Charged Conference
 

NFHS Varsity girls. The coach of home team has used his 3 visits. On the fourth visit the coach is told he must replace F1. Can he/she switch F5 and F1 for 1 pitch and then bring the starting F1 back to pitch.

Found answer!!
Penalty: (ART. 1) After three charged conferences in a seven-inning game, or for any charged conference in excess of one in each extra inning, the pitcher shall be removed as pitcher for the duration of the game.

Glad we could help! :D

This is a terribly written rule. They mirrored ASA, who botched it up tremendously when they changed it from one per inning. A sorry excuse to speed up the game left gaping holes in the rule.

Sorry it took so much discussion and so long for us to reach a consensus on this one. :D

Please explain....

Yeah, NFHS' has a bit of overkill to address different scenarios seemingly created by unnecessary "what if" scenarios. However, I'd like to hear what is so poor about the wording of ASA's. Seems pretty clear to me.

How is it different than PONY or others?

'Cause it's the evil empire, don'tcha know! :cool:

Here is a what if on the charged conference rule.

Team A has used 3 charged conferences early in the game. In the fifth inning the coach comes out to talk to the pitcher. After talking to the pitcher, the coach walks toward the dugout and tells S1 she is going in to pitch. She says this right as the umpire goes to approach the coach about it being a third charged conference.

Is this a third charged conference or not? (because of the timing of the change vs the conference?) Does F1 have the ability to return as pitcher? What about S1 if the team uses another charged conference later?

So the easy part of your question, this is only the third conference so F1 has the ability to come back in regardless of whether it's charged. If the team uses another charged conference while S1 is the pitcher, then we have the penalty.

Helps if I write the question correctly? I meant to say they had used three (not two) earlier. I will edit the original post.

Nfhs and asa it is not a charged conference if the coach changes pitchers. There is no requirement the coach notify the umpire first there is going to be a pitching change.

No. You don't get two third conferences. This is a 4th charged conference, and as such you should have been out there almost immediately.

If coach has used all three of his conferences and asks for time to go out and talk to his pitcher, this is where you get involved immediately.

"Coach, this will be your fourth conference. If you go out, your pitcher is done as the pitcher."

If he acknowledges that, let him go and then get the change.
If he has lost track and decides not to take the conference, play ball.

Now drifting into lineup card management, what is the best practice to mark the card when this happens? I keep a list on the back of the team's card with the conference type, inning and player numbers if I can get it.

Example from a recent game card:

Should I just write #46 MAY NOT PITCH after the 4th conference?

I gave up keeping track of OC's a long time ago - they only get one, and when I do get one, I am fairly emphatic telling the coach, "Coach, that's your conference for the inning", or such. Never had a problem with that.

Simply put, by the clear wording of the rule, since there is no charged conference if the pitcher is removed, the coach could go out and "chat" then remove the pitcher. No charged conference. Next pitcher, same thing. This can go on endlessly without there ever being a charged conference. Now there was a rule interpretation provided several years ago, which completely contradicts the rule itself. Then you can look at the rule vs. rules supplement for more inconsistencies.

The purpose of the rule is to limit delays. As written, the rule wouldn't work as long as the pitcher was removed.

Additionally, ASA wants to distinguish between "Good game, Mary, give me the ball. Ump, 12 is going in for 14" and "Ump, 12 is going in for 14. Good game, Mary. Give me the ball." Again, no time difference. Just a sequence. One is charged, one is not. That's the rule interpretation, not withstanding the fact that if is completely at odds with the rule.

I also think that in extra innings it ought to be one charged per pitcher per inning (in regulation as well). Now that they are in extra innings with everything on the line, ASA limits the coaches' ability to conference with a new pitcher.

It's a mess. You can argue all you want that the rule works. But as written as well as interpreted, it's a disaster.

Here's the terrible interpretation unsupported by the rules and rules supplement:

Charged Conference?
Regarding a charge conference, should a coach be charged with a conference for going to the area of the eight-foot circle, talking to the pitcher, and then making a pitching change? What if the coach informs the umpire prior to talking to the pitcher?

In order to answer these questions we must visit the definition of “Charged Conference”. The definition states that a charge conference is: “When a team representative requests a suspension of play or DELAYS the game for the purpose of ‘delivering a message’ to another team member.” In the first question the team representative – coach – spoke with the pitcher thus delivering a message to that player and then informed the umpire that the pitcher was being removed. This IS a charged conference. With respect to the second question, if the coach informs the umpire that the pitcher is being removed and then proceeds to the eight-foot circle, it is NOT considered a conference. In this instance it is simply part of the pitching change (editor's note: Isn't taking the ball and saying "Good game" simply part of the pitching change?"; therefore, a conference should not be charged as the purpose of the visit is to change pitchers and not to deliver a message.

The sequence is the key, not whether the foul line was crossed by the coach. Again, if the umpire is informed of the pitching change prior to a message being delivered, a conference is NOT charged.

This makes sense. Now, here is the coaches argument on this.

My pitcher has been pitching a long day, and we are now late in the 2nd game of a DH. The coach comes out and asks the pitcher if she can continue. The pitcher says no. The coach then comes over and states they will be making a pitching change. By the wording, this is a defensive conference and a pitching change.

Heck, we see this a lot. The coach comes out, talks to the pitcher before informing the umpire of the pitching change. Or she just announces the change when she gets to the circle.