Score Your First Game on the Game Day Tool

Before the game: what you need ready

• •A team with your roster in it, including jersey numbers. The tool shows numbers next to names, which is how you will find kids quickly.
• •A game on your schedule with the opponent and the date.
• •A lineup for that game. Game Day opens from the lineup, so this is the one thing that has to exist first.
• •A charged phone or tablet. A tablet is easier if you have one, because the field, the batting order, and the controls all fit on screen at once.

Choosing how much to track

When you start, you pick one of two modes. This is the most important decision you make, and you should almost certainly pick Basic for your first game.

Basic keeps the lineup and field positions on screen, runs, outs, baserunners, the count, and an automatic pitch count for whoever is on the mound. You tap what happens and nothing else is asked of you. Stat tracking adds the at-bat: each batter is recorded, so the game ends with a box score and the numbers roll into your season stats.

The difference you will feel first is the scoreboard. In Basic you set the score, the outs and the bases by tapping them. In stat tracking those are built from the at-bats you record, so tapping one asks whether you would rather record the play or switch to Basic.

You can score a whole season in Basic and still have a correct scoreboard, a real final score, honest pitch counts, and playing time for every player. Move up to stat tracking when the tapping feels easy, or when you have a parent who can run the tool while you coach.

Home or away

Set whether you are the home team. This decides which half of each inning your team bats in: the away team bats in the top, the home team bats in the bottom.

Getting this wrong is the single most common first-game mistake, and it puts your runs on the opponent line. Check it before the first pitch.

The first pitch

When your team is in the field, the tool shows the defense and the count. You tap what the umpire calls. When your team is batting, it shows the batting order with the current batter marked, so you always know who is up and who is on deck.

You do not have to keep up pitch by pitch. If you miss a couple of pitches while you are coaching third, tap the result when the at-bat ends. The score stays right either way.

Moving through half innings

At the third out, the tool ends the half inning and switches sides on its own. The out count resets and the other team comes up.

If it gets ahead of you, or behind you, you can move back a half inning or jump to a specific one. Nothing you already recorded is lost by moving around.

Substitutions and pitching changes

When a player comes in for another, record the substitution so the batting order stays right for the rest of the game. The new player takes the old one's spot in the order.

A pitching change is recorded separately, because pitch counts follow the pitcher rather than the position. Once you change pitchers, new pitches count toward the new one.

When you tap the wrong thing

You will. Everyone does, usually in the first inning while you are still finding the buttons.

Undo reverses the last thing you recorded, including whatever it did to the score. You can press it more than once to walk back several plays in a row. If you notice a mistake much later, you can correct an inning's runs directly instead of undoing everything since.

If you lose signal

Ball fields have bad reception. The tool keeps working with no connection: your taps are stored on the device and sent up when signal comes back. Keep scoring.

What you should not do is score the same game on two devices at once while offline. See the article on scoring without signal for what to expect.

Ending the game

End the game when it is over. That locks the final score, writes the result to your season record, and rolls the stats you tracked into your season totals.

If you end it by accident, or a correction turns up afterward, you can reopen the game, make the fix, and end it again.

Scoring one game, start to finish

The whole flow in order. Nothing here needs scorekeeping experience.

1. 1

   Open the game from your schedule and start Game Day.

2. 2

   Confirm whether you are the home team, then start the game.

3. 3

   When your team is in the field, tap balls, strikes, and outs as the umpire calls them.

4. 4

   When your team bats, the current batter is marked. Record what each at-bat produced.

5. 5

   Pick your mode. Choose Basic for your first game.

6. 6

   At three outs the tool ends the half inning and switches sides for you.

7. 7

   Record substitutions and pitching changes as they happen, so the order and pitch counts stay right.

8. 8

   Tap undo whenever you mis-tap. It reverses the play and the score together.

9. 9

   End the game when it is over to lock the final score and update your season record.

10. 10

    Open the box score to check the line score, then share it with your parents.

Frequently asked questions

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