STORRS—Masuk junior second baseman Sofia Lieto knew something was not right, so from her position she sprinted off the field in the middle of the game to speak to her coach.
From there, Masuk boss Leigh Barone called a time out to have a discussion with the umpires.
The three umpires then got together discussed what happened and made the long, slow walk to Ellington coach Tom Gordon to deliver some bad news—his batter was out and the inning was over.
Basically, because a high school junior knew the rules when nobody else seemed to. Even the boys in blue.
Here’s the whole scenario:
With two outs in the top of the fourth inning, Ellington’s Katherine Czyz swung at a pitch. The ball hit her hand and the home plate umpire immediately called a “foul ball” as the ball ricocheted off the mesh backstop behind the plate.
While Czyz was being tended to by Ellington’s trainer, Lieto, pictured above, made the journey to speak to her coach.
What Lieto had done was recognizing a little-known rule that provided a spark of controversy and confusion in the middle of her team’s quest for a sixth-straight championship.
“I told her that if it hit her and she swung, it was going to be a strike three, so I told her she should probably check that out,” Lieto explained in the aftermath of Masuk’s 4-0 win and sixth straight state championship. “It’s like a swing and a miss basically.”
Ellington coach Tom Gordon did know the rule, but his beef was more about the umpire audibly called “foul ball” so his batter never raced to first base thinking the play had become a “dropped third strike.”
“He called the rule correctly, but my point was when it happened, he didn’t call it that way,” Gordon said. “He called it a foul ball. I mean is the other coach calling the rules now or what? If he doesn’t call a foul ball, maybe she runs to first base because it’s by the catcher. The way it played out, it was the right rule, but it was probably not the way it should have been handled.”
Ellington was only trailing 1-0 at the time and with two outs in the inning, it wasn’t like the rule—or the missed call and made-up call—that cost the Knights the game.
The fact that a high school junior second base was the only person on the field who knew the rule made it for a unique situation.
“She’s a leader like that,” Barone said. “She picks up on stuff like that.”
• • •
One other issue Gordon and the Knights had with the umpiring crew was the sudden influx of “illegal pitches” that were called against Ellington pitcher Camryn Fisher.
Four times, Fisher was hit with an illegal pitch call—once by the home plate umpire and three times by the base umpire as he stood behind second base.
Fisher was being called for stepping out of the 24-inch pitching lane that runs from the pitching rubber toward home plate, Gordon said.
In college, there are lines painted that show the alley way pitchers must stay in. At the high school level, there are no lines so umpires must use their best judgement.
Fisher starts her pitching motion toward the side of the rubber, but Gordon said, not once all season—and that’s 27 games, if you’re counting—did she called for an illegal pitch.
On Saturday, that all changed by this umpiring crew.
“I think it kind of threw her off her game,” said Gordon. “I would say she was good, but she’s been better. But all it takes is a couple of little things to get us off our game, but this moment is pretty big, so it’s just too bad.”
• • •
When Masuk took its team photo under the scoreboard, Barone had her children with her in the photo.
Quipped one Masuk fan: “These kids are growing up in these photos.”
• • •
Ellington’s Keyleigh Flaherty—one of eight Knights seniors–had her team’s lone hit.
Flaherty delievered a single in the first inning.
Masuk pitcher Julia Bacoulis then retired the next 19 Ellington hitters to clinch the Panthers’ sixth straight state title.
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