NCAA IFF

[U_of_I_Blue]

Ok, I'm a student at the University of Illinois and FED certified baseball and softball umpire. Don't know NCAA softball rule differences all that well. I was watching our game against Minnesota down here today and Here's the stitch that had a bunch of us scratching our head:

0 out, R1 on 2nd, R2 on first. Batter hits a pop up behind F5 playing in guarding against a bunt. Ball is hit pretty high, and F5 goes back for it. She has time to turn around and as she turns around (underneath the ball mind you) F7 coming in calls her off but the ball falls untouched. Now, both U2 and U3 (in positions B and D) had one hand in the air (gave me the impression of infield fly) but I never heard the verbal call. F7 picked up the ball and threw to third base, F5 steps on third, U3 calls R1 out. So no we've got, 1 out, R2 on 2nd, BR on 1st. Now, neither coach argued, but to me this play was weird. The ball could have been caught by an infielder with ordinary effort and there were runners on 1st and 2nd with less than 2 out. Shouldn't that have been and infield fly? Also, what else could both umpires having one arm stuck up in the air mean besides that? Any input is appreciated.

-J

[debeau]

Infield Fly .
BR out R1 on 2nd and R1 on 1st .
It is up to the PU to call The infield fly but even if he doesnt it is still an infield fly .

[rhsc]

Sounds like BR should have been out.
BUT, since there was no IFF called, the play at 3rd stands unless theres an appeal. Then, you gotta fix other BRs.
I bet if they had doubled-up there would have been an appeal.

[Steve M]

In college ball, the call is for the PU to make, the BU's were pointing to show it might be an IFF. Generally, when a player turns their back to the field, it is no longer thought of as ordinary effort - that may or may not have been the case here. Whatever the reason, PU did not judge this to be an IFF.

College ball is different than Fed, ASA, or just about ay other sanctioning body. If the umpires thought afterward that they should have judged this to be an IFF, it is not allowed to be fixed. Had runners been double up, coaches would have been angry, evaluations would have taken a hit, but the play would stand.

[U_of_I_Blue]

Thanks Steve. That's what I was wondering was how the rule was different from other sanctioning bodies. I was sure there had to be something but like I said I don't know NCAA rules all that well and for some reason I couldn't get the rulebook (pdf file) to open for me yesterday. Thanks again.

-J

[mcrowder]

Just curious --- if this was fed ball, and you decided to "fix" this, what would you have done?

[Dakota]

Originally posted by mcrowder
Just curious --- if this was fed ball, and you decided to "fix" this, what would you have done?

BR out, R1 and R2 returned to their bases.