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Originally Posted by Richard_Siegel
A runner who is on or beyond the next base when the ball becomes dead can not LEGALLY go back and retouch the base he missed or left oo soon. However, he can still go back and physically retouch the base. The retouch is meaningless under the rules, but I would bet that not one HS player or coach (except maybe those who also umpire) would realize that the retouch was not a legal retouch and the runner could still be successfully appealed after he was done taking his base award. However, since it is unlikely that they don't know this rule, they would see the meaningless retouch, believe it was legal, and they would not appeal.
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the "next base" is the next base from where he is at
at the time the ball becomes dead not the next base from the base he left early or missed.
example 1: R2 fly ball to F7. R2 leaves early and slides into third. throw from F7 gets by F5 and goes out of play. at the time the ball went out of play, R2 was already at 3B, making his next base home. he can legally go back and retouch 2B while ball is dead before he touches home.
example 2: R1, R2, 0 outs. ball hit to F9. both runners running on contact. after R2 has rounded 3B F9 throws behind R1 to F3. Ball goes out of play with R2 between 3B and home, R1 was between 1B and 2B. runners awarded home and third.
due to their positions when the ball went out of play R2's next base was home and R1's next base was 2B. R2 may legally return and touch 2B before he touches home, his "next base."