Temporary fence HR or Ground rule double?

[Coach Keith]

Originally Posted by Gulf Coast Blue

Please see the bold portion below......


B. A batted ball hitting the top of the fence and bouncing over in fair territory is a home run.


The ball did not hit the top of the fence and bounce over.....it hit the middle of the fence.

Two base award.

Joel

Thanks for the reply but I want to make sure I understand the logic you used to get your conclusion.

Because the temporary fence in use here was a soft netting, it is really impossible for the ball to hit on top of the fence and bounce over like a traditional fence. Therefore, if I am interpreting your comments correctly, any ball that touches this type of fence in the air and goes over is a ground rule double. Even if it just clips the fence?

[Gulf Coast Blue]

Originally Posted by Coach Keith

Thanks for the reply but I want to make sure I understand the logic you used to get your conclusion.

Because the temporary fence in use here was a soft netting, it is really impossible for the ball to hit on top of the fence and bounce over like a traditional fence. Therefore, if I am interpreting your comments correctly, any ball that touches this type of fence in the air and goes over is a ground rule double. Even if it just clips the fence?

If it clips the fence, that would be hitting the top......correct?

The interpretation is my own as there is no guidance other than the rules you cited and the Rule Supplement I showed.

Using that information is how I came to my conclusion.

For example......if you had a metal chain link fence that was leaning out severely and the ball hit the center of it and went over......that would not fit the definition of hitting the top of the fence. Same logic applies to a temporary fence.

Joel

[Coach Keith]

I agree it is up to interpretation. I can see how clipping the fence could be considered hitting the top of he fence but that starts to call into question how far down the fence is considered the top of the fence? With the call in question the ball hit the top 1/3 of the fence.

Thanks again for your thoughts.