Maybe - MAYBE - I could see this being a correct call if the fielder ran into the coach while trying to retrieve the ball that deflected off the coach - but in my untrained-as-an-ump opinion, it would only be if the coach didn't make a good-faith effort to get out of the way.
interference by 3rd base coach??
- Thread starter ksadad
- Start date
Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch
Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.
From your description of the play in your original post, this was a bad call. What possible play did the coach hinder? The runner started at second base and easily made it to third base before the ball was even thrown into the infield. The batter-runner likely would have made it to second base on the throw home. So what did the coach prevent the defense from doing? Hell, he/she probably kept the ball close to the defense to keep the runner at third from scoring.
Sorry, but this was an umpire who didn't have a grasp of the rules looking to make a call. The coach's box is irrelevant on this play. You mentioned NFHS rules, and here's the pertinent rule on coach's boxes:
This means after the pitch is released, the coach isn't restricted to the box. He/she is allowed to leave the box at that point.
Key statement on the Rules you posted... Hinder the defense from making a play.... Which play was hindered?
Back door at third??
What if she had taken home on the play?? That shouldn't change the call, but a play at the plate has certainly been impacted.
- May 29, 2015
- 3,794
- 113
One thing I have learned and really tried to focus on in the last few seasons ...
We can rule on what is happening and we can make a slight projection (such as on an obstructed runner), but we cannot work the game trying to project ALL possible outcomes in the multiverse. Work the play and where it is headed, don’t work the next possible play.
To put it anecdotally: the words “what if” never appear in the rulebook.
We can rule on what is happening and we can make a slight projection (such as on an obstructed runner), but we cannot work the game trying to project ALL possible outcomes in the multiverse. Work the play and where it is headed, don’t work the next possible play.
To put it anecdotally: the words “what if” never appear in the rulebook.
Nope, that’s not how it works. We don’t project in the future what woulda coulda shoulda happened if the ball hadn’t contacted the coach. If that was the case, we could penalize a coach for fielding a bounding foul ball in the box because it could’ve hit a divot behind him and carom fair. Or we could penalize a runner for sliding into the catcher while the ball is still at the outfield fence because the contact could cause the catcher to fail to get up quickly enough and catch a throw to retire the other runner who is still rounding second base.
No, the moment the ball contacts the coach is when we determine that a play was hindered. And there was no possibility of a play at that time.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
She didn't take home, there was NO play at the plate... Backdoor at third... maybe, except it was a wild throw and from the sounds of it away from the catcher, so I doubt a backdoor play as well.
Since the coach's box is tangentially related, a question about that: I often see the box drawn as three sides of a rectangle, with the long side away from the field undrawn.
What does this mean in practice? Does that mean the box technically extends all the way out of play (to the fence or whatever)? I can't imagine an umpire ever saying anything if a coach is within the two short lines by farther from the field, so mostly just curious.
What does this mean in practice? Does that mean the box technically extends all the way out of play (to the fence or whatever)? I can't imagine an umpire ever saying anything if a coach is within the two short lines by farther from the field, so mostly just curious.
It simply means the box extends all the way to the fence. Similarly, NCAA draws just an “L” shape with the long line along the foul line and the short line closer to home. That means the “box” goes all the way to outfield fence in foul territory.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
