rules question

[FridayNiteLites]

I'm watching a high school game tonight, no outs, no one on, batter swings and misses the third strike, a breaking ball that hits the dirt, hits the catchers shoulder and goes over the backstop as the runner is going to first base. Umpire gives him second also because the ball leaves the field. Runner is now on second, no outs, K in the books. Is this the right call?

 

[grinder]

Wrong call. Runners/batter can only advance one base on a pitched ball that leaves the playing field or otherwise results in a dead ball. The one base is from the time of the pitch. Did the coach argue the call? Out of curiosity, which game was it?

 

[FridayNiteLites]

The coach did argue the call, there was a long discussion, in which both coaches came out on the field to talk with the umpires. Burnet v. Canyon Lake. Do you know where that would be found in the rule book. First time in over 40 years of watching baseball that I had seen that happen.

 

[where_are_my_8s]

1 from the mound, 2 from the field is the saying and the rule.

Since that was a pitch the runner should just get first since the play originated with the runner at the plate.

A pitch from the mound that ends up in a dead ball area means one base for each runner from where he started. A ball thrown from the field gives each runner 2 bases from where the "play" originated. That means a runner on first and there is a basehit to CF. The runner gets second on the hit and the throw goes into the 3B dugout. The runner should be home because it is 2 bases from where that play originated (ball in CF and runner on 2B). Where the runner is when the play originated is a judgement call for the umpire.

 

[Bevo's Buddy]

In reply to:

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[MarylandHorn]

It seems to me like this was two separate plays:
Uncaught 3rd stike, with no runner on 1B the batter instantly becomes a runner and has a chance to advance to 1B if he can beat out the throw. In this case, he does because the catcher isn't able to run down the pitch.
With the runner on his way to 1B with the catcher chasing the ball then goes over the backstop and out of play. Runner makes it to 1B safe, and then gets an additional base on the out of play ball.

I dont' know the rules well by any means, but this seems like a reasonable interpretation of the two separate rules here.

If it was a wild pitch or dropped ball and not strike three, the batter does not become a runner and cannot advance to 1B, so in this case, the batter/runner gets two separate events that result in getting a base, thus he advances to 2B.

 

[tchill]

I'm not sure on NCAA rules, but in NF rules (I coach in another state), the runners are determined by time of the pitch. So the ball over the backstop on a third strike would result in 1B for the batter. An overthrow at 1B from an infielder is a 1 and 1. So a runner on second would be awarded home, even if he wasn't trying to advance.

 

[grinder]

It is in Chapter 8 of the NFHS Rule Book. This is copyrighted, so I will not provide a direct quote, but it basically says what I said in my first response: a pitched ball that goes out of play results in one base awarded from time of the pitch, i.e. first base is awarded to the batter. It would be no different if the ball got stuck in the backstop, the catcher's gear, or the ump's gear.