It was one of those situations that had a number of different solutions and all of them made sense.
During Wednesday’s softball game between Cony High of Augusta and Bangor, Bangor had runners on second (Casey Modery) and third (Jodi Fahey) and two outs.
June Candland hit a ground ball to Cony third baseman Olivia Deeves and her throw to first clearly drew first baseman Sonja Morse off the bag.
Everyone knew it.
But the base umpire, Rick Bates, called Candland out.
Fahey had broken for the plate and crossed it and Modery rounded third and also raced for the plate.
Morse may not have heard the out call at first or she knew she was nowhere near the bag so she threw the ball home to try to nail Modery.
But Modery slid under the tag of catcher Nicole Rugan.
Bangor coach Don Stanhope sought home plate umpire Randy Evans to correct the blown call at first and Evans agreed with him.
But now what?
Initially, both runners were allowed to score but Cony coach Rocky Gaslin argued that since the call was overturned at first, play was dead and the runners should have to return to second and third.
At first, Fahey was allowed to score and Modery was sent back to third.
But Gaslin eventually won out and Fahey was returned to third and Modery to second.
The next Bangor hitter, with the bases loaded, struck out. So Bangor, which had scored a run earlier in the inning, was left facing a 5-1 deficit instead of 5-3.
Stanhope argued that decision and was ejected by Evans.
Stanhope maintained that if play was dead, why did Morse throw the ball home? Why didn’t she just roll the ball to the circle? Why did Cony keep playing?
Mark Doughty has been a softball umpire for more than 30 years and said the rule reads that it is up to the home plate umpire’s discretion to place the runners where he felt they would have been if the base umpire had made the correct safe call.
Gaslin’s argument made sense. Candland was called out at first. Inning over. Just because the call was wrong, that’s not his players’ fault. Bangor should not be allowed to have a runner cross the plate.
But Stanhope’s contentions also made sense. The call at first was obviously wrong, the Cony players kept playing as if they knew the call was wrong so Bangor’s two runners should have been allowed to score.
In either case, Evans should be commended for reversing the call made by Bates, but there was room for more compromise.
So what should have happened?
Fahey was off with the pitch and should have been allowed to score.
Modery kept running on the play but if the safe call was made, she may have stopped at third or been held at third by Stanhope, who is the third base coach. Modery should have been sent back to third.
That’s a better decision.
There was some confusion because Candland was clearly safe and the base ump made the out call.
The call ended up not having a major effect on the game as Cony won 6-1.
“The call ended up not having a major effect on the game as Cony won 6-1.”
I beg to differ! The call DID have a major effect on the game. The Bangor girls lost two of their runs that they deserved to have score. Second, the end results of the runs being taken back, as well as having their coach ejected from the game, put a tremendous amount of stress on the Bangor girls, and the negatively effected how they played the rest of the game. Third, the Bangor girls lost their head coach for the rest of the game which robbed them of receiving crucial game strategies and plays.
The umps made bad calls all the way around.
The out call was made! wrong or not that was the call. and home plate ump overturned the call.. the coach decided to be a jackass long enough to be tossed. THATS NOT THE UMPS FAULT! The coach in a high school girls softball game should be diciplined enough to respect the decision of the umpire and not get tossed.. The coach is suppose to be a leader
He was a J&^% A** when he coached in JH and shouldn’t be coaching any sport the involves students. He knows the game, but doesn’t understand he’s coaching kids and shouldn’t act the way he does. Ask any referee on umpire that dealt with him in Junior High. When he is ahead, the world is fine, but when something goes wrong, he blows up in front of the kids.
Larry, Your article was good up until the last sentence. “the call ended up not having a major effect on the game”…are you kidding! As many games as you have seen,I can’t agree with that statement. The umps reversed the out call, (as it should be), but their subsequent decisions then took back 2 Bangor runs and ejected the Bangor Coach! The umpires listened to the Cony coach and ruled favoring Cony. Obviously, Bangor girls were demoralized..and with no head coach, sensing that their efforts were wasted, the next batter struck out! Hello, she wasn’t affected by those calls by the umpires?! Kids are extremely emotional and sensitive during games. The umpires effectively halted the Rams’ momentum and changed the tide with those events.
I know as I am the score keeper for Orono Varsity baseball. At our first game of the season we had an erroneous out call by the field umpire that was a game changer. But, in our case the field umpire was so power minded he refused to seek the help of the plate umpire. Orono ended up losing to Old Town on that call. Fortunately, one of the local sports stations filmed the play and replayed it on television that night, in slow motion, clearly showing the umpire’s mistake. Everyone saw the mistake, except for the person controlling the game who refused to ask for help or confer with his fellow umpire.
Umpires should NOT CHANGE THE OUTCOMES of games!!! Their job is to monitor and follow rules. No one is perfect that’s why there are two umpires. Umpires need to remember the game is for the kids. And I would bet my right arm that the Bangor- Cony game score would have been totally different with at least one of those runs counting! Bottom line, we need umpire evaluations from the coaches…with no retaliation from the umpire assigner or the umpires. Remember, the children are graded and evaluated everyday in school, the coaches are scrutinized and evaluated by ADs and parents. Umpires need to be evaluated by other people than fellow umpires!
Ask the Bangor girl’s softball team what they learned from that game..it’s not just a game, it’s life.
Sounds more like the 1st Base Ump should find a different 2nd job.