Expert: Andrew Senger - 6/12/2009

Question
Please offer your opinion on how this should be handled....Game is called at top of 5th inning during a Little League (9-10yrs) game with 2 outs due to darkness. Score @ completion of 4 innings is visitors 10 home 11.  When game was called by umpire score was visitors 15 home 11.

Answer
Anji,

The answer all depends on how many innings the game was scheduled for. If it was scheduled for 5 innings, then the home team would win. This is based on the rule that if a full inning was not completed (or the home team was ahead at the half inning), then the scores are reverted back to the previous inning.

However, I will assume that the game was scheduled for 7 innings. If so, the High School rulebook has an excellent case book play for this. I would assume Little League would use the same ruling, since MLB does.

To answer your question, the game is a "no game":

4.3.1 SITUATION A: At the end of the fourth inning or during the top of the fifth inning, (a) the score is tied or (b) either team is ahead when rain halts play.
RULING: Because the game has not gone the required number of innings to be regulation, the game shall be called "no game."

Again, that is from the High School rulebook, but all other rule codes I work with use the same ruling.

As an aside, however, I would like to point out that this is not an umpire's job to decide. The umpire would simply note the current score, count, batter, pitcher, and runners, as well as the score at the end of the previous inning. The league would then decide on whether the game was regulation or not.