This was a point of emphasis a few years back for high school ball (NFHS). As you described, it is a safety issue for the teams to meet/huddle in live ball territory as the defense is warming up between innings. It is not an issue that they are meeting, just that they are in live ball territory...
... which the OP said was occurring. After the stride foot lands, there is no issue. Can't be a leap, one foot is on the ground. The drag foot can follow through into the air.
Without having been there, I have no idea why the umpire called this illegal.
Anytime the pitcher has not taken her place on the pitching plate is ok. If the batter crosses the plate while the pitcher is in this position, she is out. Personally, I would either call time to be sure or wait for a foul ball and switch before the pitcher gets the ball back.
Correct. I think the OP's interpretation of the situation was slightly skewed. Without any information beyond what the OP stated, I think what happened was the coach THOUGHT it was batting out of order or an illegal sub (which, it was neither; it was an unreported sub), and the correct penalty...
I saw the forward "step" as well, and thought for sure she was illegal. Then, after discussing with an NCAA ump and reading Bretman's response, her heel WAS probably still OVER the pitching plate.
Bretman, if I'm not mistaken, this rule only applies when the act of kicking is intentional, correct? If a batted ball deflects off of a diving F7 and enters dead ball territory, it is only a ground rule double.
Yes, if the player is reentering, regardless of offense or defense, the player must report. Make sure you read all of ASA rule 4-6, especially C. By not reporting the reentry, you have an unreported substitute situation, and the effects in C apply. It is a page long rule, so I will not quote...
This is exactly what the ASA rule allows. Thou shalt not bowl over a defender who has the ball and is ready to apply a tag. However, you need not slide. You can go around, stop and stick your foot out, or jump over the fielder for all I care. But as Bretman said, you are asking for trouble...
This raises a good point. I assumed the only obstruction was while the runner was trying to reach 3B before the arrival of the ball. If the runner was impeded after the ball got away from the fielder, then you have a second obstruction on the runner's progress toward HP. If the ball got so...
I agree with what Coach Al said, but not for this situation. If the ball was getting to 3B at the same time as the runner, then I am only protecting the runner to 3B.
Completely agree here. Obstruction is a delayed dead ball at the time of the violation. Additionally, a runner cannot be put...
I won't go around yelling for the girls to "hustle in and out," but the wasting 3 minutes between innings will not happen. By rule, the defense has 1 minute to hustle out, get their warm-up pitches, throw the infield ball around if they want, and get set for the batter. One minute is not very...