I think the posters to this question answered it accurately,but I would like to comment on the play.When I read this question earlier this afternoon,I went to work researching my manuals and casebooks.The language of "ALL FIELDERS MUST BE IN FAIR TERRITORY PRIOR TO THE PITCH"leaves a grey area in my interpretation.Does this mean all players in the game,or all players on the field?I wont allow a pitch to be thrown,if a player is on the field of play but NOT in fair territory.It is the coaches responsibility to make sure his defense has the correct number of players in the game.If he has more than 9 then it is my responsibility.I would not penalize the offense for an act not any fault of thier own.The NCAA,FED,and ASA books do state that it is an illegal pitch if all fielders are not in fair territory.That is the ruling I would use because the illegal pitch is a delayed dead ball and gives the offense the option to take the result of the play.Which of course they would take the home run.As for the OBR rule,in which I am unfamiliar,would my grey area question come into play?
Jeff
[Edited by mo99 on Apr 15th, 2001 at 08:41 PM]
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