The Infield Fly Rule in Little League Baseball

Jake Kruse is a dog breeder in Salem, Iowa. In addition to his work as a dog breeder, Jake Kruse has extensive experience in the landscaping industry. Outside of his professional activities, Mr. Kruse enjoys supporting the local community as a youth baseball coach.

Youth baseball coaches are responsible for teaching young players the ins and outs of the sport, including the pop fly rule, also known as the infield fly rule. The rule was developed so that fielders cannot intentionally drop easily catchable balls in order to facilitate double or triple plays.

The infield fly rule is only applicable in certain situations. To start, the rule can only go into effect if there are runners on both first and second base or in a bases loaded situation. Second, the ball must be caught or in the reach of an infielder, meaning balls hit beyond the infield do not qualify for the rule.

Umpires invoke the rule when a batter hits into one of the situations described above. If the hit is a pop fly that can be caught with ordinary effort, the batter is immediately called out, regardless of whether or not the ball is actually caught. The ball is not dead, however, and runners can attempt to advance if they chose. In fact, runners do not necessarily need to retouch their bases and then advance, as they would after a normal fly ball was caught.

A ball that would otherwise qualify for the infield fly rule that is hit into foul territory is treated as a normal foul ball, meaning a fielder must make the catch.