Run scores ... or not... or yes it does 2 innings later

[chapmaja]

Originally Posted by Manny A

And yet, in the MLB example that was given, the run did count. And MLB rules are the same as FED Softball rules when it comes to protests of rule misapplications. So there is some precedent here.

I do have a problem with states that say they won't accept protests. That's fine when it comes to regular season games. But for post-season playoffs at the highest levels (e.g., regional/sectional and state as a minimum), something should be in place.

I would stand by the ruling, based on the rule I stated, that the misapplication was not corrected at the moment of the error, it is not correctable.

This really depends on if the umpire stated "the run does not count", or if nothing was said and the scorer made the assumption the run does not score.

I have a big problem with using a MLB rule as the support for a NFHS softball ruling.

As for protests. The reason many states don't accept protests is simple. They simply do not have the ability to rule on protests in a timely manner to avoid impacting the entire post-season.

I will use Michigan for example.

We have Tuesday Pre-district games. If a game were to be protested in this game, they would have until Friday or Saturday to have the protest ruled upon, and if needed finish the game from the point of the protest.

What if the protest happen in a district semi-final Saturday morning. The state has 128 different districts being played, with the semi-finals played first, then the district finals.

Who would make a decision on a protest? Would it be up to the tourney manager (who is likely an AD, who often has no idea of the rules for softball)? Would it be the umpires? We don't have an UIC for HS events, so there is no neutral party at each site. Do they call into the state office for a ruling on a protest? What if documentation needs to be provided? Some of the schools barely have bathrooms around the fields, let alone the ability to provide information to the state office.

What happens if the semi-final is played, and Team A wins, but Team B protested something during the game. The district final is supposed to be played the same day, following the semi-finals. Do they postpone the district final? Do they play the district final which Team A is in. What if they play the final, but Team B's protest is upheld and the semi-final now needs to be replayed. Now you also may need to play the district final over because of the different outcome of the semi-final.

Allowing protests for misapplications of the rules sounds like a good idea, but in many cases it is not a practical endeavor because of the shear size of the event going on. In Michigan we have 128 districts almost all of which are played on Saturday after Memorial Day. Those each contain 3 games (SF, SF, Final), so we are talking about a lot of potential hassle if protests were allowed.

It can work much better in the event that it is a single site event. Events like ASA, NSA, or other single site tourney's can have protests rather easily. In those events you have a UIC on site that can make a ruling very quickly in the event of a protest, and as a result the entire event won't be delayed. That is not easily possible in high school softball statewide tourney's.