hit or error?

I would mark it as a hit. I was at a  ball game last night where the same thing happened. It was a one-hopper that bounced off the third baseman's foot, hitter got a double out of it.

Thanks. One thing that gave me pause to marking it as a hit, was this fielder's reputation/prior performances. He already committed 2 obvious errors and and 2 other balls hit to him (including the one outlined in my post) that were questionable.

I think I would have marked it an error.  What age group are you talking about? 

Similar question from last night's game.  Kid smoked a line drive to third baseman.  He just had time to get his glove up.  Hit the glove, then due in part to force of hit, popped out and runner safe at first.  18u.  

U14 league.

I'd say hit in both cases.  At those ages, does it really matter? 

I smell gamechanger stats in the distance.

E5. If it hit you, you had a chance to field it.

I agree.  We keep a "mom" book and a "dad" book for our u10 travel.  error in my book even for a 10yr old.  My wife and most of the moms on our team count them as hits. No offense to any moms most moms see things a little differently - which I think is a great balance to the way most dads see things.

Originally Posted by Ron Van Redick:

Had a situation last night where a right-handed batter pulled a hard one-hopper that the third baseman was late to react to. The ball hit off his knee (otherwise, he never touched it). My initial ruling for our scorebook was E-5 b/c it was hit right at the fielder, but now I'm having 2nd thoughts. Would appreciate others' opinions on how they would have ruled it. Thanks.

There are a lot of things having a bearing on the decision for me, and without seeing it makes it even more difficult, but I’ll try to run through some of the factors for you.

1^st is, do I think the average F5 at that level would have made that play? Since obviously that’s the thing at question, I’d have to look deeper. What size field and where was the F5 playing, and was the play inside his “body frame”? Lots of 14Us play on the 54/80 field, and that means the F5 is gonna be 10’ closer on every play. If the F5 was playing behind 3^rd on a 60/90 and the ball was inside of his body frame where he wouldn’t have to make much if any lateral movement, chances are I’m popping him. Of course as he moves in or the ball gets further away from him, that has to be taken into account.

F5 was hugging the line (maybe a foot from the bag and just shy of parallel to it). The field was 60/90. Ball hit him on inside (right) knee.

my question is same as Stats: would the average guy at that age made the play?  If it was a shot, I'm thinking hit.  If it was a routine speed, I'm thinking error.  

Agree with most of the above, and I'd also mention that there is "hard hit"  and then there is "HARD HIT". A truly scorched ball is almost always a hit.  I might factor in the hop too. If a well-hit ball hit the ground 10' in front of the F3, that's a cherry hop and he probably should have made the play.  3-5' is a different story.

Hop occurred 2-3 feet in front of fielder.

A short hop is usually easier to field than a medium hop.  Unless the ball was really crushed that sounds like an E.  But at 14U especially there's plenty of room for disagreement on this one.

Look at it this way. It’s 14U ball. Whether the ball is scored a hit or an error, how is it gonna effect the rest of all the players’ concerned careers? Not one iota. So the answer becomes, score it as best you’re able in good faith, then do what you’re doing, i.e. trying to gain more knowledge to go along with your increasing experience. That won’t stop the tough decisions from coming, but it’ll make it easier the next time there’s a tough call.

No scorer is perfect, but even the best never stop trying to get better. You’re on the right path. Stay on it!

I haven't been around for a while, but I agree with everything said. Stats said it best.

I scored a lot of softball in the day and this play happens A LOT. Usually the third baseman is playing bunt about 45-50' from home and some of these girls can rake.

I've had pitcher's dad's calling for errors when the best NHL goalie couldn't have made a save on the ball going past F5 much less an out. Sometimes they get a glove on the ball as it explodes by and you definitely have an argument coming. Several times I had to explain that the average HS F5 doesn't get a glove on the ball (IMHO) and just because this one did, it doesn't magically become an error.