Unsportsman act( illegal touch)
Question
My shortstop was making a play on a ball hit up the middle and reached down with his glove. The ball went under his glove and he stopped it with his left foot. By ruling of homeplate umpire, there was no play made, and he stopped it with his left foot on purpose. His ruling was unsportsman-like act, and called it a four base error in which the batter was able to come all the way around and score.
Answer
Hi Randy,
This is not an illegal touch.
A fielder must intentionally contact or catch a fair batted ball with his cap, helmet, mask, protector, pocket, detached glove or any part of the uniform which is detached from it's proper place on their person.
In this case I believe his shoe is still attached to his foot.
If an illegal touch happened in this case would be 3 bases from the time of the pitch (not 4).
Mark
senior slow pitch ASA softball rules
Hit By Pitch?