NCAA obstruction - I give up

[Greatdaytobeawildcat]

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I know, this is a still photo, hopefully someone can find/upload the video. But if this is obstruction (and yes, they overturned the out to call obstruction here and score the run) - I give up.I won’t ump ncaa probably ever, but geez. That is tough.

Tenn/Ark game on now.

 

[MoJo]

Another potato pic.

Nothing can be ascertained.

Time for a video.

 

[Chilixa]

It was a terrible call. And replay is for obvious errors. Should never be reversed on replay. I can’t stand how some are trying to interpret the rule now.


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[Rolling Hard]

Another potato pic.

Nothing can be ascertained.

Time for a video.

I think I can ascertain that there is still a lane for the runner and I believe the catcher has received the ball. I see no obstruction but would like to see video.

 

[The Man In Blue]

Cannot tell much by the photo (no idea where the ball is) ... I would remind that NCAA has a blocking provision.

I think I can ascertain that there is still a lane for the runner and I believe the catcher has received the ball. I see no obstruction but would like to see video.

If you have to start with "I think I can ascertain ..." then it likely is obstruction.

I'll also remind "there is still A lane for the runner" is not legal. The fielder cannot dictate the runner's path.

 

[Gtrips07]

In the frame before, she doesn't have the ball yet and the runner begins to widen her angle to home. Catcher was blocking part of the plate, which according to NCAA rules, you cannot do without possession of the ball.

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[Chilixa]

In the frame before, she doesn't have the ball yet and the runner begins to widen her angle to home. Catcher was blocking part of the plate, which according to NCAA rules, you cannot do without possession of the ball.

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She is still 4 steps away and the ball brought her barely in front of the plate. I understand why the rule exists but if that is how they are going to interpret it it is awful. That call ruined an incredible play on a debatable technicality. Let the players decide the games.


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[marriard]

<< I have not seen the video so I have no idea right or wrong>>
As I have discussed before, NCAA has decided to try to take as much 'judgement' out of these sorts of calls (not just obstruction) and make the calls black/white with as little grey as possible. In GENERAL this is a good thing - it either is or isn't. There is not maybe....

With obstruction, a lot of the discussion above about lanes and ball possession and paths and runner deviations, etc, simply doesn't matter in the NCAA rule set. There is no judging runner behavior or guessing.

Yes, there may be some issues with the rule as written (lots of rules have issues), but it is does make on-field decisions easier and is also supposed to make it easier to gets calls consistent across games.

 

[Northball]

I did watch that game and IMO the runner did deviate her path to avoid a catcher who did not yet have the ball. Catcher's foot was (borderline) blocking the short side of the plate. The only way the runner had a path to the plate was to swing out wider than the chalk-line path.
Trying not to pass any judgement, just report what I saw on the play. I'm sure I could be persuaded to changes in the rule that makes it a little more definitive.

 

[The Man In Blue]

On a tangent, in another thread I had suggested the catcher NOT stand in front of the plate, but rather stand behind it in foul territory.

This week I had a play at the plate that was a text book case of how that works. The catcher was behind the foul line and in the batter's box. The throw arrived right as the runner started to slide. The catcher caught it and dropped the tag right on the runner for a well-played out. Had the catcher been in the "traditional" spot, she would have been spinning around, chasing the runner with the tag and never would have gotten her.

When the offense's head coach came in at the end of the inning, he commented, "I wanted to come ask you about possibly getting an obstruction call, but when she [the catcher] is in foul territory, I have no case. Never seen that before."