it when I noticed that she was the batter?

When did you notice her? Was it before she entered the batters box and the ball was declared live? If so, that is preventative umpiring, and yes the coach has the right to be upset, but you did what you felt was right for the game.

If you noticed her and asked her before she entered the batters box and the ball was declared live (3-3-3-d and 3-3-3-e) the team has not committed an unreported substitution violation because at the point the unreported substitute had not yet entered the game. If it was after she was in the box and the ball was declared live, then she has entered the game unreported and a team warning must be issued.

I would say this, I generally will not use preventative umpiring on things like this. It is up to the players and coaches to know the rules about substitutions and lineups. I expect the coach, as the adult, to follow the rules.

I will use preventative umpiring in situations where a rule isn't yet broken, but could be if the action continues.

Examples of this include seeing a player warming up with jewelry on. I will issue a reminder before the game starts (to both teams) to prevent an issue like this from happening. If I see a pitcher come out with a glove on her pitching hand, I will issue a reminder to take it off, rather than wait until it becomes illegal.

Another is a "thrown" bat. If a batter swings and tosses the bat to an area where it isn't an issue, but it was clearly a thrown bat, I generally won't issue a warning, but I will remind the coach. (If it is thrown and hits me or the catcher, it is a team warning immediately).

Believe it or not, I do try to avoid as many problems as I can.

Now here is one for you guys. You have two outs and a running is caught stealing for the third out (during an at bat). Do you do anything in regards to the batter at bat. Personally I use preventative umpiring here as well. I will make sure everyone is on the same page as to who the leadoff batter is the next inning (the same girl that was in the box when the caught stealing occurred). If we then have an out of order issue, there is no confusion as to who should have been up.