Just to add my two cents, the rules recognize F1 not only as a pitcher, but also as an infielder. She is treated no differently than the other infielders when it comes to fielding a batted ball, with the exception of when a ball deflects off her. In the case of a fly ball, there is nothing in the rules that designates F1 as a prima donna who is not expected to catch it. That's nothing more than a goofy tradition you see in pro baseball that coaches bring with them to the amateur ranks.

If you judge she should be the one to catch it, then that prevails, not a coach's desire to follow goofy traditions.

I often find the difference between "play" and "out" in certain rules to be somewhat ambiguous as the definition of "play" includes the attempt to retire a BR/R/offensive player including the NCAA.

Actually, in ASA the pitcher is not considered an infielder.

Not saying the rest of your post is inaccurate (except the deflection part in some rule sets), just the definition. :)

"Protected" is a bit of umpire jargon that is actually inaccurate enough to trip us up if we don't keep the actual rule itself in mind.

IOW, no one is "protected". It is simply that a runner is out if the runner interferes with a fielder attempting to field a batted ball with the exception that if more than one fielder is attempting to field the batted ball, the runner is not out if the contact is with one who could not make an out / play.

This wording is a bit clumsy (What if there is more than 2? What if they could all make an out?), but we - hopefully - know what is meant.

And, Mike, I do believe that a pitcher is still a fielder, right? :)

In that case, we would have to figure out which fielder had the priority (IOW, which one is "most protected" :p)

Didn't say THEY were not, did I?