INT or OBS or nothing?

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by Dholloway1962

If all she had to do was a step and a reach to field this ball, vertical or not, then I have INT.

Disclaimer: I don't call NFHS.

My understanding of the "step and a reach" was that it solved the question of whether or not the fielder was still in the act of fielding a batted ball. It provides a clarification for a fielder in the basepath who is still, according to the spirit of the rule, in the immediate act of fielding the batted ball.

However, if the ball deflects off the fielder and goes straight up at a considerable height (10' is a bit borderline and would be a HTBT, but 15' or 20' works better for my argument here), I would not consider this to be in the realm of "step and a reach," as the fielder is no longer in the immediate act of fielding the batted ball.

If it's a step AND a reach, it sounds like the fielder must be able to step AND reach it, not wait for it to come back down, which could take 2 seconds (a lifetime in softball).