AWARDING BASES
QUESTION: In high school, baseball and softball, runner on second base; count on batter is one ball and one strike; pitcher releases a pitch which bounces into ground before home plate and gets stuck in backstop fence. Is catcher allowed to retrieve ball by taking it out of fence? If bases are awarded, does runner gain one or two bases?
ANSWER: This wild pitch / passed ball becomes dead when it becomes wedges in fence. Runner gains a one (1) base award from time of pitch; hence, runner advances to third base. ( BB- Rule 5, Sec. 1, Art. 1 (g,3); Rule 8, Sec. 3, Art. 3 (d); SB – Rule 5-1-1 (g,4) and 8-4-3 (c). For safety reasons, once ball becomes lodged, fielder loses opportunity to remove ball due to dead ball status.
QUESTION: Batter-runner grounds to shortstop who overthrows first base person as ball goes into dead ball territory. Does batter gain a one (1) or two (2) base award? Is it one base from the infield and two bases from outfield?
ANSWER: (BB) The award is two bases from the time of pitch on the first throw by an infielder; hence, batter gains second base. Rule 8-3-3 (c, 2) and dead ball award table, Rule 5-1-1 ).
(SB) The award is also two bases from time of release; hence, batter also gains second base. (Dead ball table, Rule 5-1-1 and Rule 8-3-4,f).