[mrm21711]

Got this in my email inbox as part of the Gerry Davis Sports Newsletter. This guy wrote in and here was the response:

Bob Delzer, Kaukana, Wis. – Here is a play I ran into in an American Legion baseball game using the NFHS malicious contact rule. Runners at second and third, one out. The third baseman is even with the bag. Ball is hit to the third baseman and goes between his legs to left field. After the ball passes, R2 has to push the third baseman out of the way to get to third. I called obstruction (and got no argument from any one). Next, the runner rounds third and heads for home. The left fielder throws home and because of the obstruction the play is close. As the catcher receives the ball at home plate the runner plows him over. I called malicious contact and ejected the runner (again no argument from any one). Question: Does the run count? I awarded the run because the obstruction happened at a base prior to the malicious contact and, in my judgment, the obstruction prevented the runner from scoring. I understand if the two violations occur together the malicious contact supersedes the obstruction, but does that apply when the two acts occur at different places and times?

For help we turned to Dennis Meadows, the high school baseball rules interpreter for Arizona: “In this case the plays are taken in the order that they happened. So award home on the obstruction, score the run and eject for malicious contact.”

This is wrong isnt it? If MC occurs before runner scoring, ball is immediately dead and that runner is out and ejected...therefore no run could hypothetically score right?