Catch and Carry

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by AtlUmpSteve

NFHS 5-1-i(d) says exactly that.

Well, I just don't believe NFHS had all possible ways a fielder can touch DBT in mind when it came out with this rule. I posed some very plausible scenarios where a fielder touches DBT with her glove after making a catch.

We have a number of fields here where there is netting above the fence to prevent batted/thrown balls from going into adjacent fields or nearby traffic lanes. If a fielder catches a batted ball near the fence, and her momentum causes her to touch the netting with her outstretched glove, technically she has touched DBT. But I wouldn't kill play at that point.

I think the prevailing language is in the main part of 5-1-i:

a fielder, after catching a fair or foul batted ball (fly or line drive), leaves the field of play by stepping with one foot or by falling into a designated deadball area (i.e., bench, dugout, stand/bleacher, etc.).

It doesn't say "by touching" anything in DBT after making the catch.