|
Originally posted by t2nyval
I umpire Little League 9-10 in Ohio. Tonight there were 2 situations I wasn't completely sure of. Your clarification will help.
1) Infield fly that is not caught or touched, it hits the ground. R1 stays put. R2 leaves early and the base is tagged by a fielder who picked up the ball...he's out, thats easy. R3 waits for the ball to hit the ground and goes home. I call him safe. Did I make the right call on R3 or is the ball dead if noone catches it or touches it?
Point 1. You said the IF was not caught or touched - therefore, was it fair? ie; Suppose you call IF and the ball lands untouched (in fair territory) before it crosses either first or third and then goes foul where it is finally touched - Then we simply have a Foul ball. As a side note: the proper mechanic when ball is close to foul territory is for the umpire to signal and verbailize IF - If Fair.
Point 2. An IF is treated no different than a regular fly ball except that the batter is out. Assuming ball landed untouched and was fair, there is no longer a force out because the batter did not become a runner - he was declared out because of the IF. Your call of out for r2 is not correct.
Point 3. In LL there is rule 7.13 for leaving early. Let's assume you made the correct call in point 2 - in other words r2 was safe and advanced to third when ball hit ground untouched. After playing action ends, you would return r2 back to second as a result of the 7.13 infraction.
2) Bases loaded: Dribbler hit to F3, he fields it and he and BR collide at first with BR being called out. The collision causes the ball to fly about 20 feet away. All 3 runners who were on base score. I called them safe, Coach wanted runner interference called. What about this call? Thank you in advance.
I have nothing on this call. I envision F3 high tailing it to the bag as well as B1 running as fast as he can. Both arrive at approx the same time and the momentum of the play is what causes the collision. In order for interference to be called on this play, the BR would have to do something to F3 like purposely knock the ball out of the glove.
Pete Booth
__________________
Peter M. Booth
|