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This happened in our game last night. Runner at 3rd. Batter swings and misses for strike 3. The ball pops out of the catcher's glove into the air and the batter's bat hits the ball on the backswing, sending the ball toward the 3rd base dugout. The batter takes first, the runner at 3rd scores as the catcher has no chance to retrieve the ball and make a play. We looked in the rulebook last night and couldn't find a clear answer. The umpire ruled that there was no interference.

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This is where the NFHS casebook comes in handy. Often times the rule book is not totally clear on all the situations that a live game can bring up. Its why we have casebook and Rules iInterpreters.

NFHS casebook 7.3.5 situation F, which, amazingly enough, is exactly the situation you had happen.

The ruling should have been immediate dead ball, the batter is out for interference and the runner returns to 3rd base.

Reasoning: A batter is entitled to an uninterrupted opportunity to hit the ball, just as the catcher is entitled to an uninterrupted opportunity to field the ball. Once the batter swings he is responsible for his follow through.

I would reccommend your coach contact his AD for a copy of the casebook. it is a valuable resource.

And not to let the umpire you had off the hook, its important that Umpires have the best resources available and read them each and every year. He blew that one.

Its why I have and read, the current NFHS rule and Casebook, Baseball Rules Differences, By Carl Childress, and the PBUC manual.
Last edited by piaa_ump
quote:
Originally posted by piaa_ump:
This is where the NFHS casebook comes in handy. Often times the rule book is not totally clear on all the situations that a live game can bring up. Its why we have casebook and Rules iInterpreters.

_NFHS casebook 7.3.5 situation F_, which, amazingly enough, is exactly the situation you had happen.

The ruling should have been immediate dead ball, the batter is out for interference and the runner returns to 3rd base.

Reasoning: A batter is entitled to an uninterrupted opportunity to hit the ball, just as the catcher is entitled to an uninterrupted opportunity to field the ball. Once the batter swings he is responsible for his follow through.

I would reccommend your coach contact his AD for a copy of the casebook. it is a valuable resource.

And not to let the umpire you had off the hook, its important that Umpires have the best resources available and read them each and every year. He blew that one.

Its why I have and read, the current NFHS rule and Casebook, Baseball Rules Differences, By Carl Childress, and the PBUC manual.


The rules should be reviewed daily, when possible. I checked on certain rules and case book interpretations before every game. No matter how much experience one has, there are always some rules that just won't gel in your mind.

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