Obstruction at 1st Base
 

We had an interesting play at 1st base in a 18U softball game. A ball was hit towards 1st base with alot of spin on it. The 1st baseman tripped while trying to field it and while rolling on the ground ended up lying completely across
1st base (covering both the base and the orange safety bae.) The runner slowed down not knowing what to do since the fielder was covering the bag.

Should this be considered obstruction (since the fielder did not leave any part of the base for the runner to touch) or since the 1st baseman was in the act of fielding the ball does she have the right to be on the base (or in this case covering the base)?

Is she really in the act of fielding a batted ball laying on her stomach? I'm giving the batter the benefit of the doubt here....especially since she "didn't know what to do" <--- these words literally scream obstruction. Clear cut case to me.

Give her first. If she's put out before that, I'd call time and then award her the base.

Remember though, that in all codes that I'm aware of, the runner is considered to touch the base once she passes the base. If she jumped over her and went past the base, she'd be assumed safe (except for USSSA fast pitch where she'd be out for jumping over a fielder), whereby she could go back and touch before the appeal.

Would you honor the appeal if this did happen and it came before she returned to touch?

Sounds like, by your own description, the ball had already been played upon before the F3 ended up covering the base. Therefore, the F3 was no longer making a play on the ball, and was not in possession of the ball, and was actively hindering the runner. The very definition of OBS.

The ball had alot of spin, looked like it was heading foul but bounced fair. The fielder was heading foul, tried to stop, slipped and fell on the base and hit the ball. While lying on the ground, she scrambled to grab the ball.

Wait a minute, was the ball fair?

Not necessarily.

The USSSA rule is copied verbatim from the high school/FED rule (as many of their rules are). It is not illegal to jump/leap/hurdle over a fielder if that fielder is lying on the ground.

It almost sounds like a no-brainer, depending on the circumstances. Did F3 attempt to get off the base after she tripped?

Where was the runner (how close to first) when she stopped running? If I was the runner I would always complete the play and keep trundling through. If I had to leap over the baseman then so be it.

If the basemen made an effor to get herself off the bag, then I wouldn't call obstruction.

OBS is OBS no matter what effort a defender does or does not make to avoid it.

Also, it becomes a touchy situation when a runner goes right over the base since a missed base appeal is one of the exceptions to the protection provided an OBS runner.

Irrelevant.

The only relevant questions are:
1. Was the defender still attempting to field the batted ball, and
2. If not, was the runner impeded.

It doesn't matter whether the defender "meant" to impede the runner; it doesn't matter whether the defender was "trying to avoid" impeding the runner; it only matters whether the defender DID impede the runner.