Games Friday April 15 2016

[oldskool42]

Friday

Delmar (4-1) @ Cape (4-1). Delmar has won 4 straight games since their opening day loss against Smyrna 4-0. Delmar has had some good pitching from Adkins and Richardson only allowing 12 runs in 5 games. Smyrna is the only team to put up more 3 runs. Cape has played well in every game and its only loss was a 2-1 game with Caravel. Cape was pretty dominant in its wins over Mtown and played well enough in its closer wins over Milford and Central. Cape has some pretty decent pitching as well but they have allowed 19 runs in 5 games.

CR (4-3) @ IR (0-5). After starting 1-3 (with losses to Milford, St Marks and Concord), CR has gotten 3 straight wins over Tech, Wood and Central. IR started off the season scoring 12 runs against Poly, but in the last 4 games have only had 5 runs total while allowing 46 runs. This could get ugly.

St Andrews (3-3) @ Lake (3-3). According to the records this looks like it might be a good matchup. But St Andrews has loss 3 straight games. In the last 6 games St Andrews has surrendered 47 runs. Lake has been the exact opposite, losing its first 3 but has gotten 3 straight wins. I don’t expect this one to be close. Lake likes to hit and St Andrews gives up the hits.

Milford (4-3) @ Laurel (1-3). Milford has Won, Loss, Won, Loss, Won, Loss and won. Get the pattern? Well I suspect they break that pattern with a win over Laurel. Laurel got its first win last night over a weak Delmarva Christian team winning 9-8. Laurel is giving up 12 runs per game on average.

Central (2-4) @ Polytech (5-1). Central is 0-4 versus Delaware teams. Central is playing okay, they just can’t get a win. They loss by 2 against Cape, 3 against Lake and 1 run to CR. Against both Lake and CR they were up early 3-0 in one game and 4-0 in the other. Poly has played very well. Their only loss was a 3-1 game against Dover. Their other 5 wins were all by 10-run or more against some decent teams in Lake, Glasgow, Milford. Poly was 10-run by Central last year. I think revenge may be coming…

Sallies (4-0) vs Newark Charter (3-3) at Frawley 7pm. Sallies is quietly rolling along as most of the other top ten teams are losing. Sallies is my clear number 1 at this point with wins over Caravel, Appo, St Georges. BUT, if I’m 8yaz and I want to be critical of a private school, I could say that Sallies had three close wins over those 3 teams. They could easily be 1-3 right now. But they aren’t, so right now they are tops… Sallies is getting some good defense on the mound and in the field. They only have 3 errors over 4 games and have only allowed 8 runs total over those games. Sallies has a big matchup this coming Tuesday with St Marks. Newark Charter is an upcoming team that with the exception of the Conrad game (losing 11-0), they have played decent ball. They beat Charter, Tatnall and Mt P and had close losses to Arch and Appo. Newark Charter almost pulled the upset over Sallies last year taking a 6-4 lead in the top of the seventh only to have Sallies come back and win it with 3 runs in the bottom of the 7th.

 

[SussexCountyFair]

Cape 4 Delmar 0 Cape looked pretty impressive they are rolling right now bouncing back after a tough loss to Caravel. Delmar might surprise a few teams won't score a lot but are scrappy bunch.

Milford 13 Laurel 0 Not to much to say about this game Milford handled business today against a lesser opponent.

Polytech 8 SC 7 This was a crazy game. Starting with a double play where the catcher never touched home Poly was heads up and scored 3 off that. Polytech looked good and let it slip away later. Looked like a very good top 10 team the first 4 innings. My SC boys put up a good fight. Umpiring wasn't the best on either side so it evened out but overall very entertaining game.

 

[Agelof]

see for yourself Poly v Central ... I have little rooting interest but sure looks very clear catcher stepped on the middle of home plate. Call was so bad because Central and everyone on field for the obvious moment accepted the obvious ... Till it wasn't .... Heads up of Poly I guess to take advantage of a horrible call.

 

[Agelof]

I can't figure out how to post a still frame photo of foot pretty clearly on center of front of plate. It's easy to stop and freeze frame the video. It's almost as if Ump had brain cramp and didn't realize play was a force at home ... Then just choose to live with consequences rather than admit lack of call

Even if for some reason you can look at video and say call was correct (which to me is real hard to do) or give Ump a pass ... His lack of a safe call didn't alert teams to his view and basically added 2 extra runs. To me again an example of a player being more mentally invested in a game than ump cost a team.

 

[SussexBaseball]

Tough break ... Bad call

 

[CHS89]

Really bad call...On a different note, Josh Maguire hit an absolute bomb out of Frawley last night for the Sals. Although small in stature, this kid is a heck of a player with speed and power. Almost couldn't believe what I was seeing. Knew it was gone off the bat. Amazing!

 

[woodgreen]

Horrible call

A disgrace.....how can two umps miss that??

Based on this ump should be asked to sit out a few games...yet no accountability

 

[foshizzle88]

Horrible call

A disgrace.....how can two umps miss that??

Based on this ump should be asked to sit out a few games...yet no accountability

Everyone knows that BIG BROTHER DIAA is never accountable

 

[spartakos]

maybe they want two feet on home..

 

[woodgreen]

If you watch whole video

Poly coach next to home plate as runner scores...in coaching box?

Then u see him yelling at central kid...really?

U rights party probably two feet needed

Diaa and accountable not in same sentence

 

[8yaz]

I can't figure out how to post a still frame photo of foot pretty clearly on center of front of plate. It's easy to stop and freeze frame the video. It's almost as if Ump had brain cramp and didn't realize play was a force at home ... Then just choose to live with consequences rather than admit lack of call

Even if for some reason you can look at video and say call was correct (which to me is real hard to do) or give Ump a pass ... His lack of a safe call didn't alert teams to his view and basically added 2 extra runs. To me again an example of a player being more mentally invested in a game than ump cost a team.

 

[CountianJeff]

WMDT was there. They slow it down and zoom in. You can clearly see DJ steps in the middle of the plate. I'll post a link but I can't figure out how to do it right to the video and it will probably be replaced by the time many of you watch. It is right at the beginning, about 25 seconds in.

http://www.wmdt.com/news/more-local-news/sports-11pm/39057032

 

[DE-Sussex]

Wood, you asked how 2 umps can miss that call. First off, there is no way in you know where that a field umpire can make that call. That play happens in an instant, and given the situation of bases loaded the field umpire is looking to determine where the play is going to be so that he can set up to make that call. The force play at home is not his to make. In that situation he's behind the mound on the SS side and can guarantee he wasnt even looking at home. He knows he's got a force play somewhere.

Unfortunately in that situation, the umpire was actually too close to the play and clearly focused on making the determination of fair or foul.

The fact that he missed the call was due to the smooth play by the catcher where he picked the ball up already in contact with home plate and then continued with the play.

Its unfortunate for sure, and im sure the catcher was deeply upset, but that play happened so fast and close that the foot on home was not what he was focused on.

 

[spartakos]

He looked straight down at the plate..
He saw the play...
maybe his shirt was to tight and was cutting off the blood to his brain...
just a thought

 

[ravensrooster2]

as a former umpire that play is tough..hell I missed plenty of calls in my time umpiring , just happens. BUT you have to know the situation... If there is a force at home you have to be looking for it..He wasn't but hey even Major League Umps miss calls... High School well you get what you get and believe me it is hard to find people willing to do that job for peanuts and with the way parents and fans act today forget it...I would never do it again...

 

[woodgreen]

I love u Sparta!

Ump in b position has to be looking in to see where next play will be

Home plate clearly was not looking for force at home...as rr2 states

How about common sense catcher runs right off field

Should there be a consequence for this call?

 

[BDbaseball]

The umpire completely blows the call and shows a lack of awareness of the game. Bases loaded he has to be looking at the plate. I realize umps will get calls wrong it's part of the game and it sucks but any of us who have watched,coached and played enough games we have to accept that it happens. What was disturbing in the video is the 3rd base coach getting engaging with the catcher. Can't tell if it was bad or not. I may just be influenced by the fan filming can anyone shed light on that.

 

[DESPORTSMOM]

I have seen this more and more often this year umpires showing less interest in the game. They are slow to get to their spots and they are more frequently being out of position to make the right call. Looking at this video he had no idea what was going on in the game. In NO way he should of went out to ask the field umpire. The play was 2 feet away from him.

I'm also sure if you had video of multiple games from behind the plate or from the outfield you would also notice that even calling balls and strikes is getting worse. Field umpires just fall asleep and steal that money more and more.

 

[DE-Sussex]

I replayed the video a few times and at the 28 second mark on the original posted video, the ball appears to actually hit the batter and then roll backwards toward the catcher. Ball should have been called dead and batter runner out at that point & runners do not advance

 

[woodgreen]

Bizarre

Lost ump

 

[TouchThemAll]

I replayed the video a few times and at the 28 second mark on the original posted video, the ball appears to actually hit the batter and then roll backwards toward the catcher. Ball should have been called dead and batter runner out at that point & runners do not advance

I don't see that. I see the ball hit off the end of the bat and into the soft dirt next to the plate. It only bounces knee high, and is on its way back down before the runner even gets started out of the box.
I like your first explanation. Blue is focused on fair/foul, and whether or not the ball hit the runner. The catcher was so quick and smooth with his footwork that he just appeared to be jumping out into a throwing position, not deliberately stepping on the plate. (The force at home was also good when the catcher grabbed the ball while it was touching the plate.)
I guess there isn't really anything he can do to correct the mistake after the play. He didn't see the force, because he wasn't looking for it. His mistake was not being prepared for the play before it happened. Just like the players, he has to know what he's going to do before the ball is hit. Unfortunately, his mistake had a huge impact on the game. I hope he feels terrible about this mistake and can learn from it.

 

[HammersWrestling]

Wood, you asked how 2 umps can miss that call. First off, there is no way in you know where that a field umpire can make that call. That play happens in an instant, and given the situation of bases loaded the field umpire is looking to determine where the play is going to be so that he can set up to make that call. The force play at home is not his to make. In that situation he's behind the mound on the SS side and can guarantee he wasnt even looking at home. He knows he's got a force play somewhere.

Unfortunately in that situation, the umpire was actually too close to the play and clearly focused on making the determination of fair or foul.

The fact that he missed the call was due to the smooth play by the catcher where he picked the ball up already in contact with home plate and then continued with the play.

Its unfortunate for sure, and im sure the catcher was deeply upset, but that play happened so fast and close that the foot on home was not what he was focused on.

Ball rolls onto plate, catcher picks up the ball while it is still in contact with the plate, runner is out at that point. Not seeing his foot on the plate a second later is now irrelevant. He doesn't seem to be aware of the situation.

 

[youjustme]

I'd like to think that the Poly 3rd base coach who drifted near home plate and waved his kids on didn't see what happened at the plate. He should have been too far away at the time. The fact the entire team started running off the field and the base runners stopped running hard should have alerted ump that something was wrong. Even if he let the first run count, he should have put two base runners back on and tried to make a fair compromise. To just assume that the entire defensive team is mistaken on the number of outs is pretty odd. Did the SC coaches play under protest afterwards? In the land of fairies and unicorns, the Poly coach would have spoken up to the plate ump and tried to get it right instead of swiping some runs on an obvious error. But that would only be in a made for tv movie. To be fair, in the flurry of the moment, the Poly coach correctly told his kids to advance as any coach would. No disrespect to him during the play.

 

[quacksmasher]

Same umpire that killed Lake yesterday missed about 5 calls, all in favor of CR

 

[Big Sug]

Same umpire that killed Lake yesterday missed about 5 calls, all in favor of CR

That umpire killed Lakes 6th inning rally by calling a kid out at 3rd when he was clearly safe.

 

[quacksmasher]

guy shouldn't be allowed to umpire, one of the worst

 

[Big Sug]

guy shouldn't be allowed to umpire, one of the worst

This could hurt Lakes playoff birth/ run for southern division title

 

[spartakos]

@you..
did you ever miss a call like that than watch the video later?

 

[youjustme]

Never saw any video of a call I made. If a ref or umpire misses a call, they usually know it in their heart. Sometimes you can mentally recreate the action to make it seem that your judgment was correct. Sometimes you know you blew it and sometimes you are not sure and go back and forth. With the proliferation of video review in sports, everyone now gets a virtual video playback in their minds that may or may not reflect what really happened. Some of these plays happen so fast that it is normal for mistakes to occur. Pro umps with 25 years at the highest levels blow calls so it certainly should be expected that a part time ump doing high school games in DE for five years or so (for example) should get some calls wrong. Where the problem starts is when several borderline (or not so) calls get made against or in favor of a particular team. I wouldn't want to question anyone's integrity but sometimes people know the coach or kids on the team (DE is such a small state and baseball such a small fraternity), they lean in the direction of the team that is "supposed" to win, or sometimes they don't like the coach because of his chirping or previous incidents and that might affect the calls. Of course, these things never happened to me, but just pointing out possibilities!