[FTVMartin]

I was doing the bases of a JV game with a rookie umpire behind the plate. No outs, R1 attempts to steal second. Curve ball scares the batter who catches it in self defense. PU calls dead ball then looks at me like he's lost.

I put the runner back on first and then tell him to keep the batter at home. We got together and I asked him if the pitch was in the strike zone. He said no so we charged a ball to the batter.

What were my other options? Should we have called it a strike? Could we have ruled the batter out for interfering with a live ball?