Leaving base early?

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ixamnis
Posts: 302
Joined: Thu May 26, 2011 5:17 pm

Leaving base early?

Post by ixamnis » Thu May 08, 2014 2:53 pm

At what point in girls fastpitch softball does the runner have to stay on the base? Here's what I saw last night in high school game. Batter doubles. replaced at second base by a pinch runner. Ball is back to the pitcher in the circle but the pitcher is waiting for the next batter to come into the batter's box. Base runner at second steps off the base and does some leg stretches and then gets back on the bag when the batter is ready to bat. Pitcher throws first pitch and the ball is returned to the pitcher back in the circle. Again the base runner steps back off the bag to stretch while the batter is returning to the box. I saw the umpire in the field look at her doing this but nothing is called.

So can a base runner leave the base to stretch, adjust themselves or whatever while the ball is in the pitching circle as long as the batter is not in the box and/or the home plate umpire has given the Ok to pitch? If anyone can point me to the appropriate rule, I'd appreciate it.
ixamnis
Posts: 302
Joined: Thu May 26, 2011 5:17 pm

Re: Leaving base early?

Post by ixamnis » Wed May 21, 2014 7:50 am

I guess no one has an answer for this. Two days later I asked the umpire who was out in the field at the time this happened about it. He is from our home town and, without really saying a specific rule, he basically said that once the ball is in the circle and the runner has returned to the base she is supposed to stay on the base. But girls do have a tendency to change position or stretch and inadvertently lose contact with the base now and then. He's not going to call her leaving the base early unless she's trying to gain an advantage stealing the next base. UNLESS.... our home town team is playing our hated rivals and the hated rival runner has left the base to do leg stretches while the ball is in the circle, then he might consider calling it. ;-)
coachbob17
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Aug 14, 2014 10:56 am

Re: Leaving base early?

Post by coachbob17 » Thu Aug 14, 2014 11:02 am

Hello Ixamnis,
I just joined the forum, hence the delay in your answer.
I myself asked an umpire this exact same questions, when a player left the base to 'walk off a hit leg', so I was not concerned about the letter of the law. But you are exactly correct, technically the runner is not allow to leave the base or lose contact until the ball is released from the pitchers hand, and any runner stepping off should be called out, but some umpires, like the one you talked to, will not call it, unless they believe it gives the runner an advantage.
Now, conversely, when our team has been way ahead or way behind, the offensive team will step off of the base on purpose to get more outs to 'help the defensive team' end the inning, and I have seen this take 3 or 4 tries before the umpires will notice or call the runner out. :lol:
ixamnis
Posts: 302
Joined: Thu May 26, 2011 5:17 pm

Re: Leaving base early?

Post by ixamnis » Sun Aug 17, 2014 11:19 am

thanks for the albeit delayed reply. Glad the view your old posts feature is the first I look at. Welcome aboard.

I have seen the leave base early to try to mercifully end the inning from both sides. One time though in a 12U game our coach did that when we were ahead by about 10 runs and then the other team scored 7 runs in the next half inning and we began to wonder if he might have been a little overly generous.

Also, I've only heard about this but never saw it happen. Could be an urban legend. Offensive team has bases loaded with no outs. Catcher, without asking for timeout, runs out to the pitcher who has the ball in the circle. Someone yells "she didn't call time.... RUN!" In one scenario all three base runners are called out for leaving base early! In the other the umpire only calls the base runner out who first left base early. The other two runners had to return to their original base.

In any case add that to your fast pitch evil tricks book.
Larrybush
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2016 9:21 pm

Re: Leaving base early?

Post by Larrybush » Sun Jul 10, 2016 9:33 pm

Getting back to the original query of the girl stretching near the base while the pitcher is waiting on the batter. The umpire was invoking the "vicinity of the base" principle whether he knew it or not. That principle covers players who are not attempting to gain an advantage from being called out for inadvertently leaving a base. Those inadvertent infractions may include falling off balance and catching oneself, switching feet on the bag, changing the position of the foot on the bag. It may also include leading off early with no intent to steal or distract the pitcher (just bad timing). By the way, if a runner was off the bag stretching, that would be a new one on me and I would walk over to her and tell her to put one foot on the bag while she is stretching.
You won't find the "vicinity of the base" principle in the rule book. That is a word-of-mouth, practical application of the lead-off rule in softball. However, like the rounding first base rule that is in the rule book, this one may find its way into the books in an upcoming edition.
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