You had to be there.

It’s amazing what one will see at a high school baseball tournament.

How many times have you seen a coach slam a ball into the ground at a meeting on the mound only to have it bounce back up four feet above his head? Said coach was restricted to the dugout.

Or what about the coach who doesn’t like the way balls and strikes are being called? There was one, already infamous locally for some of his antics, who called time during a game this past weekend and brought his infielders to a meeting at the mound. He had his catcher go behind the plate and show all where he was setting up. He didn’t get restricted and the umpire got the point.

Same coach, different location, went out to question a call on a hit that might have missed the left-field line on the wrong side of the chalk. A fan gave him the business, and the coach — quick to anger if he thinks disrespect is involved — hollered to the fan, “We paid our $300 to play in this tournament, and I can surely question a foul-ball call.”

Then there was the ump who was calling shoetop strikes and players in the dugout began questioning his ability. The ump suddendly turned to the dugout, pointed with his mask and made it clear he had heard enough. He then turned to the coach and apparently complained, to which the coach, a veteran, responded that he couldn’t blame his players considering what pitches the umpire was calling strikes. Surprisingly, the ump turned around and went back behind the plate.

And speaking of umpires, there was one Sunday who wasn’t working but who loves baseball as much as free chow. He got himself a hot dog or two or three and then, upon hearing there was complimentary food upstairs, promptly climbed the steps and chowed down again. I wondered later if he ate again when he got home.

And when was the last time you had a hard time finding a parking place at Ooltewah? Somebody might have forgotten to tell Owls coach Jon Massey, who hosted part of Soddy-Daisy’s tournament this past weekend, that there was a competition for ROTC squads. There were a whole lot more camo-clad teenagers than baseball players, and while buses took up much of the space, most had to have driven themselves.

On the subject of Ooltewah, Massey and the Owls and their parents and booster club members have to be embarrassed by the looks of their brown and spotty-green infield, although it would have fit in nicely with the ROTC folks. Seems the Owls’ baseball boosters put down close to $1,500 of fertilizer and rye seed last fall and then couldn’t get access to water. Want to talk about wasting cash and burning up an infield?

The absolute best, though, has to be the antics of a certain Red Bank assistant coach who is known for his coaching ability with pitchers. After a pop fly dropped in the infield and the Lions were in jeopardy of blowing a quarterfinal lead Saturday night, head coach Bumper Reese sent this assistant, formerly of Soddy-Daisy, to the mound for a meeting of the minds.

Once he got there, the Lions’ boosters in the press box began predicting his every move, and it was obvious they have come to know him well. The longer he stayed out, the more often he jabbed an index finger toward the ground. It was clear as he headed for the mound that he was vexed, and then he about blew his cork when the response to demand that they catch pop-ups was an innocent “easier said that done.” You could see the veins on his neck balloon and his head twisted back and forth, front to back and side to side.

He finally made his way back to the dugout and his hat sailed into the wall. His pitching chart followed quickly. The Lions can only be grateful they escaped the inning without further damage, thus avoiding further aggravating the always competitive and often fiery ex-Trojans pitcher.

Just for the record, said assistant might also have sentimental and fun-loving sides. His wife will attest to each, and her testimony would include a puppy that was given to her from the pitcher’s mound and a skiing incident after which he snapped numerous cell-phone photographs of her being carted off the mountain by the ski patrol and then e-mailed them to more than a handful of their friends and family.

The wife let the puppy story involving her “teddy bear” out of the bag only after hearing him take smack for his actions following the skiing incident.