I'll see what I can do, but I think you should also keep in mind that 8.1.D.4 is probably as much a rule meant as a deterent from the catcher stepping in front of a swing. IOW, a safety issue, thus killing the ball the moment it happens while negating any advantage a defensive coach may perceive in instructing his/her catcher to do so.

What we need is a ruling on when there is a hit, especially with potential extra bases .. double hr.. whatever..

Thx for going to the higher ups Mike, I'll be interested to see ASA's Ruling.

Oh yea, Im gonna luv this forum for sure.
Im sure I have ruled on this and a few similar sitches wrongly after reading some of this, but we arent going to court here.
Yeah, softball is as much law in some places as Bible, but I aint going to hell over a bad or misinterpreted rule. I wanna get it right like the rest, but nobody wins, especially the players and coaches, if grace and mercy dont apply from all parties.
There are no perfectly officiated games, only games offically perfected (after we see the replay)http://smilies.sofrayt.com/^/aiw/hi.gif