NCAA Umps.....

[Steve M]

While I agree with this mechanic and the legs certainly appreciate it, I am not in favor of a local high school association making their own mechanics. Maybe it's jut my area, but for scholastic ball, I work with folks from several different chapters - and that number is down this year as my chapter merged into another. Using standard high school mechanics when working high school games means that I can work with folks from other chapters without mechanics issues. Let me repeat that - USING STANDARD HIGH SCHOOL MECHANICS WHEN WORKING HIGH SCHOOL GAMES MEANS THAT I CAN WORK WITH FOLKS FROM OTHER CHAPTERS WITHOUT HAVING MECHANICS ISSUES. Now that I've made a couple of editorial comments, let me address your question.

When the ball gets past F7, you need to get inside. You are going to be well ahead of the runner, as even the slowest folks will be able to take 3-5 strides while the B-R gets to 1B. You are not going to buttonhook, as there is zero likelyhood that B-R is coming back to 1B since the batted ball has gotten past F7. But you do need to get inside. Should you mistakenly stay outside all the way to 3B, you are going to have 2 problems. 1-You are taking a much longer path to the calling position that you need to get to. 2-You are going to be in the way of the throw. Just in case you're not aware of this - a SOFTBALL is not soft.

Addition - Since Atlanta Steve was posting his msg at the same time I was keying mine in, let me second his comments in addition to mine.