10U play at home

[whiskers_ump]

Originally posted by Dakota
Did another 10U game yesterday. Had this play.

Runner coming home on a batted ball. Pitcher comes in to take the throw, even though the catcher was already there.

Pitcher catches the ball about 3 feet up the line. Catcher is right behind her, ahead of the plate, too. Runner comes in and runs a bit wide (still legal, though) to attempt to avoid the players standing at the plate and also misses the plate. Pitcher turns and tags the runner before she can step sideways onto the plate.

I called the runner out on the tag, ruling that the runner was avoiding the tag, not the catcher. Coach wanted OBS on the catcher.

What do you think?

I will answer with what I think is a very good article written
by one of our [officialforum] members.

OBS - a handy place to start is in the rule book definition section.
OBS is defined as an act of a fielder which impedes the progress of a runner
or BR who is legally running the bases. Contact is not necessary to impede
the progress. To impede the progress means that the runner does not make
the same progress (speed, direction, distance from A to B etc) as she would have
made had it not been for OBS. It is not necessary to know the ultimate effect on
the play to call OBS; It is only necessary to see the impeding of progress.

Forcing a runner to go wide or go over fielder's dropped knee to get back to base
on a pickoff attempt is impeding.

Forcing a runner to take a more indirect route from A to B is impeding the progress
of the runner.

Causing the runner to slow down to avoid collision is impeding the progress of
the runner.

Did any of the above occur? I believe the bold line may have, but then I was not
there.