Fair, Foul, or INT?

[Momo'sDad]

R1 on 3B

Batter hits low, soft pop down the line in fair territory towards 3rd. R1 is taking her lead in foul territory. F5 moves towards the ball and makes contact with ball in fair territory, but then drops it just over the line in foul territory, some 8-12 inches away from R1. At 1st touch, both fielder and ball were clearly in fair territory.

Umpire rules foul ball.

After the inning, umpire informs offensive coach that some umpires might have ruled INT instead.

This was a scrimmage game using ASA rules.

1) I understand that these are both judgment calls, but based on the description, wasn't that a fair ball?

2) Can a runner interfere with a batted ball in foul territory when the fielder has ample space with which to make the play? The paths of the fielder and runner were perpendicular to one another.

 

[Comp]

If the ball was first touched ove fair territory, doesnt matter where it lands, it is a fair ball. As for the interference, have no idea, wasnt there to see the play. You say she dropped it 8-12 inches from the runner, but was the runner 8-12" away when F5 was trying to catch the ball? Even if she was, still doesnt mean it would be interference, but could have been. Again, one of those plays you would have to see in person.

 

[Ajaywill]

I agree with Comp.

You are correct in stating that these are judgement calls, however, I would like to have asked the umpire what he saw that led him to call the ball foul and why he (umpire) believes an interference call is a possibility. His answer could change the situation from a judgement call to a rule interpretation situation, which is protestable, or at the very least provide an opportunity for additional training for this umpire since it was a scrimmage game.

 

[Momo'sDad]

Thanks, guys. I didn't get to ask him afterwards, but I felt 99.9% certain on the fair/foul rule. I *suspect* he was more interested in the possible INT, but I thought that a ball contacted in fair territory by a fielder is a fair ball, regardless of where the ball eventually lands or comes to rest.

In this instance, we had two 10u teams where almost all of the players are coming directly from rec and will be in their 1st ASA tournament this weekend. Only 5 of the 28 players are familiar with D3K, open stealing, and INT/OBS. The other team's coaches are completely new to tournament ball as well.

 

[David Carter]

If the ball was contacted in fair territory (automatically fair at that instant) and the runner is in foul territory it would be really hard to see how INT is an option. This is why I almost always ask the ump two questions what did you see and what is the rule. If the ump says he saw the ball contacted in fair territory and does not call the ball fair something needs to be done (protest or additional training) hopefully he thought the ball was contacted in foul territory in which instance the runner has the obligation to allow the fielder to field the ball or be call for INT.