NCAA has an about to receive rule. If the fielder is about to receive a thrown ball, they can legally block a base without possession of the ball. About to receive is defined as the ball being closer to the fielder than the runner.
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I was having that discussion with an opposing fan last week (never a good idea) who was claiming the catcher can block the plate to take a throw. I says, 'without the ball, she can't get in the runner's way.' She began looking around for a college coach to settle the argument. Just wanted to make sure that I was still correct. In this case, the ball was just leaving the fielder's hand, nowhere near the plate. Our runner knocked over the catcher, got ejected. Which she should have been, as it was unnecessary, but our coaches were questioning the umpire as to whether the run would count and pointed out that catcher illegally impeded her path.