BOL Round Table

2nd coming of Mark Barron IMO.

She hits harder than Marcus Carter ever did.

LOL, I'll give this a +1 as well

Looks like Jane, hits like Tarzan.

That's great

I don't think the runner would have been called out had she not impeded the defender from making a play on the ball. Runners run just inside the baseline after reaching the lane starting point all the time and I never see it called. You can call it a lane infraction but what resulted in the out was the fact she hit a defender fielding the ball in the field of play. Had she been running between 1st and 2nd base or anywhere else on the base path and hit a defender making a play on the ball, she would have been called out then as well.

Nothing wrong with an oskie drill on the diamond! Boom, take that Sooner, Loved it!!

I'll be honest. My first thought was that Reilly-Boccia had knocked Martinez down. Martinez, therefore, had to be awarded first base. But I was wrong.

Both OU coach Patty Gasso and NCAA softball secretary rules editor Dee Abrahamson said so. (Abrahamson said she does all of the rules interpretations at the WCWS).

First Gasso's comments: "Destinee was on the wrong side of the line. Where there is a collision, that is the right call. She was just trying to be aggressive, trying to make something happen. It was a tough play."

Now for Abrahamson: "The rule is the fielder has to be given the opportunity to field the ball without being interfered with. What happened on that play was in the umpire's judgment, the fielder was about to field the ball and the runner ran into her and prevented her from having a chance to make a play. It doesn't even say make an out, but make a play. She didn't get that opportunity.

"The home plate umpire was sure she had it (the call) but to be sure, especially with some of the physical play that's gone on in our tournament this year, she called her associate in just to make sure that at the last minute he didn't see something different. He said, 'No, I got what you got.'

"It's a pretty simple rule. It's pretty automatic. It just turned out to be a huge play in the game."

I sure hope you are not one of my umpires.

No it is NOT a runner lane infraction. A runner lane infraction involves a "thrown" ball (See Rule 12.2.4.2 on page 127 of the NCAA Rules and Interpretations manual). The instant case did NOT involve a thrown ball, and thus is NOT and CANNOT be a running lane infraction. Provided the runner does not interfere with a fielder making an initial play on a batted ball, and provided the runner beats the throw to first, the runner could have made three laps around the pitching circle and the advance would be legal. In other words, a runner NEVER has an affirmative obligation to run in the runner's lane. The runner's only obligation is not to interfere. One way to avoid interfering is by running in the running lane (the running lane is in foul territory), although running in the runners lane does not provide absolute protection against being called out for interference.

The applicable rule in this case is Rule 12.4.13 of the NCAA Rules and Interpretations manual. That rule states that a batter-runner is out if "she interferes with a fielder attempting to field a batted ball . . ."

"Obstruction" is an infraction committed by the defensive team. "Interference" is an infraction committed by the offensive team. Thus an offensive team cannot commit "obstruction," and a defensive team cannot "interfere." The umpires correctly called "interference" on the Oklahoma batter-runner. Interference means that the ball is dead, the person doing the interfering is out, and all other runners must return to the last base touched at the time the interference occurred. Obstruction is a delayed dead ball.

even if they didn't call ANYTHING she was on the ground and she was out at first.... just sayin....

+1

Other than Gasso's remark that "Destinee was on the wrong side of the line," this article is right on the money. For an umpire this is a very easy Stevie Wonder, no-brainer call.