Odd play

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by rbmartin

I saw this happen yesterday in an NFHS Girls softball game (I was just a fan) but I don't think any rulings would be different than baseball so here it is. I am also 99% certain that one or both umpires kicked this royally.

Bases loaded. No outs. batter hits weakly down 3rd baseline on fair territory. F5 (playing kinda shallow) attempts to catch ball in air but clearly short-hops the ball. Field ump, who was positioned pretty deep for "C" position IMO, calls "OUT!" HP umpire shouts "no catch !" and points to the ground. R3 (view was shielded by F5) dives headfirst back onto 3rd. Pitcher throws back to F6 (who came over to cover 3rd) who was clearly standing on 3rd, who catches the ball and then tags R3, who was clearly already touching the bag.

Field ump was an seasoned umpire and plate ump has worked state finals games in the past.

Before I tell you what the ruling was, how would you guys sort this out?

Step one - BU buys the beer, catch/no-catch is PU's call (both baseball and softball). Period.

Step 2... also on both sports, an erroneous call by an umpire MUST be corrected if possible, with the intent being - what would have happened had there never been a wrong call. In this case, I think your up a creek no matter what you rule. I'm a little confused as to how the ball got from the third baseman to the pitcher, but it sounds like you've got an out on R2 (force) and R3 safe returning to a now-unforced base. No run, 1 out. I suspect that is the safest "remedy" to the erroneous call - just leave it as played. The team that was disadvantaged by the call was most likely the offense, and they did not get any more outs than they would have had the play developed naturally.

Tough fix in any case - but I'm going with leaving the play alone and letting BU take whatever heat he deserves from the irate coach (maybe both!)