Softball
Catch to Dropped Ball
Fielders can often appear to make excellent diving catches, but the calling umpire for the play must have patience in that situation before declaring...
Check This Out
The NFHS Softball Rules Committee approved a handful of rules changes for the 2017-18 school year, but two in particular — allowing intentional walks...
Strike First With Slow-Pitch Pitchers
One topic that garners a lot of discussion among baseball umpires is whether or not you should describe pitches for pitchers. That discussion also depends a great deal...
Old Acts, New Rulings
The NCAA has again adjusted its obstruction rule, reduced the illegal pitch penalty, adopted three experimental speed-up rules from last fall and brought back...
In the ‘Try Right Zone’
The plate umpire in fast-pitch softball faces the demanding task of making split-second rulings hundreds of times each game, regardless of the competition level....
Real Appeal
In a televised NCAA game last May, a player was so excited about hitting an out-of-the-park home run that she jumped over home plate...
Unsolicited Advice
From the very first camp that any official attends, what phrase is always uttered by clinicians and coordinators? “Get the call right!”
In 2018, that...
What’s Your Angle?
Although most umpires would prefer working in crews of three or four, the two-umpire system, if used properly, actually provides for good coverage in...
Location Notation
While watching MLB’s World Series last fall, I heard the plate umpire, who was wearing a microphone, call, “Ball, outside” after a pitch was...
Step On It
Everyone wants to be known as a good plate umpire. When coaches think about preferred and non-preferred lists of umpires for postseason playoffs, they...
