If you were glued to the Tennessee and UCLA game in the Women’s College World Series this past Sunday, you know what Appendix G is.

Here’s a rundown of what happened: it’s the top of the 7th, and UCLA is down 4-2. With two outs, Megan Grant nails the first pitch, hitting a two-run homer.

She is ruled safe.

The score is now 4-4, except—

She did not touch home plate.

The cameras caught it all. Grant completely missed home plate, stepping over it as if playing “the floor is lava” and home plate was a red hot pit. We saw her teammates surround her, cheering and applauding, but one of her teammates grabbed her by the arm, pulling her back and pointing down. Grant stepped back, and it is only then that she made contact with the plate.

Tennessee saw it and raised a Rocky Top ruckus.

Grant had missed home plate, and a player cannot be assisted in touching home plate, per the NCAA Softball Rule Book.

A lengthy, almost 20-minute video review ensued, with the umpires reviewing footage, the coaches scanning the rules book, the players nervously pacing, and the rest of us eating our popcorn while watching the replay, all of us waiting on the call.

The verdict? 

1. The ruling on the field was upheld. The runner is safe.
2. Yes, she missed home plate.
3. Yes, she was assisted in touching home plate.

BUT:

4. The play is not reviewable per Appendix G.

A small mushroom cloud erupted over Tennessee head coach Karen Weekly’s head. She was rightly fuming, for the game would have ended had the player been ruled out. 

But the two pages that constitute Appendix G, which govern video rule in softball, had the final say. The end result: the play was not reviewable. It was not one of the scenarios outlined in Appendix G.

The replay continued for a brief moment longer, and an unwitting player in the entire saga also had his moment to shine: the home plate umpire, head turned to the side, appeared to be walking away from home plate, right as Grant crossed over.

Who would ever expect a player not to step on home plate after a spectacular home run?

Oh, but it happens. In the distraction and excitement of the moment, you sometimes forget to cross your T’s and dot your I’s, players and umps alike. The commentators reminded viewers that the U.S. women’s softball team lost to Australia in the 1996 Olympics due to a player making the same grave error, but I guess that ump was paying better attention.

Say it wouldn’t happen to you?

Anyone ever renewed your car tag at the courthouse, but forgot to put the sticker on? You’re surprised when that state trooper pulls you over. No, officer, I swear I did it, and then you open your glove box to find the tag still paper-clipped to the registration.

Maybe you received notice of a scholarship, a grant, or some other large sum of money, and in the thrill of the celebration, you forgot to send in the required acceptance letter. 

You missed an email or a phone call for a job offer, all because you were gone on vacation and had sworn off technology for the week.

Distractions, excitement, celebrations—they can make you lose your focus just long enough that you screw up the whole game.

Thank goodness for troopers who understand, for managers who take late acceptance notices, and for future bosses who don’t mind your taking a little time off for yourself. They’re not following an Appendix G. 

But they sure know how to balance justice and mercy.

One of my daily prayer reminders comes from the Bible app, and it reads as follows:

God, even though we mess up, hurt each other, and offend You—You still love us. You still have mercy on us. Thank You. Forgive me for all the times I’ve chosen anger and bitterness over forgiveness and compassion. Please reveal who I need to show mercy to today, and then help me to obey Your prompting. Show me how to love people like You love people. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

And as Luke 6:36 reads:

“Be ye therefore merciful, as your father also is merciful.”

I need reminders to show mercy to others in this life. It is often when I’m riding my high horse, thinking that I am in the right, that something happens to knock me where I land in the mud of reality: I am human, I desperately need mercy, and I need to show that mercy to others.

I guess Megan Grant got her mercy in the form of Appendix G. A technicality saved her day.

And what saves us?

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

Ephesians 2:4-5

God’s love is more than a technicality, and you don’t have to do anything to earn it. Christ’s blood covers all our sin. And we don’t have to pull out the rule book to find a way to grace. There is also no replay to second guess whether or not we deserve our call, or rather our condemnation, to be overturned.

We would be ruled “out.” We would miss home plate every time.

But because of His great love for us, our home plate Umpire made a way.

And then, when we mess up, because we are human and prone to making a mess of things, His mercy covers us.

As someone who appreciates and needs second and third and more chances, I am thankful for that truth.

I’m also glad the game didn’t end in the top of the 7th inning, even though I was pulling for Tennessee to win, which they ultimately did, in the 9th inning.

Funny how the fine print works for some situations and not for others, but I bet she’ll never look at home plate the same way again.

And I also figure that home plate umpire will do a double take the next time himself.