When darkness arrives...

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by Sapper33

NCAA rules...when or how do you determine when its too dark to continue? I was plate umpire last week during 2nd game of doubleheader; I could see the ball as it was being pitched, and batters hit the ball; catcher complained she couldn't see it very well, and my partner told me that F4 said "the ball is a blur"...I killed the game in the top of the 7th inning; losing/home coach wasn't too happy but, I explained that I wasn't taking any chances with anyone getting hurt. He was losing 11-5 at the time...

I umpire H.S. baseball and fastpitch softball, and I use the U.S. Naval Observatory's website to look up the time of sunset for the location of all my games. Since every State in the U.S. requires drivers to turn on their car's headlights 30 minutes before sunset, that makes sunset a very good indicator of when it is too dark to play baseball or softball.

I announce what time sunset is to the coaches at the pre-game meeting and tell them that them that if we are still playing 30 minutes before sunset, there is an excellent chance that the game will be called because of darkness no later than sunset.

MTD, Sr.