What is going on at these big tournaments..... what happened to DMVW in the D bracket is a joke. They played the same CF two games in a row. They protested and the ump said finish the game and talk to the director. They lose the game and talk to the director. I'm sure what happened between the end of the game and when they were suppose to play again but the team they lost to starts playing so DMVW is eliminated, after some time they we're told they should have won the protest and we're offered a pitcher of beer instead continuing to play. Maybe capping the tournaments at manageable amounts for your size of staff should be considered. These tournaments are fundraisers and qualifiers. Also being a fundraiser shouldn't be a default excuse and what level of ball your playing shouldn't determine which rules get followed.
A few things here:
1) Umpire running the game absolutely blew this! He should have stopped the game and discussed the situation with the TD. At the time a team announces they are playing under protest in a tourney - it has to get resolved.
2) In general the softball community has had a mentality that "roster protests" are garbage and you should play (and beat) the team that is on the field against you - No matter who you are playing. The team making the roster protest typically seems to be the one that everyone bitches about. So DMVW are the ones that take all the heat for protesting a roster?? Why??
This game has specific rules designed to keep the game played fairly. Yet when teams want to use a legal protest to handle a situation they are the ones the community has typically complained about them making the protest rather than beating the team in front of them.
Well these guys seem to have made the appeal that was not handled correctly - played the team that was in front of them and lost - then the TD didnt handle the problem either.
The protesting team has to stand its ground and absolutely demand the protest be ruled on before the game is completed.
3) Tournament Directors at qualifiers and large money tourneys MUST take the time to do roster checks prior to the tournament so that these situations dont occur. Its bad for the game, bad for the future of the tournament and bad for the association it occurred in.
4) Tournament Director - even though a game started - had the ability to stop a game, correct the situation, and start a new game. TD did a terrible job handling the whole thing. Offering a free pitcher only add insult to the whole thing. DMVW should at a minimum be getting their entry fee back from the proceeds of the tourney.
As an aside, was the CF a pick up for game 1 or game 2. It is possible that he was a pick up for game 1 and on the roster for the game 2 team. In which case, the roster protest would have had to have happened in game one.
