hshuler posted:From what I've seen this year, high school umpiring is definitely better than travel ball umpiring...but there's good and bad in both.
Pre-game meeting a couple of years ago:
Ump - "Coaches, I'm giving two baseball off the plates?
Me - "Why?
Ump - "Because I want the kids to swing."
Me - "This is travel ball and I can promise you that they're swinging."
Ump - "I'm giving two baseballs off the plate, Coach!"
Me - "Why do we have a plate again?"
Needless to say two baseballs became four baseballs and both coaches essentially just set catchers up off the plate to see how much he'd give. It wasn't fair to either team because the pitches were unhittable.
My biggest peeve with high school umpiring is that some make the calls on the bases too fast and don't let their brain process what just happened. IMO, the best umps take a second or two to let their brains sort it out versus anticipating a call.
2 baseballs is touching is touching the Edge of the batter's box. A true strike is one ball off the plate. Matt just stated above that his limit is touching the box i.e. two balls off the plate.