Runner Ruling Question

[andyh64000]

I had to umpire a game yesterday (a friendly round robin between 3 teams so we had to provide an ump...I umpired baseball while I was a senior in high school many years ago but never softball).

1st and 3rd situation the runner from first steals and the catcher throws the ball to the pitcher. The runner going from first to second stops while the pitcher is in the circle and almost immediately after the runner on 3rd comes off the bag and also stops (it is a new 10u team) all the while the pitcher is still in the circle.

What is the correct call?

I called the runner on first out and figuring play was dead immediately that technically the runner on 3rd should not have been out. Should the 3rd base runner have also been out?

 

[SoCalDad]

What did the pitcher do with the ball while she was in the circle? Did she assume a throwing position or did she leave her hands down? What the pitcher did in the circle can affect the ruling.

 

[andyh64000]

The pitcher just held the ball while looking at the runner going from 1st to 2nd (she didn't fake throw or anything like that...she might have turned her body a little).

 

[Comp]

Runner from first is allowed 1 stop and reversal of direction. This is a had to see it situation, but, if the ball was thrown to the pitcher in the circle and just held, the runner stealing 2nd is allowed to stop, make a quick decision and either continue or retreat back to 1st. If the ball were in the pitchers posession in the circle when the runner at 3 stepped off the bag, she would be out for the lookback violation and the runner from 1st would be place back at 1.

 

[andyh64000]

The runner from first just stopped an didn't move but I might have gotten it wrong and should have called the runner on third out within a second or two after the runner from first stopped the runner from 3rd came off the bag. I guess it depends on how long the runner has to be stopped before she is out.

 

[shockcoach]

If she didn't move between 1st & 2nd, then she's out. They're usually given almost 1 sec to decide. That is an umpire's judgment call. If the runner came off the 3rd before the runner on 1st stopped, then R3 should have been out. There will never be two outs. You call the first violation and it's a dead ball out.