SEC Softball: Missouri v S. Carolina 3-8-15

[teebob21]

Originally Posted by Big Slick

The snapshot does not depict proper NCAA plate mechanics. On this play, if an umpire chases, PU would be in a holding zone between third and home, as he would have responsibilities at both bases. If they throw is home, he would be returning from the holding zone to make this call (but not at this angle/distance). If no umpire chased, he should use a Point of Plate holding zone and read/adjust as the play develops.
Reference: CAA manual page 186 (for when a BU does not chase); page 189 for when a BU chases; page 37 for PU holding zones.

To add just a little to this excellent summary, this is poor positioning for a tag play, regardless of base. I judge the umpire to be 12-14 feet minimum from the play (and maybe more depending on how much zoom compression there is in that shot), when ideally he should be within 6-10 feet. He also did not get to a 90-degree angle on either the path of the runner, or the motion of the tag. Correct calling depth on 1st base line extended would have given the umpire the vision to see the tag over the top (90 degrees from path of runner), and 3BLX (90 degrees from motion of tag) would have given the blue pretty much the same picture we can see in the still photo.

That said, sometimes we all get caught a step behind. The important thing is to work on reducing those times to as close as zero as we can get it (especially if you work D1).