Piggly Wiggly 960 Posted April 19, 2013 Two weeks ago, Licking Heights beat Harvest Prep 65-0. A blowout should perhaps have been expected. The Harvest Prep Warriors, mostly underclassmen, have lost every game this season by double digits. The Licking Heights Hornets are so overpowered, they're being moved to a higher division after this year. But 65-0? The Sporting News, which had the first detailed rundown of the game, says the Hornets had 48 hits, drew 13 walks and had 11 hit batsmen in just three innings of play. The scored 16 in the first, 18 in the second, and 31 in the third. Their coach, Jeff Boyer, claims he tried to stop the carnage: "We didn't run on passed balls; we didn't take extra bases or any of those kinds of things," Boyer said. "I even asked the umpire, 'What do you want us to do?' "I asked if he wanted us to bunt and step on the plate, and he said he didn't want it to be a travesty of a game. And I'm thinking, 'We're already there.' " It could have been so, so much worse. Ohio does have a mercy rule that kicks in with a 10-run lead—but it only comes into play after five innings. Thankfully, Harvest Prep was spared by that most merciful rule of all: the passage of time. After three innings, the game was called on account of darkness. http://deadspin.com/this-is-how-a-baseball-game-ends-65-0-after-three-innin-475989234?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CARDINAL 205 Posted April 19, 2013 Doesn't the Mercy Rule come into effect after one team is down by like 9 runs or something after at least one innning? That is pretty awful to lose by that amount, they obviously weren't trying whatsoever because no team is that bad. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oochymp 2,393 Posted April 20, 2013 Doesn't the Mercy Rule come into effect after one team is down by like 9 runs or something after at least one innning? mercy rules depend on the league, apparently this league it doesn't kick in until the fifth inning, which I think is about normal, usually they want teams to play most of a game before they call it, but a game like this makes you wonder if the rule should change, maybe allow the coaches and umps to agree when it's gone too far, which it sounds like would have happened here, or just give the ump some discretion, I could see that pissing off the losing team in some situations but I think umps would be cognizant of that and would be hesitant to call a game earlier than the mercy rule mandates Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CARDINAL 205 Posted April 20, 2013 [/size] mercy rules depend on the league, apparently this league it doesn't kick in until the fifth inning, which I think is about normal, usually they want teams to play most of a game before they call it, but a game like this makes you wonder if the rule should change, maybe allow the coaches and umps to agree when it's gone too far, which it sounds like would have happened here, or just give the ump some discretion, I could see that pissing off the losing team in some situations but I think umps would be cognizant of that and would be hesitant to call a game earlier than the mercy rule mandates The Mercy Rule should be able to go into effect after 1 or 2 innings if one team is down by more than 10 runs, because if your down by that amount after just 1 or 2 innings than that team is NOT going to come back and win the game1 :grinno: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites