Voluntary Release, I guess . . .

[tcannizzo]

So, I am BU.
2 outs.
B3 pops up to F1....routine play. 3rd out of inning.

F1 "catches" ball above head in pitcher's circle.
Brings glove down to below waist.
And then drops the ball out of her glove into circle and heads to dugout.

PU rules out.

I guess this is correct as a voluntary release, even though the throwing hand never touched the ball.

I would have probably ruled exactly the same. I think.

But gets me to thinking about that hard running shoestring catch for F7, with a triple summersault after an additional step or two, then the ball comes out.

Which, of course, would be a no-catch, even though the ball was maintained in the glove longer than in this sitch. We would normally require the throwing hand to be involved with a "voluntary release". But not in this case.

Kinda funny. Yes 3rd world plays make this game interesting.

[Cecil4]

In the pitcher sitch, clearly voluntary.

In the F7 sitch, the difference is the stated rule of the ball coming loose in a fall, if part of the catch process.
I'm not clear about the triple somersault being part of the catch, or a celebration. The additional step or two before that implies control.