game situation

[crashdavis]

CIF high school game. Opinions on how this should be called

Situation
runners on 1st and 2nd, 2 outs, 2-2 count on the batter. Next pitch is dropped by catcher ball is at her feet, batter believes it is dropped third strike and sprints to first base. Catcher makes throw to first, base umpire calls runner out. 1st baseman rolls ball back to circle, runner from 2nd instructed by 3rd base coach to score (she never left the field of play) because it is believed the pitch was not called a strike. Pitcher returns to field to pick up ball and calls time

Ruling on field
run scores, batter returns to the box with a 3-2 count

[hit4power]

Since the ump brought the batter back, he must have called the pitch a ball in which case I think the call is correct - it was just a dumb move on the defense to make the unnecessary throw down to 1B and then leave the field allowing a run to score.

[MTR]

CIF high school game. Opinions on how this should be called

Situation
runners on 1st and 2nd, 2 outs, 2-2 count on the batter. Next pitch is dropped by catcher ball is at her feet, batter believes it is dropped third strike and sprints to first base. Catcher makes throw to first, base umpire calls runner out. 1st baseman rolls ball back to circle, runner from 2nd instructed by 3rd base coach to score (she never left the field of play) because it is believed the pitch was not called a strike. Pitcher returns to field to pick up ball and calls time

Ruling on field
run scores, batter returns to the box with a 3-2 count

On the throw, DMC.

However, since the BU made an out call and that is to what the defense reacted, I could see the umpire holding the runner at 3B.

[Bretman]

I'm not familiar first hand with CIF rules, though I have heard of some strange rulings they've come up with. But I'd be willing to bet that they haven't dropped the standard rule from the rule books that allows the plate umpire to make a correction whenever a delayed or reversed call puts one team or the other in jeopardy.

- Batter runs when she is not entitled to: That's not a rule violation.

- Catcher throws when she doesn't need to: That's just an unecessary throw.

- Base umpire calls batter out at first base: That's a mistake- though maybe an honest one. Were the plate umpire's ball and strike calls so meek or ambiguous that players were having a hard time deciphering them? I mean, if I call a third strike, everybody is going to know it was a strike!

- F3 rolls ball into the infield, thinking this was the third out: That is a reaction to an umpire's mistake. IE: An umpire's mistake has put the defensive team in jeopardy.

- Umpires reverse the out call and bring the batter back to the plate: This is were the rule about the umpires correcting their reversed call comes into play. When a reversed call has put one team in jeopardy, the umpires can place or return runners to negate the effects of their reversal. The goal should be to put the runners exactly where they most likely would have been had the call not been reversed.

If the batter had not been erroneously called out, do you think that F3 would have rolled the ball across the field and allowed the runner to waltz home without a play? I doubt it. Would the runner from second still have made it to third. Probably. Would the batter still be returned to the plate with a correct 3-2 count? You bet!

When it comes to umpires placing runners due to a reversed call, there is no set in stone, one size fits all remedy. The final fix is purely up to umpire judgment. On this one, leaving the runner at third base seems a logical, equitable and totally justifiable outcome.