Follow this one closely, cause it's goofy as hell.
12u under NFHS rules. This field has a chainlink fence that seperates the bench/dugout from the field. The only way in/out of dugout is an opening at the far end of each dugout. That opening has a hinged gate, also made of chain link, but there's a sizable gap at the bottom...4-6 inches. At pre-game, I specifically asked both coaches to keep that gate closed when the ball was in play; both acknowledged this instruction.
R1 is on 2nd with 1 out. B2 hits blooper into shallow right-center, looks as if it might by caught by F9...R2 freezes just off 2nd. F9 gets the ball on the short-hop, and R1 breaks for 3rd. F9 makes strong throw to 3rd, but it hits R1 on the ankle, bouncing (you guessed it) directly towards that afore-mentioned gate...which is closed, BUT
Just before ball gets there, the 'in-the-hole' hitter (call him B4) opens the gate, and the ball goes out of play.
Here's some other info, that may or may not effect your decision:
B/R2 (who was very fast, and hustled right out of the box) was well past first before F9's throw.
R1 is rolling around, crying in pain, at 3rd base.
F1 was right there backing up the throw, just a step or two from the gate.
I can't even begin to judge if B4 opened the gate to intentionally allow the ball to pass, or if he was just oblivious...but my guess would be the latter.
All opinions are welcome...I'll wait a day or two before letting you know how my partner and I ruled.
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