Last Inning Call by Umpire

[ROC 33]

Had a strange situation this weekend in Bracket Play. we are a 12u team playing up in a 14u tournament with USA Rules, 1 hour 20, no new inning, 1 hour 30 drop dead. We are up 4-0, about 40 mins remain till drop dead, the top of the 3rd inning the Umpire announces, "LAST INNING". We check the clock and being perplexed at the timing, confirm the last inning call. We adjust our game plan to get girls in the game. Inning goes 3 up and down on both sides, taking at about 10 mins off the clock. At end of inning we start our congrats, Umpire says, there is still time, I didn't think it would go that quick and apologized. again we state he said it was last inning.

What do you do in this situation?

We kept playing, adjust our lining up more, completed 2 more innings. In what ultimately becomes the last inning, our 4th pitcher on the mound, throws a nice inning but defense lets her down with fielding errors, giving up 5 runs to lose the game.

It is what it is and not a big deal being bracket day. The game gave the girls confidence they could play ball in the Tournament. Come to learn later the loss impacted the seeding giving us the toughest draw to get to the top. Lost to eventual winning by 1 run in a 6-5 game. All in all was a good experience for our team.

 

[jackfrost]

Something like that you need to address right when it happens. If this was a USA sponsored tournament there would be a UIC on site and you would need to tell umpire that is not what the rules say and you want to protest that the rules require reaching 1:20 before NNI is called. Even if this was not a USA tournament, there should be some sort of tournament director on site. Send a parent to fetch the TD. But when the umpire announced last inning, immediately go to him and remind him the rules say 1:20 NNI. Ask him if the inning is completed before 1:20 will he continue to play by the tournament rules. Hopefully he says yes. Otherwise send for the TD.

 

[flash277]

I umpired 6 games this weekend. At the plate meeting i give them the time limit (1:20 NNI, 1:30 drop dead), give them the start time of the game, and the next time they here from me on game time is when I shout "times up, game over". It's up to the coaches to manage their time, not the umpire.....oh and bad call by umpire, just keep your mouth closed.

 

[The Man In Blue]

Agreed @flash277 ... the less said, the better.

At most, I will give the coaches the time left. I don’t talk about innings.

Also, agreed with @jackfrost : should have been taken care of right on the spot. Although, I would say the action stands. It was your decision to make changes in your line up, not the umpires’.