Getting playoff experience

[DTQ_Blue]

Tonight I had my first competitive varsity playoff game behind the plate. I had 2 plate playoff games a couple and three years ago, but they were 1 vs 8 seed games; run rule mismatches so there was no sense of drama at any point in either of those. I've also had a base game that was about as uneventful.

Today was different, a 5-4 walkoff game with 4 lead changes and intensity throughout.

I saw this as my first real opportunity to take a step forward in my association as an umpire who can work "money" games.

All in all I thought I did well. My zone was consistent all night, but without deliberately deciding to do so, I found myself calling a very conservative strike zone on the top and bottom. I'm not sure that I was ever as conservative as I was tonight.

In reflecting upon this, I was surprised by how I handled this game. My best attempt to make sense of this is that sub-conciously I was trying to avoid "me" becoming an issue in the game in a way that might interfere with my focus on doing my job so I minimized the chance of that happening.

Any comments on how we do unexpected things in "big games?"

There was another issue late in the game that provided just the type of distraction that I didn't need.

As the game matured and the "underdog" visitor took a lead and then was tied, their pitcher began rushing. I could have called an IP for not simulating taking her signals after stepping on the plate, but quietly told F2 to go out and tell her to slow down. F2's attempts were only partially successful. So with every runner now being a potential winning run, I do not want to have an IP call be a factor in deciding the game. So I'm watching F1 on every pitch and if there appears to be any chance that she is going to deliver too quickly I hold up both hands and recite the count as slowly as I can speak; yea I'm giving the count on nearly every pitch. It did slow F1 down, but after the walkoff winning hit in the bottom of the 7th, I realized that the extra babysitting I did had taken up a lot of my mental energy. I was pretty spent walking off that field.

So I guess I did a successful job of preventive umpiring, but I also learned that one does it at the risk of taking your head out of the game. So that has given me something to think about for my next playoff game... tomorrow as U1.

I think that if this were a regular season game, and I just let things take their natural course, I probably would have wound up with 2 or 3 IP's.

I've got to say the playoffs are a different kettle of fish.