senior slowpitch softball

Question
I am having difficulty with the senior slowpitch fair/foul ball rule "settles or is touched by"  If a batter hits a ball that clearly goes outside the foul line and then spins or rolls into fair territory before going beyond a  base and not touched by anyone or thing is this now afair and playable ball or because it clearly touched the ground outside the foulline /fair territory is it a foul ball ?

Answer
Hi Richard,

Actually it's not a senior rule but a universal rule in soft ball.  It has to do with the basic definition of what is a fair or foul ball.

FAIR BALL: A legally batted ball that:
A. Settles or is touched on or over fair territory between home and first base or between home and third base.

FOUL BALL: A batted ball that:
A. Settles or is touched (not caught) on or over foul territory between home and first base or between home and third base.


In both definitions it NEVER matters what the ball does 1st only where it is touched or settles.

Batter hits pitch, ball slowly rolls left down the 3rd base line in foul territory (an inch or 5' doesn't matter) and just before 3rd base it hits a clump of dirt or spins and comes inside the foul line and stops...fair ball!

The reverse of this situation would be true for a foul ball.  Inside the line , hits a clump of dirt or spins outside the line just before 3rd and stops, foul ball!

Mark