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Hi Mike,
Yes Mike, the tag was made, but as I said before I believe the rules state that there needs to be proof that the tag was a controlled tag...For all we know the ball could have been dropped even if the girl didn't have her glove hit by the runners knee. There was no time for the catcher to show the ball was controlled. If the ball were NOT dropped we would know for sure the girl had control on the tag to the leg, but because the girl dropped the ball we don't know if she had secure control or not. Having control of the ball while swiping at a moving target is not something I am going to guess on. (especially if the girl was using a catchers mitt) I think as the rule is written it's proper to call the girl safe in a situation like this.
When there's a hard slide I'm not going to assume the ball was held securely when it's dropped and the fielder has not shown me it was a controlled tag, just as I'm not going to call an out on an open field tag before the ball is shown to be held securely.
However, if the tag were made and held up to the umpire then momentarily bobbled or dropped we would have an out, because the fielder had already shown the umpire it was a proper tag, but I'm not going to speculate or guess that the tag was as the rule requires when not shown to me.
Sec.33 in the USSSA rule book states...
"A tag out is the putting out of a runner who is not touching a base, by touching the runner with a live ball, or the glove or hand when the live ball is SECURELY HELD therein by a fielder. The ball is NOT considered as having been held securely if it is juggled or dropped AFTER the touching unless the runner deliberately knocks the ball from the hand of the fielder".
I have gone over this play in my mind thinking of the above rule on what makes a tag-out an out, and I believe an out call is not justified. To many it would be justified based on their understanding of the rules, but I have to go on my view of what the rules mean. To me the rule says to wait to see if the fielder met the requirement of the tag-out rule. The rule calls for a secure tag not just a tag.
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