dead ball/ground rule double?

[corlay]

So, between 10U games this weekend, I watched a 14U game.

With a runner on 1B, a batter hit a BOMB for an HR.
Probably the farthest shot Ive personally ever seen live in a softball game.
(admittedly, I'm a bit of a rookie...)

Anyway, here's the point of contention:

Scenario: The 1B runner had scored and the batter was a few steps away from 3B by the time an OF got to the ball.
There was no OF fence, and the ball carried into an area between fields, where another team was warming-up.
Ball came to a stop *near* some of the other team's practice balls that were lying in a loose grouping in the grass.
Game ball never actually made contact with anything other than blades of grass, and path/stopping place of game ball did not ever impede the OF player's ability to field it.

Result: The Fielding Team Coach went *ballistic*, calling for a dead-ball/ground rule double, saying "how do we know my fielder picked-up and fielded the actual game ball?!!" The umpire(s) did not grant the dead ball ruling and allowed the play to stand. I didn't catch their reasoning because they weren't shouting at the top of their lungs like the fielding Team's Coach.

Question is: was this the correct ruling? I'm no expert, but I would say that it becomes a judgment call: was the path of ball altered/obstructed in any way that prevented the OF from fielding it? (no) and if perchance the ball did get mixed-in with the other teams practice balls, would the fielding team otherwise been able to make reasonable play on the batter? (no).

Curious what more experienced folks might say about this.
I can see this happening again, in a tournament setting.

 

[James Smith]

If the ball rolls out of play I read 8I as a two base award (ground rule double). (ASA)


It does not sound like the umpire ruled the ball out of play, which seems like it is a discretionary call by the umpire. It doesn’t matter how far the ball goes or where the runners are.

 

[MTR]

So, between 10U games this weekend, I watched a 14U game.

With a runner on 1B, a batter hit a BOMB for an HR.
Probably the farthest shot Ive personally ever seen live in a softball game.
(admittedly, I'm a bit of a rookie...)

Anyway, here's the point of contention:

Scenario: The 1B runner had scored and the batter was a few steps away from 3B by the time an OF got to the ball.
There was no OF fence, and the ball carried into an area between fields, where another team was warming-up.
Ball came to a stop *near* some of the other team's practice balls that were lying in a loose grouping in the grass.
Game ball never actually made contact with anything other than blades of grass, and path/stopping place of game ball did not ever impede the OF player's ability to field it.

The bold part is completely irrelevant if this was not determined to be dead ball territory prior to the game.

Result: The Fielding Team Coach went *ballistic*, calling for a dead-ball/ground rule double, saying "how do we know my fielder picked-up and fielded the actual game ball?!!" The umpire(s) did not grant the dead ball ruling and allowed the play to stand. I didn't catch their reasoning because they weren't shouting at the top of their lungs like the fielding Team's Coach.

Question is: was this the correct ruling? I'm no expert, but I would say that it becomes a judgment call: was the path of ball altered/obstructed in any way that prevented the OF from fielding it? (no) and if perchance the ball did get mixed-in with the other teams practice balls, would the fielding team otherwise been able to make reasonable play on the batter? (no).

There really isn't any judgment here. It could have bounced off three of the players warming up and their equipment, it means nothing unless one of them intentionally stopped or picked-up the ball and then spectator interference would be determined and the runners would be awarded the bases the umpire believed they would have reached had the interference not occurred. Again, unless the ball entered a predetermine dead ball area, it is a live ball and all play continues as if the ball were sitting in the middle of the outfield.

 

[butcher-boy]

1. Since there was no fence this situation should have been covered by the UIC prior to the start of the game. 2. With the field configuration you describe teams should not have been allowed to warm up between two games in progress.

 

[AngelsFan01]

This happened earlier in the season with my DD. She hit a bomb that landed in the dirt of the next field over and that second baseman picked it up. The opposing coach came out as soon as the umpire called it a home run instead of spectator interference. He turned to the coach and asked him if he realistically thought his players would have made it all the way over there and get the ball back in time. The coach just headed back into his dugout!