UMP SHOW: A California High School Regional Championship Ended With A Phantom Balk-Off With Two Outs In The Bottom Of The 7th

Let me be the first person to congratulate the St. John Bosco Braves on coming back from a 4-0 deficit in the 5th inning with 5 straight runs to win their first ever CIF Southern California Regional title in the Bottom of the 7th. That's one thing that gets lost in stories like these. Are we going to blame the winners? Absolutely not. The game is over, nothing should be protested, it should not be replayed.....BUT I want a full-blown investigation into if the Umpire had money on the Braves. Because in a 4-4 game, with two outs in the bottom of the 7th, he BALKED IN THE WINNING RUN FROM 3RD, on this:

Yikes. I don't like this one at all. 

Now as a former Ohio High School licensed umpire of 10 years, let me explain exactly what happened here. The Umpire doesn't feel that the kid came to a complete stop in the Set Position, therefore giving him an advantage over both the runners and the hitter, so he called a Balk. A couple notes:.

1.) Is he right? Maybe......? But also maybe not. That rule is for if the Pitcher is not stopping at all, and it's called after at least a warning and when it's obvious. That set / not set could go either way in this crystal clear video, so there is simply no way you stop the game and call it. Which is why, and a lot of people use the term Ump Show, this is the PERFECT example of an Ump Show. A true look at me moment. ZERO PEOPLE on the planet watch that pitch and say, uhhh Blue, how about a Balk? I mean, you don't even call that a Balk in the 2nd inning with a runner on 1st base.....which brings me to my next point:

2.) YOU CANNOT END A GAME, LET ALONE A REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, WITH THAT CALL. That is such a horrific use of common sense that, and I hate to do this, the Umpire should have to leave the profession. And trust me, as a coach of 10 years, and as a basketball and baseball official of the same time, I side with the refs literally 99% of the time because it's a tough job done for little pay and zero respect. But to have the mindset that you are going to end a Regional Championship game due to a minor rule that never gets called, and may not even have been broken, shows you are not fit for the profession.

That is simply a terrible fucking call. And America agrees.

I need more info on the umpire. St. John Bosco grad? Had a dinner date that night? Did he warn that same pitcher 10x and he wouldn't stop? Because from that single video, that is flat out atrocious to end the game that way. And I must say, I feel bad for the players and coaches at Bakersfield Christian, who came into the championship on a 19-game win streak. Now, don't blow a 4-0 lead in the late innings and we're not in this spot, and I thought the coach did a phenomenal job afterwards in his interview not bringing up the ump, but at the end of the day.....the players didn't decide the end of that game. The look-at-me umpire did.