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Feb 8, 2019
9
1
Pretty much judgement by the umpires, the ones i had i only seen one and ejected the young child sadly. However if i am with another Umpire we talk about it and if we both don't see anything. Its more of the momentum than anything else. Most girls seem to care and check on others.
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
One thing I've gathered from this, and something I've debated with umpires who don't know the rules, is that for contact to be "malicious" it just has to be "an act that involves excessive force with an opponent.” It does not have to be an intentional act meant to injure or anything. The base runner doesn't have to do her best Albert Belle impression. If she's just cluelessly running the bases and knocks a girl into next week because of her own ignorance or lack of athletic ability or whatever, it can be worthy of an ejection.

I am still super bitter about one of my players suffering a concussion because a girl on the other team wasn't taught to slide, and all the umpires said was "well, we called her out." Of course you did. Because she was tagged out before she trucked my player. grumblegrumble
 
Jun 22, 2008
3,731
113
As with many of refree articles, they are partially correct, partially wrong. Crashing into a fielder isn't just if they simply have possession, it is if they have possession and are waiting to make a tag. A runner cannot instantly stop or change course when a fielder suddenly received a throw 1/4 of a second before the runner got there.

Also, while NFHS does allow for a runner to be called out if the contact is rule malicious, USA softball has no such rule. And simply pushing a fielder is not necessarily interference. In USA, if the umpire judges the contact to be excessive they can eject for unsportsmanlike conduct, but they cannot call the runner out.
 
Dec 10, 2015
845
63
Chautauqua County
As with many of refree articles, they are partially correct, partially wrong. Crashing into a fielder isn't just if they simply have possession, it is if they have possession and are waiting to make a tag. A runner cannot instantly stop or change course when a fielder suddenly received a throw 1/4 of a second before the runner got there.

Also, while NFHS does allow for a runner to be called out if the contact is rule malicious, USA softball has no such rule. And simply pushing a fielder is not necessarily interference. In USA, if the umpire judges the contact to be excessive they can eject for unsportsmanlike conduct, but they cannot call the runner out.

Thanks, Comp. I like putting stuff like this out there to confirm the half right and explain the half wrong.
 
Oct 11, 2018
231
43
Also, while NFHS does allow for a runner to be called out if the contact is rule malicious, USA softball has no such rule. And simply pushing a fielder is not necessarily interference. In USA, if the umpire judges the contact to be excessive they can eject for unsportsmanlike conduct, but they cannot call the runner out.

USA softball has rule Supplement 13. Doesn't it also mean the runner is called out for a hard hit. USA calls it a crash rather than malicious contact, but it looks the same. here is the wording in RS 13: In an effort to prevent injury and protect a defensive player attempting to make a play on a runner, the runner must be called out when they remain on their feet and crash into a defensive player who is holding the ball and waiting to apply a tag. From 2018 USA book.
 
Jun 22, 2008
3,731
113
USA softball has rule Supplement 13. Doesn't it also mean the runner is called out for a hard hit. USA calls it a crash rather than malicious contact, but it looks the same. here is the wording in RS 13: In an effort to prevent injury and protect a defensive player attempting to make a play on a runner, the runner must be called out when they remain on their feet and crash into a defensive player who is holding the ball and waiting to apply a tag. From 2018 USA book.

You are talking about 2 different things. Both NFHS and USA have a crash rule, that is when a runner remains on their feet and runs into a fielder who is in possession of the ball and waiting to make a tag. Exactly what is described in the rules supplement you just quoted. I am talking about contact with a fielder who does not have the ball, NFHS has a malicious contact rule and the runner may be ruled out. USA has no such rule, you can eject the player for unsportsmanlike conduct when the play is over, but there is no rule that allows the umpire to call the runner out simply because of the contact unless they have violated the crash rule.
 

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