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Mon Aug 22, 2005, 09:14am
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Had this happen in GHSA (NFHS)tournament this weekend. Batter swings for 2nd strike, I call strike. Apparently thinking it's her third, she heads for the dugout. I verbally give the count and also signal the count. She continues inside the dugout. Is this an out for leaving the field of play? Should I have been more forceful and individually called back the batter? Unrelated, it was a miserable hot day (heat index @ 105-110) and we lost some umpires and players to the heat. Nothing real serious, fortunately. 
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Mon Aug 22, 2005, 09:51am
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Rules say batter is out.
Preventive umpiring says call time before the batter reaches the dugout to "check the count" with your partner.
__________________
Officiating takes more than OJT. It's not our jobs to invent rulings to fit our personal idea of what should and should not be.
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Mon Aug 22, 2005, 10:12am
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Cecil is correct that the rule calls for the batter to be called out for leaving the field of play. I also agree that preventative officiating can save you by calling time and sorting things out. On the other hand, I really hate to give up a free out like that.
__________________
Wade Ireland Softball Umpire
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Mon Aug 22, 2005, 12:14pm
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"I verbally give the count and also signal the count. She continues inside the dugout."
Preventive umpiring WAS applied here. Verbal and visual signalling the count is enough. The batter, two base coaches, and the bench personnel were all asleep. Tough noogies. OUT!!! Bob
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Mon Aug 22, 2005, 01:17pm
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Much as I would also like the out, the rules cited do not apply. The rules calling a player out for abandonment, or leaving the field of play, NFHS 8-6.21, refers only to a runner; the batter with two strikes has not become a runner. NFHS Rule 8-2.4 states a batter-runner would be out if entering a team area after a batted fair ball, a base on balls, a hit batter, a dropped third strike, or catcher obstruction. Unfortunately, a batter with two strikes has not become a batter-runner, nor has any of the qualifiers occurred.
Unless I am missing something, the only rule in Rule 7 (Batting) which might then apply is leaving the batters box and delaying the game, at the risk of a penalty strike. However, that would be really pushing the issue; I couldn't see invoking that rule unless the batter (or team) had been warned multiple times for delay.
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Mon Aug 22, 2005, 01:26pm
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I agree with Steve on this.....The batter should be afforded the opportunity
to complete her turn at bat. Have had this happen on occassions, and each time have simply called the batter back to complete her turn at bat. Never had any problem with the defensive coach. For all anyone knows, the batter could have been going to dugout for a different bat.
__________________
glen _______________________________ "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." --Mark Twain.
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Mon Aug 22, 2005, 04:38pm
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Originally I called her out, then called time and conferenced with the BU. Brought her back out, and BU explained to defensive coach this was a "correctable error" since she should have been called back. He bought it, but Steve's "not a runner" explanation would have been clearer.
She walked, but was called out on 1st for leaving early.
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