Scoring Errors

Question
My co-coach (12U Cal Ripkin) and I disagree on exactly what constitutes an error.  I've kept score book for softball and baseball for 25 yrs, but all unofficially with no official instruction ever to go by on how to do it.  He thinks any ball that 'should be caught' and isn't should be scored an error-If a ball goes over an outfielder's head and he doesn't even touch it, but he 'should've caught it', he says it's an error; a ground ball that gets by an infielder without being touched is an error if it 'should've been caught'.  I've read the Wikipedia article, but it leaves some specific instances (for me anyway) unanswered.  Does it have to touch the fielder's glove to be an error?  ie, if it goes between a fielder's legs but doesn't touch his body or glove, is it an error?  If on the same play, the ball goes right beside him (right by his foot) instead of between his legs, but he still doesn't get his glove down to catch it, is it an error?  If a pop up lands at an outfielder's feet but he never moved to catch the ball and doesn't touch it (remember, it's 12U Cal Ripkin!), can it be scored an error?  Thanks for your help.

Answer
Hey Darin,
A ball DOES NOT have to touch a fielder's glove to be an error.. If a ball goes through a fielder's legs it should be an error every time. If a ball takes a bad hop and goes off a fielder's mitt, it may not be an error at all.

So here are answers to your questions..
Does it have to touch the fielder's glove to be an error?  NO
If it goes between a fielder's legs but doesn't touch his body or glove, is it an error? YES, unless a bad hop is involved.
If on the same play, the ball goes right beside him (right by his foot) instead of between his legs, but he still doesn't get his glove down to catch it, is it an error? YES, 80% of the time..
If a pop up lands at an outfielder's feet but he never moved to catch the ball and doesn't touch it, can it be scored an error? It CAN, but at 12 years old, it seldom is scored that way..
Sorry if you lost this argument..
Dennis