Question: In high school baseball and softball, with runners on base, batter accidentally steps on homeplate and hits the ball fair or foul. Live or dead ball? Violation?
Answer: Contacting the plate followed by hitting the ball is ruled dead ball and batter is called out. Runners return to bases at time of pitch. If batter touched plate but swung and missed the ball, no violation. If batter contacted ball first then stepped on plate, ball remains live. (BB – Rule 7, Sec. 3, Art. 2, Pen.; SB – Rule 7, Sec. 4, Art. 8)
Question: Batter hits a fair ball in front of homeplate and backspins and settles on the plate. Fair or foul ball?
Answer: Fair ball. (BB – Rule 1, Sec. 2, Art. 10, Diagram #2; rule 2-5-1(a); SB – Rule 1, Sec. 2, Art. 2, Fig. 1-1; Rule 2- 20-1(a))