Runner stumbles and falls across 1B

[jprideaux]

Pony League rules. Batter stumbles approaching 1B, touches the bag as he falls and finishes past the bag. BU calls him safe. Batter (now runner) gets up and heads straight toward the bag, F3 tags the runner before he gets there, and BU calls him out. BU then tells him that if he would have kept a hand or foot in foul territory, it would have been OK. His explanation was that the runner forfeited any protection for overrunning 1B when he fell. Is this a legit call?

John