Hi, my DD's 12U rec team played a game yesterday where an IFF situation came up and an interchange between the PU, a fan and a coach got me confused. I've spent a couple hours now reading some rules and other IFF threads, but I haven't found something that exactly clears my confusion.
Here's the situation:
--Rec ball game, 1 umpire (PU) (aside: weather was cold and drizzly)
--Bases loaded, no outs
--Pitch is thrown, all runners take a lead off their bases
--Batter hits a medium pop-up (about 30 feet in the air) that is falling between F1 and F2 slightly closer to F2 (about 2/5 the way from home to pitching plate).
--F1 & F2 charge the ball, and F2 basket catches it without turning around (i.e., still facing the circle, not home plate with shoulders squared).
--After the catch, PU yells "Infield Fly"
--BR has run almost all the way to 1B.
--All runners are still off their bases, especially R3 on 1B.
--F2 sees R3 far off base and F3 covering the base and throws to F3 who catches it with a foot on the bag.
--After the throw to 1B, PU is making the out sign (fist pump in the air). BR is still along the baseline in the vicinity of 1B, and it could be interpreted as ambiguous as to whether the out sign was for BR or R3.
--R3 leaves the base towards dugout.
--A fan yells, "Stay there! Stay on the base! She can't be doubled up on an infield fly!", and R3 just about enters the dugout.
--At this point the offensive coach yells a protest to the PU.
--PU replies, "She's already in the dugout, she's out."
--No further discussion happens and the game continues with 2 outs with R1 on 3B and R2 on 2B.
Here's my confusion: do the runners have to stay on the base for a tag-up just like a standard fly ball when IFF is called? Or do runners who took a lead and didn't go immediately back to tag up get to return to base without liability to be put out? I thought they could be put out by not tagging up after the caught fly ball, even when IFF is called. But when the PU said she's already in the dugout to justify R3 being out instead of her being put out by not tagging up, that confused me. I was talking with my DD afterwards when we watched the video (that's how I got the gory details written above, but I can post it if interested), and she said maybe he was just saying that to avoid any further argument and to get the situation behind him.
Could the esteemed folks here put my mind to rest on this?
(Full disclosure: I'm an assistant coach on my DD's team who was on defense for this play. Just trying to learn this correctly.)
[Edited to add some detail on where BR was at the time PU gave out sign.]
Here's the situation:
--Rec ball game, 1 umpire (PU) (aside: weather was cold and drizzly)
--Bases loaded, no outs
--Pitch is thrown, all runners take a lead off their bases
--Batter hits a medium pop-up (about 30 feet in the air) that is falling between F1 and F2 slightly closer to F2 (about 2/5 the way from home to pitching plate).
--F1 & F2 charge the ball, and F2 basket catches it without turning around (i.e., still facing the circle, not home plate with shoulders squared).
--After the catch, PU yells "Infield Fly"
--BR has run almost all the way to 1B.
--All runners are still off their bases, especially R3 on 1B.
--F2 sees R3 far off base and F3 covering the base and throws to F3 who catches it with a foot on the bag.
--After the throw to 1B, PU is making the out sign (fist pump in the air). BR is still along the baseline in the vicinity of 1B, and it could be interpreted as ambiguous as to whether the out sign was for BR or R3.
--R3 leaves the base towards dugout.
--A fan yells, "Stay there! Stay on the base! She can't be doubled up on an infield fly!", and R3 just about enters the dugout.
--At this point the offensive coach yells a protest to the PU.
--PU replies, "She's already in the dugout, she's out."
--No further discussion happens and the game continues with 2 outs with R1 on 3B and R2 on 2B.
Here's my confusion: do the runners have to stay on the base for a tag-up just like a standard fly ball when IFF is called? Or do runners who took a lead and didn't go immediately back to tag up get to return to base without liability to be put out? I thought they could be put out by not tagging up after the caught fly ball, even when IFF is called. But when the PU said she's already in the dugout to justify R3 being out instead of her being put out by not tagging up, that confused me. I was talking with my DD afterwards when we watched the video (that's how I got the gory details written above, but I can post it if interested), and she said maybe he was just saying that to avoid any further argument and to get the situation behind him.
Could the esteemed folks here put my mind to rest on this?
(Full disclosure: I'm an assistant coach on my DD's team who was on defense for this play. Just trying to learn this correctly.)
[Edited to add some detail on where BR was at the time PU gave out sign.]
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