Baserunner Interference

[Nafxos]

I had a play in Junior Legion game last night that I wish I'd handled better / differently.  I'm BU. R1 and R2 with 0 outs. Slow chopper between F5 and F6. F6 charges and is bumped by R2 on his way to 3rd, but is still able to field the ball and throw to F3 for the out.  I saw the contact but didn't kill it immediately, partly because I was processing what I was seeing (was F6 protected or F5, and was it interference or obstruction?), and partly because it all happened quickly and I needed to rule on the play at first.

After the play F6 says "he bumped into me", which I acknowledged.  I ended up calling R2 out for interference and put the BR on 1st and R1 on 2nd.  DHC asked for 2 outs on the play (R2 for interference and BR on the play at first) but I said the interference ends the play and the BR gets first.

I realize that I could have called the BR out too if I thought the interference prevented a DP, but given the way the ball was hit, in my judgment there was no way the defense could have turned two.

Any tips for handling a play like this?  Ideally, I would have killed it when R2 bumped F6, but it all happened so quickly and I felt I needed the extra time to decide what actually happened (interference or obstruction).

[Nafxos]

And as a follow up question, should I have been more open to the idea of getting 2 outs here?

[noumpere]

 

Any tips for handling a play like this? 

​Experience.  And, now that you've seen it once, you'll be (more) ready next time.

 

Given what you described, I don't see two outs in FED or in OBR -- remember in OBR it must be "intentionally for the purpose of stopping an obvious double play" (or some such words).

[maven]

What he said. ^^^

Here's why: we remember our experiences (at least some of them, and more often when we reflect on them or they were emotionally charged). Those experiences are patterns, and our brains are pattern recognition engines.

So when we have a store of experiences, our brain (in milliseconds) sorts through all the patterns we've seen in order to apply one to our current situation.

So the next time you'll see it, you'll know it. Keep at it!