stopping a game before 5th inning

Question
I coach 7-8th grader junior softball,we play asa fast pitch rules.my problem or question-the umpire stopped the game(with the home team telling him to) in the bottom of the third with the home team up 15+ runs the away team told the ump it was only 3rd inning and he still stopped game,now the home team found out the game is not legal and wants to finish game,does the away team have to finish game or does home team take forfeit because they asked for the game to be stopped.

Thank you
Laura

Answer
Hi Laura,

Thank you for your question.  In ASA Rule 5-9-A-1, the RUN AHEAD RULE (also more bluntly called the mercy rule) halts lopsided fast pitch games in which the home team is ahead by 15 runs after 3 innings, 12 runs after 4 innings, or 8 runs after 5 innings.  As with many ASA rules, it is written for National Tournaments and Championship Play, but in my neck of the woods, at least, it is used in all games, in all leagues, and at all levels.  No one benefits from playing in a "slaughter," neither the winner nor the loser, and I consider it to be one of ASA's most thoughtful rules.

Your game was correctly halted under the direction of the run ahead rule, but now, for a reason you don't know and/or didn't mention, the game has been determined to not be legal.  My educated guess is that your league doesn't utilize the run ahead rule and that the halted game was determined to be of insufficient length.  Rule 5-3 outlines regulation games.  A regulation game is seven innings, so you have four more innings to play, or should I say endure, if you're not observing the run ahead rule.  Games that are not regulation shall be resumed at the exact point where they were stopped, in your case at the top of the fourth.

Yes, sure, the away team has to finish the game if the league rules demand it.  The home team didn't have anything to do with stopping the game, other than the fact that they seemed to be controlling the umpire.  The umpire is the one who halted the game while it still wasn't a legal game, so there's certainly no grounds for the home team to be tagged with a forfeit.

Resumed games are time-consuming, wreak havoc on the schedule, etc.  The teams and the umpires in your league need to get "on the same page" regarding the run ahead rule and the regulation game rule.

Scott Kelly