Little League ruling play at home plate

Question
3rd base-runner in a pickle, running home.  3rd baseman has the ball running the runner toward home plate.  The catcher is straddling the baseline 4ft off the home plate toward 3rd base. The runner collides with the catcher, the catcher does have the ball at this point but for a tenth of a second.  The runner is ejected from the game.  I understand the ruling should the catcher have been at the plate, however, if the catch is that far from home plate should the runner have been ejected?  And, should the catcher be penalized for blocking the baseline? Thank you.

Answer
Doug,

The runner was probably ejected because he made no attempt to avoid contact.  This is a judgement call on the umpires part, and since I was not there, I can not tell you if I would have ejected or not.

You state that the catcher had possession of the ball prior to contact (no matter how long they have possession), so that catcher had every right to be in the base path of that runner.  The rule says they must be in possession of the ball to block the progress of the runner, which seems to be the case here.

I hope this has helped.

-Martin Hoover