Pitchers Plate

[Tru_in_Blu]

I worked a HS game yesterday where the school had installed artificial turf. Home plate, bases, and pitcher's plate (with extended lines for the 24" width), foul and out of play lines were all incorporated into the turf itself.

As explained by a school employee, the pitcher's plate and home plate "actuals" were to be installed each game. Home plate was a loose plate to be placed on top of the turf plate and the pitcher's plate would have a couple of attachments.

Home plate ended up being a bit above the playing surface such that a ball could hit the front of the plate and take a strange deflection. (How many HPs have we seen that aren't perfectly level with the surrounding ground?) The pitcher's plate came loose and was simply removed.

For the game yesterday, we used the turf markings for the PP and HP and used real bases on the marked areas. This was a sub-varsity game.

I think there has been discussion about what to do going forward. The state could get involved at some point if they haven't already been notified.

We'll see how this turns out.