out of play catch

Question
1)Is it legal catch, if fielder jumps in air from foul territory over out of play area and catches ball before touching out of play ground? He does keep ball in glove.

2)Same as above, but now when he hits and rolls on ground ball comes out of glove?
Thank you.


Answer
Hi Jan,

1) would be a legal catch as long as they had control of the ball before touching the ground.  If it were "out of play" area just not foul ground, runners on base would be awarded 1 base from the last base touched at the time the ball was unintentionally carried out of play.

2) would not be a legal catch as there was no voluntary release of the ball.

mark