Fair or Foul ?

[CoachKevin]

Saw an interesting one last week, HS rules. Batter hit a ground ball down 3rd base line. From my vantage point (maybe 3-4 feet from HP up the 1st base line in the stands) it appeared to hit fair maybe a foot in front of the bag then kicked foul.

The PU called the ball fair. When offensive coach went to talk about it, the umpire stated that the ball went over a small corner of the bag, and thus fair.

I have looked and really couldn't find an answer, I always thought it had to go over the whole bag, not just a small corner.

 

[Comp]

Its no different than a ball stopping on the outside edge of a foul line. If the ball is still touching the line, it is a fair ball. If the ball first hit fair, and passed over any portion of the base, it is a fair ball.

 

[GI Tom]

The ol' bounding ball. Ahh, one of my least favorite calls to make as it's usually contreversial.

The easiest way I've explained it is that ALL of the bag is in fair territory. A ball that bounds over ANY part of the bag is fair. What if the ball had actually hit the exact same small corner you are talking about, you would agree it is fair then correct? Same principle, except the ball is in the air in this case. Foul lines extend upwards perpendicularly.

 

[CoachKevin]

OK thanks for the clarafication Comp.