Obstruction ruling.

[lennyslosers]

Dixie 12u girls fastpitch South Carolina State championship game, 2 outs and bases are empty. The batter hits it over the left fielders head, when running to first she run into the firstbaseman who is on top of the bag. The umpire raises his hand to signal obstruction and the runner continues to second base and then on to third where she is throw out for the 3rd out of the inning. The offensive coach argues obstruction and that she would have easily made it to third. The umpires and tournament director break out rule book and give her third. I thought the obstruction rule gives you free passage to the next base which was 2nd and anything after that you are in play again and can be called out. You can't assume she would have made it 3rd and give her 3rd. What is the correct call?

 

[Comp]

I dont know the wording of the Dixie obstruction rule. Both ASA and FED the rule states the runner may not be called out between the 2 bases where obstructed. So in the play you have presented, the runner could not have been called out between 1st and 2nd. However, the rule also states when a runner is obstructed at the conclusion of the play the runner is to be awarded the base, or bases they would have reached absent the obstruction. If the umpires judged the runner would have made it to 3rd if she had not been obstructed at 1st, then yes the award of 3rd was the correct call.

 

[honus14]

Dixie's rules are online; here's the obstruction rule (it's basically the MLB rule, with two kinds of obstruction, this one being what the baseball guys call Type B, with no play being made):

If no play is being made on the obstructed runner, the play shall proceed until no further action is possible. The umpire shall then call “Time” and impose such penalties, if any, as in his judgment will nullify the act of obstruction.

So, umpire's judgment on what base to award the runner. That much is the same in all rule sets I'm aware of; no rules I'm familiar with limit the award to the next base.

 

[Umpire]

They are awarded the base the would have reached, in the umpire's judgment, had there been no obstruction. The umpires are to err on the side of the offense (the offended team) when awarding bases. That is, if the umpire is unsure, he should err on the side of awarding more bases than fewer bases. This is not a free for all, mind you. However, a ruling must be made and when in doubt, penalize the team that violated a rule, not the team that played within the rules.

 

[cmustangsfp]

I thought the obstruction rule gives you free passage to the next base which was 2nd and anything after that you are in play again and can be called out. You can't assume she would have made it 3rd and give her 3rd. What is the correct call?

If that was the case then on a deep hit ball you would have 1B's tackling the runner and keeping them to second base. The umpires have to make sure that the offending team is punished for obstruction.

 

[stickpile39]

If that was the case then on a deep hit ball you would have 1B's tackling the runner and keeping them to second base. The umpires have to make sure that the offending team is punished for obstruction.

Like a corner back tackling a WR who has beaten him

 

[MTR]

If that was the case then on a deep hit ball you would have 1B's tackling the runner and keeping them to second base. The umpires have to make sure that the offending team is punished for obstruction.

No, the umpire has to make sure the offense gets what it would have had the OBS not occurred.