[Baseball_North]

Hi all,

I had a situation in a high school exhibition this past week. I wasn't actually umpiring, I was a spectator. There was a runner on third and a hard ground ball hit the base umpire who was working behind the pitcher. The play was called dead immediately and the umpire (after shaking it off), the batter was awarded first base and the runner at third was placed back at third.

I am 95% sure that the ball would have gone up the middle for a single had the interference not occured. Therefore, should the runner be awarded home? Does that matter?

Thanks!