Question about a pickle play

[bpeck]

Hey guys.. so we had a girl round third tonight and ended up in a pickle.. catcher threw it to third and retreated to cover home again.. our runner went back towards home.. the catcher straddled the baseline about 5 feet up from home.. caught the ball and tagged the runner getting her out.. does she not need to give her a path home? Cause then if our runner goes around she will be called for running out of the baseline..

Thought?

Thanks

 

[Comp]

As long as the catcher did not impede the runner without possession of the ball the catcher can be anywhere they like.

 

[bpeck]

No she was standing in the baseline and didn't have the ball atbhat time.. waited for it on the line

 

[CoachJD]

But where was the runner? If the runner is 20 feet away, she's not impeding her (yet). If the runner has to stop because the catcher is in the way, that's a problem.

Also, the runner isn't out of the baseline if she's going around a fielder who doesn't have the ball. Heck, she might not even be going out of the baseline if she goes around a fielder with the ball.

 

[JAD]

It is a judgement call by the umpire, but not sure if I have ever seen obstruction called in this scenario.

 

[bpeck]

It is a judgement call by the umpire, but not sure if I have ever seen obstruction called in this scenario.

I hear you, but if she doesn't have the ball just seems like she shouldn't be able to straddle the baseline.. our runner was probably three feet way from her coming into home as the ball was being thrown to the catcher.. so just sounds like the best thing to do there is to run around her and test the distance of which she can go to avoid her

 

[CoachJD]

I hear you, but if she doesn't have the ball just seems like she shouldn't be able to straddle the baseline.. our runner was probably three feet way from her coming into home as the ball was being thrown to the catcher.. so just sounds like the best thing to do there is to run around her and test the distance of which she can go to avoid her

If she's passing the catcher before the catcher has the ball, she's not out of the base line. She's not avoiding a tag or anything.

If the catcher does have the ball by the time she gets to her, the catcher isn't obstructing.

 

[JAD]

I hear you, but if she doesn't have the ball just seems like she shouldn't be able to straddle the baseline.. our runner was probably three feet way from her coming into home as the ball was being thrown to the catcher.. so just sounds like the best thing to do there is to run around her and test the distance of which she can go to avoid her

Making contact with a defensive player in the baseline without the ball during a pickle is almost guaranteed to get an obstruction call.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

Making contact with a defensive player in the baseline without the ball during a pickle is almost guaranteed to get an obstruction call.

Making contact with a defensive player without the ball *anywhere* during a pickle is almost guaranteed to get an obstruction call as long as the runner didn't obviously go out of their way to make contact.

Fielder straddling the line or base is also problematic if the runner is between them and the ball - they need to establish a clear throwing lane.

 

[MTR]

The first response, from Comp in post #2, was the best available and most accurate you can receive.