Who Bats Next Inning? (FED)
 

R3, 2 outs. B4 hits pop foul near 3B line. R3 interferes with F5's attempt to catch the ball, and consequently it falls to the ground foul. 8-6-10-b says R3 is out, which ends the inning.

Who bats first in the next inning? B4 or B5?

B5. B4 completed their at bat. (If you have trouble agreeing with that - what would have you done with B4 had there been no interference? You'd have put B4 on first base, not back in the batters box.) This is no different from B4 hitting into a fielder's choice and not making it to 1st before the out is called... they still don't bat again.

If there had been no interference why would you put B4 on base? They just hit a foul ball.
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Ugh. Well that was just dumb. Incomplete reading on my part. And my logic was off too... what I meant to say was - what would you have done with B4 had there been less than 2 outs. There's where the answer comes from.

And we have established in a current thread that there is a clear and concise rule for interfering with the catch of a routine foul fly; both the runner and batter are out. Even if you don't need that fourth out, the batter has completed the at-bat, and would no longer be up.

Steve, I believe you are quoting an unique variation of ASA rules. NFHS (and NCAA) both treat interference on a foul fly ball as only the runner out, not the batter.

The OP has asked for the FED interpretation.

Could you cite the rule? I can't find it.

What confuses me is that if the 3rd base coach had interfered, the batter is out (7-4-12) and clearly B5 bats first next inning. But if R3 interferes, it doesn't seem like B4 has completed her "Time at Bat" as defined in 2-60, which says, "The time at bat is the period beginning when a batter first enters the batter's box and continues until she is put out or becomes a batter-runner." So that makes it seem like B4 would bat again. But that seems inconsistent with the 3rd base coach scenario. Hence, I asked the question on this forum.

Oops; missed the part about FED rules. And with my state being in FED softball season, you would think I would be paying better attention.

Big Slick is absolutely correct; I gave the ASA answer. In ASA, B5 would bat next.

The FED answer is, again, different. 7-4-12 makes clear that the batter B4 is not out when a runner R3 interferes with a foul fly, just the runner. So, it is a dead ball, foul ball, and the B4's at-bat has not ended. With R3 making the 3rd out, same batter B4 starts the next inning.

I like the correction made by ASA on this one; seems a fairer result, to me. I could see this being done intentionally, as a strategic option, to keep a more dangerous batter up (with less than two outs), up to start the next inning, or to keep a better runner placed at 2nd if the next inning is to be a tiebreaker inning.

Since you work multiple leagues, make sure you explain this difference in these rule sets when ever this play happens. It will build your credibility :D

What about Mike's point:

what would you have done with B4 had there been less than 2 outs. There's where the answer comes from.

;)

What else could it be? Not awarded first on a foul ball, not out by rule. Foul ball, add 1 strike to the count, continue at-bat.

I believe Steve hit this one on the head. Foul ball, runner out for interference.
B4 up at bat in next inning, by NFHS rule

:):cool::D

For a minute I thought the ingore feature was broken. :)