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IB
The concept of "voluntary release" where a fielder must hold on to the ball when falling to the ground or running into a fence or teammate has to do with determining if a legal catch has been made.
Outfielder catches fly ball on the run takes three more strides and collides with teammate or fence and ball comes loose. No catch.
This would apply to a thrown ball as well. Ground ball to F5 playing deep. F5 makes long throw to F3 that F3 has to stretch for. F3 catches ball in time with toe touching bag then falls to ground and the impact with the ground dislodges the ball. BR safe because F3 did not complete the catch of the thrown ball.
But this concept does not carry over into tagging a player with the ball. The fielder is already in possession of the ball, there is no catch to complete. So long as she maintains possession of the ball during the tag what happens afterward does not matter. Assuming the runner is off base and in jeopardy its a legal tag and the runner is out.
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