Wisconsin High School Sports | Wisconsin Sports Network | WisSports.net

It s a broken bat single!



Hello Everyone – That phrase surely does not occur in fastpitch softball very often anymore.



When is the last time you saw a broken bat single in a fastpitch softball game? For that matter, when is the last time you saw a broken bat in a fastpitch softball game?



The people who played in or watched the Baraboo vs Portage game last week saw Portage s Emily Krueger snap a bat into two pieces when she made contact with a Tiffany Stanek offering. The barrel end of the bat sailed out past Stanek, who told me on Saturday at the Poynette Jamboree that she didn t even see the bat as she was fielding the ball.



I own a huge bat collection. I have wooden baseball bats from the early days of baseball and I have wooden bats from the early days of softball (1930s). I own three of the original metal bats used in softball. I have, thanks to Portage s Rick Maass a Zapper II in my collection. I have a ceramic bat that was hailed as the best thing since chicken soup but it was a bust. I have a couple of Louisville Mag Bats, one is yellow and one is red. I have on at least four occasions witnessed red Mag Bats shearing in half. I have seen several dozen varieties of metal bats break into two or more pieces. I once watched my cousin break an Easton SX10 in two pieces and was still able to get the ball to the fence on the Portage softball diamond.



I have never seen a metal bat break into two or more pieces in a high school girl s fastpitch game. Crack yes, break into two or more pieces? Never? But Emily Kreuger has apparently done it twice this season for Portage and the kid is a freshman, a very excellent freshman I might add (her old sister is playing for Wisconsin).



I m really hunting hard for an original Easton Zapper for my collection. I know where there are two. I tried to buy one of them two summers ago at a yard sale near Trego, WI but the owner wouldn t sell it and she didn t even know what it was. The other one belongs to Rick Maass and is the bat he used for many years when we played men s fastpitch together. For Rick, that original Zapper is one of those artifacts that a person just can t part with, an artifact that is too precious to even think about not hanging onto. I ll return to the place near Minong this summer, knock on the door and offer the lady a chunk of money for the one she owns then my Zapper collection will be complete.



Speaking of softball memorabilia. I m pretty confident that I also own the world s largest collection of softball boxes. Until the last couple of years, every softball came in it s own cardboard box and was surrounded by tissue. A long time ago I thought it would be kind of neat to have a collection of the boxes because I figured it wouldn t be long and ball companies would no longer spend the money on cardboard boxes for them.



I was correct. Now, I own a couple hundred different boxes and some date back into the 1940s. Many of the cardboard softball boxes actually had a scorecard printed on the inside of the box. You could use the ball and keep score with the inside of the box. That was pretty nifty.



Some of the ball boxes I have acquired even have the original softball in them. I don t care too much about the balls but they are part of the lore than makes up this game. I just recently found a 13" Wilson softball it the cardboard box. I didn t even know there was ever a 13" softball. I knew of 11 balls, 12" balls, 14" balls and 16" balls but had never heard of a 13" softball. I now own one.



If you have any old softball boxes and want to part with them, just e-mail me. I d be interested in adding some boxes to the display.



Hey, here is some information on how to award a save to a pitcher in high school fastpitch softball. From the rulebook, page 79, Rule 9-6-7

In order for a pitcher to be credited with as a save, she shall meet all three of the following criteria:

a. she is the last pitcher in a game won by her team; and

b. she is not the winning pitch; and

c. she meets at least one of the following:

a. she enters the game with a lead of not more than three runs and pitches at least one inning; or

b. she enters the game, regardless of the count on the batter, with the potential tying run either on base, at bat or on deck; or

c. she pitched effectively for at least three innings.

Note: A starting pitcher who is replaced and then re-enters as pitcher can be credited with a win but not a save.



So what kind of credit or stat does a pitcher get when she pitches in relief but can t be awarded a save? The answer is: an appearance but on the WSN site there is no statistical item for appearances. That s another one we need to add to the stats part of the site.



Fox River Valley Standings, records and Percentages 5/4/05

Kimberly                   11 2 .846

Appleton East             9 2 .818

Appleton North            8 2 .800

Kaukauna                   6 2 .750

Oshkosh West             8 3 .727

Neenah                      7 4 .636

Menasha                    4 9 .308

Fond du Lac                1 8 .111

Appleton West            1 10 .091

Oshkosh North            0 12 .000

________________________________________

Here is a question I received the other day and the correct ruling, thanks due to John Peterson.



How late can a team appeal on offense?  On the 3rd out a batter grounded out 6-3.  After his team had cleared the field and were in the dugout, the coach asked if he could appeal that the 1B had pulled her foot.  Can an appeal be made at that point?

Ruling Answer: Rule 2-1-4 page 18.  Until all infielders have left fair territory or if last play of game until umpires leave the field of play.



Another Rule question gets answered!



Runners on first and third, one out. Flyball to center, runner on third tags up, runner on first thinks that there is two outs and runs it out. Throw comes in and the force out at first (for the third out) comes after the runner crosses the plate. Umpire counted the run. Was this the correct call?

Answer:

Run counts.  It is an appeal play and a timing play - not a force.  If the appeal were made before runner touches home then run would not count.  See Rule 2-1-11 page 19 and Rule 9-1-1 page 74.  An appeal at first base that would be a force is when the batter runner misses first base.



Thanks for the questions and thanks to John for the rulings.



Send any and all play or scoring questions to me and I ll see to it that everyone gets a chance to read it.



If your team played at the high school fields in Poynette during the Poynette Jamboree on Saturday, you ought to take a look at the pictures my son Eric took. You can find them at www.scoreimages.photoreflect.com and just click on 2008 Jamboree. There are many, many great shots he took posted there. Take a look! He has also done a few team posters. There are a couple of examples on that site you can look at.



That s it for tonight. I m worn out yet from Jamboree duties.



Score it 1-4-3

Keep it Rising!

Bob