[Manny A]

Had this play in a JUCO game, and wanted to get your take.

Two-man crew, with me on bases. R1 on first. Batter bunts a few feet up the first base line. F2 picks up the ball, and throws out the BR on a banger. R1, in the meantime, is heading for third, and the throw from F4 who was covering first is too late.

As I move over to the left side of the infield, I'm thinking, "How the heck did R1 make it to third safely on that?" Then it dawned on me that I had no clue whether or not R1 touched second. She could have rounded second a few feet in front of the bag, for all I knew.

So I talked to my partner about it between innings, and he said he had trailed the BR looking for a lane violation, and then hightailed it over to third to take the call there. Like me, he never saw R1 at second base.

I believe the touch of second is the BU's responsibility, but under those circumstances, there was no way I could watch. If I had turned my head to see R1, the play at first would have exploded on me as I turned back towards that bag. The PU had a better shot at looking there from his position.

Is this a situation where we should deviate from the norm, and cover it through a good pre-game?