rule question - award

[bossman72]

Originally Posted by newump

sit - ball 4 to the batter is in the dirt and the ball glances off the catcher's shin guard and goes into the dugout. what is the award? does it change in fed, ncaa, obr? i believe BR is awarded 1st if the ball doesn't hit the catcher and goes out of play, does it make a difference if it hits the catcher?
thanks.

bob's got it.

You have to determine which gave the impetus to cause the ball go out of play. If the impetus of the pitch itself causes a ball to go out of play (as in a deflection) then it's only 1 base.

However if something else caused the ball to go out of play, award 2 bases. Say for example the pitch deflects of the catcher's shin guard and is rolling towards the dugout opening but is going to settle about 10 ft short of the dugout. As the catcher is going for the ball, he kicks the ball out of play. Since the impetus of the kick caused the ball to go out of play and not the impetus of the pitch, it's a 2 base award.

Hopefully that clears things up for you. Good luck!