Federation Softball obstruction

[CecilOne]

Originally posted by Dakota
... snip ... I'm talking about fielders dropping a knee down to block the base on a pick off attempt; fielders standing at the inside corner of 2B or outside of 3B to take away the natural path of a full-speed runner; what appears to be deliberately taught defensive positioning.

Yes, those moves are a concern. We can award the next base as our judgement of the base the runner would have reached when they are moving forward. It's the pickoffs and other returns to the current base that have no award in the rules. I guess that's why the OBR and LL award the next base, but I'm still against it as long as the runner is protected and hasn't done anything to earn the next base. I assume the OBR/LL award is not based on intent and that is a problem with their rule.