Quote:
Originally Posted by mbcrowder
A friend brought me this one. Please answer for all codes...
IFF hit to F6, who glances away right as the ball hits her glove - ball pops out, F6 tries to grab barehanded and slaps the ball into the air. R1 from 2nd starts running and is now in the vicinity of F6.
At what point does F6 lose protection from being interfered with and risk obstruction by being in R1's path? Does this change if this is not an IFF and we have only R1 on 2nd (the difference being that in the first case, BR is already out and the catch may not really be a "play" - where in the 2nd it definitely is).
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ASA does not use the term "step and a reach", so I would leave it to the judgement of the umpire if the fielder was still in the process of fielding a batted ball or chasing down a ball that got away from her. Now, I do think that a "step and a reach" might certainly be a criteria used to help the umpire judge the situation.
If in your judgement, the fielder is no longer in the process of fielding the ball and has lost her protection and can be called for obstructing the runner. I would tend to keep the fielder on a shorter leash (maybe just a reach) on a play such as this as she was the one who goofed up in the first place.
I believe that NFHS does use the language "step and a reach".......so that is the criteria I would use.
Joel