MECHANICSBURG, Pa. – Citing its bylaws that don’t allow for a contest to be protested or results to be overturned, the PIAA this week said that the result of the St. Marys vs. DuBois Central Catholic baseball game from Friday, April 5, at Stern Field in DuBois must stand as played despite the game using a “ghost” runner at second base in the 10th inning.
St. Marys won the game 4-3 after the contest was tied at 2-2 going to the 10th.
The umpires in the game insisted that the game be played with a runner starting at second base starting in the 10th inning like Major League Baseball does in the regular season in extra innings. However, that isn’t a rule in high school baseball only in high school softball.
Both coaches told the YDL Sports Network that they knew this wasn’t the case and told the umpires as much but were told that it was the rule and that they needed to put a runner at second base, so they did.
After examining the situation, the PIAA determined the contest fell under its constitution Articles VII, VIII, and IX from Oct. 26, 1957 and amended Feb. 23, 2022.
Said article said, “The Board of Directors, Regional Panels and District Committees will not consider any protests in Contests which are based on play situations or officials’ decisions involving interpretation or judgment of plays. In no case will the results of a Contest be reversed nor will a Contest be ordered or permitted to be replayed. Questions regarding interpretation of rules or judgment of officials should be submitted in writing to the Executive Director.”
PIAA Executive Director Bob Lombardi told the YDL Sports Network because of that, the results of the contest stand even though there was a misapplication of the contest rules.
“In a contest, it’s important that contest officials know the rules,” Lombardi said in an email to the YDL Sports Network on April 11. “But also, the coaches also must know the rules to prevent situations like this (from) occurring.”
According to Lombardi, the decision to use a tiebreaking rule that doesn’t apply to baseball was a judgement call made by the umpires.
“The officials were incorrect, and we will correspond with them to get their information and deal with that,” Lombardi said.
Lombardi said all involved should know the rules and if they are not followed there are provisions to address these incorrect actions through the by-laws.
“The coaches should have shown them the NFHS baseball rules book to illustrate the correct procedure,” Lombardi said. “They also could (have) requested a call (at the time) to the local chapter rules interpreter or district rules interpreter to clarify.”
