catch and carry
 

Can anyone explain to me the NCAA rule on catching a fly ball in deadball territory? The rule that I,m looking at is 12-11 on page 158. I understand this rule to state that a batter would be awarded first base on a fly ball caught in deadball territory. Thanks

It's not possible to catch a ball in dead ball territory in any stick, base and ball game. Well, actually, it can be caught, but it's nothing more than a foul ball and runners cannot advance.

In all softball games of which I'm aware, if a fielder catches the ball in playable territory and then enters DBT, all runners are awarded one base from the time the player left live ball territory. If the umpire deems the act was intentional, it is a two-base award.

That is my understanding also. However, I have a couple of college players on my team that swear they have seen this happen.

If the ball is caught in DB territory then it's a foul ball.

If the ball is caught in playable territorty and carried into DB territory then runners on base get one base BUT the batter is out... is that correct?

That is correct. Another difference in NCAA and HS is that a HS player has to re-establish position in live ball territory before she makes the catch - in NCAA, she can actually straddle the line, lift her foot from DBT and it be a catch. Of course that's impossible to do if there's a fence. We have one field in our conference where DBT is marked by a chalk line. A ball caught in DBT is just a foul ball - catch and carry is where we start awarding bases.