Batter absolutely rips a ball right to the 3rd baseman who is unable to handle it. Ball drops, 3rd baseman injured so can't make the play to first. Is this a ROE?
Batter hits a fly ball to center. center fielder runs up, then realizes it will go over his head and runs back - ball drops, never touches fielders glove. ROE?
Batter hits a pretty hard ball to pitcher who can't field the ball cleanly. Batter reaches 1st before out is made. ROE?
Thanks!
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All of these are the judgement of the scorer. Should the average player at that level of play record the out?
All judgment calls really but ponder these things:
On the play to third, if it were not for the ball being misplayed would he have gotten the out at first with a good throw? The injury part comes into play in this way - if he fielded the ball so as to have a chance to make the play, but did not attempt the throw because of injury - it's not an error. If he just flat out fields a ball perfectly, and just decided to not throw it - that's not an error either. It's only an error if either he makes a bad throw, or if he mishandles the ball and therefore does not make a throw at all - or makes an unsuccessful throw.
In centerfield it's not an error if he takes a bad path to the ball and never touches it.
For the pitcher, I'll almost never count a hard hit ball as an error.
Perfect, thanks!
Any of the three plays could be either a hit or an error depending on the level of ball and the expectations for an average player at that level playing in the game conditions that day.
It doesn't matter whether the outfielder touches the ball. What matters is whether an average outfielder at that level should have been expected to make that play.
Apply the same thought process to the other situations and you'll get your best answer, assuming you've seen enough games played at that level (sometimes an issue with parents learning the game as their kids advance through it).
(If these games were for players as young as the ages shown for your kids on your profile, these are probably all hits.)
Ha ha, yes, this is for 12 u. First situation was my son's hit - I was kind of surprised to see it scored as a roe because he absolutely crushed the ball. Let's just say it would have been a pretty sweet play had the kid been able to make it. And to be honest, I could be convinced either way, yes a hit or a roe.
The other two were made by two different batters. In the grand scheme of things none make a difference, It is just 12u, but it is just for my edification.
DADOF3,
Balls hit to F1, F3, and F5 typically are scored much more leniently than balls hit to other IF’rs. A “good” scorer will take into account how hard the ball is hit and whether the fielder had a chance to get into a good position to field the ball. Unfortunately those things are nearly impossible to assess unless you’re sitting there watching the play live.
