OBS call protested

[Tru_in_Blu]

Here's how I viewed this play.

We didn't have a violent collision. More like 2 players trying but unable to get out of each other's way. They fell in a heap, literally on first base.

Had the ball just remained on the ground in the vicinity of the base, I probably wouldn't have called anything. Runner on the base, ball on the ground, "no ball, no call", etc.

Since the ball squirted through the players and rolled to the fence, both players were looking for it. Runner saw the ball and attempted to get up to go to 2B. F3 saw the ball and tried scrambling OVER B4 to get it. That's when I called OBS. And keep in mind all this happened in a matter of seconds.

Once B4 got to her feet, she seemed unsure about going to second. Perhaps the coach yelling for her to go gave her some incentive so she took only a few steps before thinking better of it. Coach may have known the OBS rule which is why he tried to get her to go.

At this point, I have the runner protected between 1B and 2B, but in my judgment, there was no way she would have been safe at second base absent some other weirdness on this play. A good throw from F3 to F6 would have her out easily.

The fence on this field is not that far from the foul lines. Maybe 15-18'. And the deflection was more towards the coach's box than down the RF line.