Ball 3 - Take Your Base (?)

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Jun 1, 2015
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Caught this on the local 11pm news and was curious of the result/ruling (Varsity HS Softball - ASA rulebook):

Team A is up to bat - no outs, runners on 1st and 2nd, batter with a 2-0 count.
Batter lets a high/outside pitch go by and immediately heads down for 1st base thinking it's ball 4. The runners at 1st and 2nd, believing they are being forced, advance to 2nd and 3rd respectively, without being tagged out.

Team B (the home team) comes out to discuss with umpires, saying it was ball 3 - books were checked, field umpire is checked, and it IS ball 3. Batter returns to the box BUT the umpires agree to let the runners stay where they advanced to. Team B's coach plays the rest of the game under protest. Team B went on to lose the game, pending the outcome of the protest.

What's the correct call in this case? Can the runners stay at their advanced-to bases if they felt "forced" by an incorrect assumption of the count by the batter?
 

Greenmonsters

Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Feb 21, 2009
6,168
38
New England
Caught this on the local 11pm news and was curious of the result/ruling (Varsity HS Softball - ASA rulebook):

Team A is up to bat - no outs, runners on 1st and 2nd, batter with a 2-0 count.
Batter lets a high/outside pitch go by and immediately heads down for 1st base thinking it's ball 4. The runners at 1st and 2nd, believing they are being forced, advance to 2nd and 3rd respectively, without being tagged out.

Team B (the home team) comes out to discuss with umpires, saying it was ball 3 - books were checked, field umpire is checked, and it IS ball 3. Batter returns to the box BUT the umpires agree to let the runners stay where they advanced to. Team B's coach plays the rest of the game under protest. Team B went on to lose the game, pending the outcome of the protest.

What's the correct call in this case? Can the runners stay at their advanced-to bases if they felt "forced" by an incorrect assumption of the count by the batter?

Protest disallowed. The runners correctly stayed at 2nd and 3rd based on the fact that their advance was at the risk i.e., they would've been called out if tagged. FWIW, 1 of DD's 2 career college SBs happened in a similar fashion!
 
Nov 29, 2009
2,975
83
Team B will lose the protest. It is up to the defense to know the situation. The runners remain where they are.

It is a HTBT play. But I would guess if the umpires thought it was a coached play designed in an unsportsmanlike manner they would have corrected it and warned the coach and player. You stated they discussed the play. So my initial thoughts are they did not feel it was an intentional attempt to deceive. Rather a simple loss of the count by the batter.
 
Jun 22, 2008
3,731
113
They will lose their protest, Im pretty sure there is even an NFHS case play covering this exact situation. As stated, the defense is responsible for knowing the situation and playing appropriately. It also applies to a batter running on a dropped third strike when first is occupied with less than 2 outs. If the catcher tries to play on the batter and throws the ball away it is just a dumb play by the defense. They should know the situation and there is no play on the batter, they should be playing on one of the other advancing runners.
 
Mar 13, 2010
960
0
Columbus, Ohio
NFHS does have a case play...and it's pretty Draconian!

Most states play high school ball under NFHS rules. There are a few that don't. Here is the NFHS case play. The whole thing about "possibly ejecting the batter" is unique to their rule interpretations. I don't think that you'll find that in any other rule set. Their approach is to treat it as an accident...until you decide it wasn't an accident! Very oddball ruling that could lead to uneven enforcement. But I've NEVER seen this called in a game.

3.6.13 SITUATION B:

With R1 on first, B2 receives ball three and begins advancing to first base as if ball four had been called. R1 advances to second as if B2 has received a walk. F2 quickly asks the umpire if the pitch was ball four, but in the confusion R1 advances to second base safely.

RULING: The defensive team should always be alert to the count and attempt plays accordingly. If the umpire believes the team at bat purposely had its batter run to first on ball three, the umpire could eject the batter for exhibiting behavior not in the spirit of fair play. Otherwise, the umpire may warn the coach of the team at bat and eject the next player to exhibit behavior that is not in accordance with the spirit of fair play. R1's advance to second is legal.


Since this was ASA play, then what Comp said applies. The defense is accountable for knowing the count and knowing the situation. The runner's advance stands and the batter is brought back to complete her at-bat...and nobody's getting ejected!
 
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