Ok, I am sure at soem point, this was probably discussed on here. I did look some but didnt see a thread on it, so I figured I would ask. What is the rule for avoiding a collision when there is a play at home plate? I imagine it is the same for a play at any plate that isnt a force out. My daughter is our high school catcher. A runner came home from 3rd as the throw was coming home. She was set up about at the front edge of the plate, with both feet on the 3rd base side, so just inside the foul line. As she caught the ball and started to turn to her left to try making the tag, the runner was right there and stepped over her left leg to try to stretch to reach the plate with her foot and nailed my daughter with her left knee in the knee/calf area and laid her out. The runner stayed on her feet and was safe. She never tried to slide or avoid the collision at all. What is the rule for this? I thought the runner was required to slide, run around the fielder or basically give up to avoid a hard collision like that. This is NFHS rules. This is one rule I never see called or enforced. There are just too many girls who are afraid to slide for whatever reason. I would think for safety reasons, it would be a rule they would tightly enforce. This is a case where the runner should have slid or she could of easily went a little wide to the outside and avoided most of the contact.
Avoiding A Collision
- Thread starter RobD
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- Jun 22, 2008
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The runner is never required to slide. However, couldn't possibly say what was right or wrong without seeing the play.
asa rules state slide, go around, or go over to avoid collision. this is a rule that is rarely called , dd has the stitches and concussion to show for it. back to back plays at the plate. blue said the collisions were not intentional because they didn't lower their shoulder. will probably be thrown out of a game this year arguing this one to protect the girls.
- Dec 7, 2011
- 2,368
- 38
This is another area where the expectation and the application of the rules is all over the board.
I just point to two contrasting cases this year:
1 - Tennessee vs Auburn earlier in the season : A minor collision occurs at the plate area and the fans in Tennessee (and here) freak-out and want folks ejected or even brought up on charges..... The runner gets escorted off the field.
2 - Michigan State vs Indiana late in the season : Early in the game the Michigan State player comes in hard to the plate with a body-shiver to knock the Indiana catcher to the floor for a long ten-count. Later in the game, in a turn around moment, a bigger Indiana runner comes charging home and takes the Michigan State catcher out. Not sure but the Michigan State catcher probably has no more functional ACL as she was carried off.
It was weird in the sense that in the first game above everyone was appalled by the collision (that was not much of a collision). Then in the big-10 game it appeared on tv that everyone was taking it as "part of the game" (fans/players/umpires all alike)
Where is the continuity with this?......
I just point to two contrasting cases this year:
1 - Tennessee vs Auburn earlier in the season : A minor collision occurs at the plate area and the fans in Tennessee (and here) freak-out and want folks ejected or even brought up on charges..... The runner gets escorted off the field.
2 - Michigan State vs Indiana late in the season : Early in the game the Michigan State player comes in hard to the plate with a body-shiver to knock the Indiana catcher to the floor for a long ten-count. Later in the game, in a turn around moment, a bigger Indiana runner comes charging home and takes the Michigan State catcher out. Not sure but the Michigan State catcher probably has no more functional ACL as she was carried off.
It was weird in the sense that in the first game above everyone was appalled by the collision (that was not much of a collision). Then in the big-10 game it appeared on tv that everyone was taking it as "part of the game" (fans/players/umpires all alike)
Where is the continuity with this?......
- Jun 22, 2008
- 3,438
- 48
Why argue when a simple protest would do?
Here is a video link. My biggest problem is all of the room from the foul line to the outside, that if the runner used, there would of been little to no contact at all. Instead she chose to go through the catcher.
Collision.m2ts - YouTube
Collision.m2ts - YouTube
Rule supplement 13. The rules do state that, if the defensive player has the ball and is "waiting" to apply a tag. As per the original post, Paragraph G of supplement 13. When the ball, runner and defensive player arrive at the same time and place, and contact is made, the umpire should not invoke the crach rule, interference or obstruction. This is merely incidental contact, or what some persons comonly call "a wreck".
So if the runner sees the throw coming in and knows it will be there at the same time she is, its perfectly ok to just lower her shoulder and blast the catcher? Or maybe that means when the catcher goes to apply the tag in the same situation, it means its ok to whack the runner in the chops with the glove right? That rule pretty much says anything goes and is fair game if the ball and runner arrive at the same time.
Where in your original post do you mention the runner lowering her shoulder and blasting your daughter? No, the rule does not allow any player to "blast" another player. If the contact is in the umpires judgement "flagrant", the offender is to be ejected. This goes both ways, if the runner lowers their shoulder and plows the catcher, yes they should certainly be ejected. Same goes for a catcher that swings the glove around and whacks the runner in the chops. If it was flagrant, ejection.
Softball is a game that puts players in close proximity, one trying to prevent another from reaching a very small piece of real estate in a very specific location, the other trying to reach that same spot. Collisions are inevitably going to happen, and unless the umpire judges them to be flagrant or malicious they are simply collisions.
Softball is a game that puts players in close proximity, one trying to prevent another from reaching a very small piece of real estate in a very specific location, the other trying to reach that same spot. Collisions are inevitably going to happen, and unless the umpire judges them to be flagrant or malicious they are simply collisions.
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