Obstruction or nothing

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by CT1

Would you enforce OBS if B1 hits a clean single & tangles with F3 while making his turn if the ball gets fielded immediately and thrown in to second base?

Neither would I.

Honest answer... Any ruleset but NFHS, yes I would. I'd do it quietly, but I'd definitely signal it. Because it IS obstruction. And on the miniscule chance it matters because of something that happened right after that.

NFHS? Their rule is stupid. 99% of the umpires I know agree. Bob's and Rich's comments that they would look for reasons not to see the OP tells me they agree too. No one wants to award 3rd on the OP (unless they just HAVE to). No one wants to award 2nd on the play you just posted. The fact that umpires are willfully NOT calling plays correctly because the penalty is inequitable says everything there is to say about the rule itself. So to answer your question truthfully, in a high school game, I'm going to somehow fail to see the contact in the play you posted.

Am I wrong for not calling it? Probably. Would my assignor or evaluators ding me for it? I don't think they saw contact either.

(There are numerous examples of this in football as well.)