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This is the first protested play of the year for us. What do you think?
R1 on 1B, ball batted to pitcher. As F6 comes to 2B for throw, he goes to his knees to catch the low throw on the front corner of the bag. The throw handcuffed him, bounced out of his glove and rolled toward 1B. As the runner approached 2B, F6 lunged for the ball which by now is in the basepath. This tripped up the runner attempting to attain 2B and through no fault or intent of his own, went airborne over and pass the base.
As the fielder trapped and gained control of the ball, he was in a prone position with his left leg across the bag. After the runner landed, he reached back and touched the base with his hand. At that point, the runner is ruled safe based on rule 8.3.B. Until that moment, at no time did the fielder so much as look in the umpire's direction or give any other indication that he was aware of a missed base. After the safe call, he insisted that it was a force play and the runner should have been called out.
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The bat issue in softball is as much about liability, insurance and litigation as it is about competition, inflated egos and softball.
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