Does the play stop when the ball is inside the pitching cirlce?
- Thread starter Lothar241
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Depends on the age group and rules -- I remember when I was coaching the really young kids, once the ball got into the circle, then everything had to stop. But once you get beyond that, the play doesn't stop until the baserunners stop.
Don’t have access to my rule book but I will try to get this right.
If the pitcher has the ball in the circle the look back rule takes effect, some other criteria like on walks LBR doesn’t take effect until the batter/ runner reaches 1st. It needs to be the pitcher in the circle.
The play doesn’t stop, the LBR just comes into effect. The runners can keep running around the bases as long as they adhere to the LBR. So a hit to 2nd, who throws the ball to the P in the circle. The batter/runner can run all the way around the bases if the P is just standing in the circle with the ball, the runner does not need to stop anywhere except the dugout after she scores.
If the pitcher has the ball in the circle the look back rule takes effect, some other criteria like on walks LBR doesn’t take effect until the batter/ runner reaches 1st. It needs to be the pitcher in the circle.
The play doesn’t stop, the LBR just comes into effect. The runners can keep running around the bases as long as they adhere to the LBR. So a hit to 2nd, who throws the ball to the P in the circle. The batter/runner can run all the way around the bases if the P is just standing in the circle with the ball, the runner does not need to stop anywhere except the dugout after she scores.
As quincy has stated, it must be the pitcher with posession of the ball in the circle to mean anything. Even then it only turns on the lookback rule, it does not stop playing action. Runners can continue to advance as long as they adhere to the limitations of the lookback rule.
