Close play philosophy at the youth level...if you're gonna get an argument, at least get an out.
Strikes are anything the hitter can get his bat on. If the batter bails out on a pitch, it's a strike. He can't argue if he wasn't there. If the catcher moves his glove after the catch, he just told the ump it was a ball.
If you take two strikes, anything close is the third strike. We are not here to escalate pitch counts and / or see how bad your relief pitching is by officiating a walk-fest. You are up there to hit the ball and that requires a willingness to swing the bat. It's the umpire's job to keep it moving and get them swinging.
This all tongue in cheek with a grain of honesty ;-)