Base vs safety bag obstruction

[Momo'sDad]

Short pop-up to pitcher is dropped, 1B hesitates going to cover, but gets to bag in plenty of time. Batter runs over 1B in fair territory, knocking her down and the ball from her glove. Runner is awarded 2nd on an obstruction call.

Opposing coach is UIC and disagrees with the call, but we both agree to let the ump have the call she wants.

I didn't make the proper appeal then, but does the batter-runner have full entitlement to the base or are they required to go for the safety bag in order to avoid the collision?

 

[Comp]

If the batter/runner is running straight through 1st base, they are required to use the safety base unless F3 is using the safety base on a throw from foul territory. If a batter/runner uses the white base instead of the safety base, and the defense appeals prior to the runner returning to 1st, the runner is out.

 

[Momo'sDad]

Thanks. I didn't think the batter-runner had any right to the white base unless she'd already made the turn to 2nd and was returning.

Mojo's mom thinks this particular ump has it in for DD (because of a couple games earlier in the season, too), but I don't see it that way.

 

[honus14]

How the heck could the umpire call obstruction if the fielder had the ball?

Agree with Comp regarding use of the white/orange base.

 

[Momo'sDad]

The umpires never get a hard time from me, but she saw a collision and assigned the blame to 1B, even though the batter ran through her in fair territory, not on the safety bag. At the time, however, I was more concerned about our player than the call, so I didn't process it properly and had no assistant on the bench to call it for us.

 

[buckgeno]

The OP is lacking some info, and my son is taking a nap, so I'll do some investigatin'...

1. Did F3 touch the base and have possession of the ball before being contacted by the BR? The OP sounds like either F3 did not touch 1st for the force or she attempted to tag the BR.

2. Did the umpire explain why they were awarding the BR 2nd base? Was the BR trying to advance to 2nd? If you're playing USSSA rules then I can get where maybe the OBS would put the BR @ 2nd but the BR would have to have reached 1B safely.

3. If the runner was truly outside the 3' running lane and made contact with F3 in fair territory... OBS is not only a bad call, it's the entirely wrong one. ASA 8.2.E and USSSA 9.17.F cover this.

4. Even though the opposing coach is the UIC (a whole other topic in itself) his standing on the field at the time of the incident is simply "Offensive Coach". He could and should have used this play as a teaching point with his umpire, but only after the completion of the game.

Not enough info to make a 100% case against the call, but it sounds like the umpire in question needs some clinic work and some rulebook study IMO.

 

[Momo'sDad]

From my vantage point just outside the 1B dugout, F3 adjusted her position to catch the throw that was slightly off-line and later than it should've been, but was still completely in fair territory. I thought the ball was secure for a split second before contact occurred, but even though the ump didn't see it, baserunner still should've been called out for causing the collision.

We're in an ASA rec league and ump blamed our 1B for the collision. This is a very knowledgeable umpire for her age, but my view of what happened was that she was anxious to call something on the collision and just made the wrong call, as the runner was clearly in fair territory. I should've let her know the rule, but in reality, my biggest concern at that moment was that my little DD - our #1 pitcher - had just gotten hurt pretty badly by a much larger player. After losing the game, I questioned my decision to have her at 1B in the 1st place, but it's just one of those things. No one made it happen.

All the 10u coaches are generally agreeable when it comes to certain allowances during games. For example, there was a situation a couple weeks ago where a player was so deathly afraid of getting hit again by our league's best pitcher that she had a complete meltdown and refused her next at-bat. Under normal circumstances, that would be an automatic out, but the all-star team coaches agreed to let her return to the dugout and skip her at-bat and then someone went over to update the scorekeepers. Not real softball, perhaps, but not a big deal under the circumstances.

 

[MTR]

From my vantage point just outside the 1B dugout, F3 adjusted her position to catch the throw that was slightly off-line and later than it should've been, but was still completely in fair territory. I thought the ball was secure for a split second before contact occurred, but even though the ump didn't see it, baserunner still should've been called out for causing the collision.

No, that isn't so. Out for interference? Possibly. I'd have to see the play.

We're in an ASA rec league and ump blamed our 1B for the collision. This is a very knowledgeable umpire for her age, but my view of what happened was that she was anxious to call something on the collision and just made the wrong call, as the runner was clearly in fair territory.

The runner being in fair territory is irrelevant to any rule.

 

[FPMark]

If the throw took 1st baseman into the runner, it would be 'insidental', no interference or obstruction. Don't know what rule would put the runner at 2nd though, unless she continued to second after the collision and made it safely.

 

[MTR]

If the throw took 1st baseman into the runner, it would be 'insidental', no interference or obstruction. Don't know what rule would put the runner at 2nd though, unless she continued to second after the collision and made it safely.

If F3 doesn't have the ball, I will call OBS. The rule is quite clear and if you think about it, as a coach, you would be hopping mad if your BR gets clotheslined by a defender without the ball and is eventually tagged out while laying on the ground. Why would you even consider rewarding the defense for poor play?

The incidental contact is more often an exception to ruling against a runner for a collision caused by the defense.