Thoughts, notes, and questions from Nationals

[teebob21]

Originally Posted by Rich

I enjoyed the sequence starting at 9:13:16, including the coach with the clipboard and the screaming mom.

(I still think starting point of plate and working right as the play unfolds is the best way to see this play, but I get that softball does it diff'ernt.)

Also, there's what looks like a pretty severe injury on a slide at 11:14:30 on the video that ends up delaying the game for about 27 minutes.

ASA/USA wants us to start 1BLX as PU and rotate as necessary. NCAA is OK with starting at point of plate from the get go. This being an ASA/USA tournament, I went 15-18 feet 1BLX to read the play and closed to 10-12 to make the call on a tag. (I was not the umpire at 9:13)

That injury at 11:14 is the compound fracture I mentioned in the OP. I was U3, right on top of it. Sounded horrible. Sounded like a combination between a wooden bat breaking and a .22 starter pistol. You'll see me immediately kill it and call for medical personnel. Nothing but a clean late slide and an SS who unfortunately stepped directly into a sliding runner, instead of out of the baseline.

As an aside, if you're wondering why I was a bit defensive to the assistant coach immediately after the injury, that's because he told me "That call was absolute bullshit and you know it. You got her hurt and you're gonna cost her that scholarship." Normally in this level of play, that's an ejection for me, but not at that moment. I told him to knock it off, let's be concerned about the player and we could talk about his thoughts on the call later. Instead of talking to me, they went to the TD and said I was rude while they had a hurt player. :|