Counting The Run

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by CecilOne

Able is on third base and Baker is on second base with one out.
Daniel hits the ball on the ground to the shortstop, who scoops up the ball and tags Baker out.
When attempting to throw the ball to first base, the shortstop is interfered with by Baker.
At the time of the interference, Able has reached home plate and Daniel has reached 1st base.
Assume the throw was never completed, no play at 1st.

My opinion: Daniel reaching 1st before being out allows the run to count.

Questions:
1) Does the BR being out as “closest to home” occur simultaneously with the INT?
2) If so, since with a dead ball nothing happens, does that alter the run counting if INT occurs before the BR reaches 1st?
3) Does a BR being awarded 1st on the INT change the ruling?

Comment based on any rules, but please specify.

I admit that I am late in joining the party but this evening, after Mother's Day dinner, was the first time that Mark, Jr., and I had a chance to sit down and discuss this play.


I) We do not have access to the USA Softball Rules Book but are very confident that the Ruling will be the same as the NFHS and NCAA Rulings. Therefore, I will only respond per NFHS and NCAA Rules.


II) Let us describe the Play per accepted Softball nomenclature:

A) R1 on 3B, R2 on 2B, one out, and B4 is the Batter.

B) Ground Ball to F6, and R1 and R2 are off at the crack of the Bat.

C) F6 tags R2 for the 2nd out of the inning.

D) The moment that R2 is tagged out R2 becomes a Retired Runner.

E) R1 acquires HP and B/R4 acquires 1B after R2 becomes a Retired Runner.


III) Any actions by R2 after II-E, by Rule, are not Interference.

A) R1 had already acquired HP and had become a Retired Runner. Therefore there is no play to be made on R1 by F6.

B) B/R4 had already acquired 1B and unless B/R4 was attempting to go to 2B there was no play to be made on B/R4 by F6. It is highly unlikely that B/R4 was attempting to go to 2B (99.999% of the time in plays like the B/R is running through 1B). Therefore there is no play to be made on B/R4 by F6.

And quite frankly in all of the Junior's college softball games that I have watched him umpire for the last six seasons I know of only one player that could possibly be past 1B in the above described play: Brianna Glass, a senior this year at Indiana Institute of Technology in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, an NAIA Div. II school, who set the single season stolen base record, NCAA Div. I, II, and III, and NAIA Div. I and II with 81 stolen bases in 89 attempts; I saw her score from 1B on a single to Right Field last year. But I digress.


IV) Which brings us back to R2's actions after R2 became a Retired Runner, and R1 had acquired HP and B/R4 had acquired 1B. R2's actions are:

A) Trivial and are to be ignored,

B) Rise to the level of Unsportsmanlike Conduct which only requires a Verbal Warning, in which case the BU should declare the Ball Dead immediately and issue the Verbal Warning.

C) NFHS: Rise to the level of Unsportsmanlike Conduct which requires that R2 be Restricted to the Bench, in which case the BU should declare the Ball Dead immediately.

D) Rise to the level of Unsportsmanlike Conduct that requires R2 to be Ejected from the Game, in which case the BU should declare the Ball Dead immediately.

MTD, Sr.