NCAA Ruling on Obstruction Call

[OlderWhiskey 953]

I'm hearing from a pretty well-placed source that the NCAA has ruled that Friday night's obstruction call was wrong; and that the runner should have been called out and ejected for not sliding.  The runner was Aliyah Andrews, so that would have been a nice ejection for us.  I don't have any documentation.  Has anyone else seen this?

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

I hope your information is correct. That was a terrible call.

[AU64 10,122]

9 minutes ago, OlderWhiskey said:

I'm hearing from a pretty well-placed source that the NCAA has ruled that Friday night's obstruction call was wrong; and that the runner should have been called out and ejected for not sliding.  The runner was Aliyah Andrews, so that would have been a nice ejection for us.  I don't have any documentation.  Has anyone else seen this?

not surprised.....it was clear in the little video clip I posted that the base runner changed her line ....did not slide and did not run directly toward the plate...she veered toward Shea and lowered her shoulder to contact Shea.     If they let that stand, it will be a big advantage to the runner to create contact when trying to score on a close play.

NCAA might need to do a better job of explaining the rule.

[around4ever 4,139]

24 minutes ago, OlderWhiskey said:

I'm hearing from a pretty well-placed source that the NCAA has ruled that Friday night's obstruction call was wrong; and that the runner should have been called out and ejected for not sliding.  The runner was Aliyah Andrews, so that would have been a nice ejection for us.  I don't have any documentation.  Has anyone else seen this?

I wondered which rule took precedence, the obstruction or running into the catcher (not attempting to slide).

[around4ever 4,139]

So now the ump's will even be more confused. 

[WarTiger 3,901]

9 hours ago, around4ever said:

I wondered which rule took precedence, the obstruction or running into the catcher (not attempting to slide).

We still don't know.   When watching the game I had forgotten that the runner is required to slide.  The home plate umpire held his arm out for the obstruction call immediately and before Shea got the ball.   It was obvious she was blocking the plate.   But, I had forgotten about the runner being required to slide.

Found this in the rule book:

12.8.10 When a defensive player has the ball, and the runner remains on her
feet and deliberately, with great force, crashes into the defensive player.
See Rule 12.13.
Note: If the act is determined to be flagrant, the offender also shall be ejected.
(Behavioral ejection)

 

Then THIS:   Rule 12.13

12.13 Collisions
The rules committee is concerned about unnecessary and violent collisions
with the catcher at home plate and with infielders at all bases. The intent of
this rule is to encourage runners and defensive players to avoid such collisions,
whenever possible.
12.13.1 A defensive player shall not block the base, plate or baseline without
possession of the ball or not in the immediate act of catching the ball if it
impedes the runner.
EFFECT—Delayed dead ball is signaled. Obstruction is called and the
runner is declared safe. Each runner must return to the last base legally
touched at the time of the infraction. Exception: If the runner collides
flagrantly, the ball is dead, and although the runner is declared safe on
the obstruction call, she is ejected. (Behavioral ejection)
12.13.2 In order to prevent injury and protect the defensive player attempting
to make a play on a runner, the runner must be called out if she remains
on her feet and deliberately, with great force, crashes into a defensive
player holding the ball and waiting to apply a tag. In order to prevent
a deliberate crash ruling, the runner can slide, jump over the top of the
defender holding the ball, go around the defender or return to the previous
base touched.
EFFECT—The ball is dead. The runner is called out for deliberately
crashing into a fielder, even if the ball is dislodged. If the runner
deliberately crashed into a fielder holding the ball before she was put
out and, in the umpire’s judgment, it was an attempt to break up an
obvious double play, the offender and player being played on shall
both be declared out. If the deliberate crash occurs after the runner was
called out, the runner closest to home plate will also be declared out. If
an obstructed runner deliberately crashes into a fielder holding the ball,
the obstruction call will be ignored, and the runner will be called out.

Shea was definitely guilty of rule 12.13.1 but the ball got there before the runner so the runner was guilty of 12.13.1.    So, which one takes precedence over the other?  Are we going to get different interpretations of this from different umpire crews.  The NCAA and the umpires need to get on the same page and decide if those situations are always going to be obstruction on the catcher or failure to slide on the runner.  It can't be both.

[AUBwins 10,075]

49 minutes ago, WarTiger said:

or not in the immediate act of catching the ball if it

impedes the runner.

These definitely contradict themselves to leave the call up to the officials interpretation of the play. 

The highlighted section above could have freed Shea from the obstruction, couldn't it? She moved in the path to catch the ball.

Either way, the call should be determined by intent. The runner's intention was to run Shea over, which seems a bit more violent that Shea trying to catch the ball. Shea made me a believer this series that we are in good hands at Catcher this year. 

[jimpecht 14]

15 hours ago, AUBwins said:

These definitely contradict themselves to leave the call up to the officials interpretation of the play. 

The highlighted section above could have freed Shea from the obstruction, couldn't it? She moved in the path to catch the ball.

Either way, the call should be determined by intent. The runner's intention was to run Shea over, which seems a bit more violent that Shea trying to catch the ball. Shea made me a believer this series that we are in good hands at Catcher this year. 

Here's the even bigger challenge.  A play such as this is happening in a very short amount of time.  All 3 elements (ball, runner and defensive player) came together in the blink of an eye.  There is so much judgment involved here and the decision has to be made in a split second.  The play is not reviewable on the field so we don't have the benefit of the officials getting to watch frame by frame replay from multiple angles.  So with the current rules and protocol the outcome of plays such as this are going to be somewhat of a crap shoot.  

[around4ever 4,139]

I knew when the proposal was passed that it would be a nightmare for the umpires, catchers, 2nd & 3rd Basemen and Coaches.  It is going to be a difficult judgement call for the umpires and everybody will have to live with it. 

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

The coaches need to raise hell about it until it's repealed. There's no way to implement it fairly.

[boisnumber1 2,818]

How anyone could think this rule would work in the real world is beyond me. Another snowflake rule for sure.