sliding rules

Question
My daughter was running home from third base. The
opposing teams Catcher attempted to make a tag but
missed the ball. The catcher was still blocking the
runners way which I thought was interference because
the catcher didn't have the ball. The runner collided
with the catcher and was called out. Also three was a
batter up and got hit with the ball but the umpire
didn't let her walk. Please help me with these
questions my daughter is very confused. She plays
nvgsa 12 u  

Answer
Hi Julia,

Thank you for your two questions and thank you for telling me your daughter's org.  I easily found NVGSA's high quality web site and learned that they use ASA rules.  So, here goes:

1)  In the first part of your first question it reads like the catcher missed the throw before the attempted tag and never had control of the ball, period.  So, in one fell swoop the catcher obstructed (not interfered with) your daughter before she arrived for the missed tag and continued to obstruct (not interfere with) her after the missed tag.  This is a delayed dead ball by the umpire and no ruling is made until the play ceases.

2)  In the second part of your first question, it was absolutely incorrect for your daughter to be called out for colliding with the catcher.  She was en route to the plate and there was a defender in her path attempting to tag her without possession of the ball, so a collision was unavoidable.  A runner is never required to slide, especially when they are being obstructed.  So, in summary, the defense obstructed the runner, missed the tag, AND still walked away with an out call.  Now that's called coming out smelling like roses!

3)  In your second question, this is a Had To Be There play, but I'll throw out a few scenarios regarding hit batters that WOULDN'T entitle the batter a trip to 1B.  Maybe one of these applies to your play.  If not, please write back.
a.  The ball was still dead from previous action, and the pitcher rushed one in early and it hit the batter.  That pitch would be negated.
b.  "No pitch" was called by another umpire, say, for a runner leaving early on the pitch, killing that play.  That call would have negated the pitch, even if it hit the batter.
c.  The batter made no effort to get out of the way of a pitch out of the strike zone.  This is a dead ball and a ball is added to the batter's count.
d.  The pitch hit a part of the batter's body or clothing that was hanging out over the strike zone.  This is a dead ball and a strike is added to the batter's count.

Otherwise, a dead ball should have been called and the batter should have been entitled to 1B, advancing all other runners if forced.



Scott Kelly