Triple Play no matter how you slice it

[BSUmp16]

Originally Posted by bniu

Situation in my game a few seasons ago: 2 umps. Bases loaded, no outs, home team at bat. Batter hits a liner at the pitcher's feet and the pitcher stabs it, I'm in C, so I can't really tell if the ball hit the ground first or not. He throws to 3rd, 3B throws to 2nd, 2B throws to first. I figure no matter what, I've got three outs, home plate umpire was blocked by the catcher so he wasn't sure if it was a catch or a trap.

So if it was a catch, then the catch is the 1st out, throw to 3rd gets the runner on 3rd, throw to 2nd gets the runner on 2nd, 3 outs, throw to 1st is superfluous.

No catch, then 3rd to 2nd to 1st gets me a triple play of force outs so no timing issue with runner on 3rd.

Home team coach comes out and asks us what the ruling was. He acknowledges it's a triple play on his team either way but for the book, he wanted to know how to score it. It looked like a catch to me, so that's what I told him. How would you rule that play?

Am I missing something here? If it was a catch, that removes the force - just throwing to 3rd doesn't get any outs (no mention of a tag) and likewise throwing to 2d - no mention of a tag. Also, taking the time to tag the advancing runner @ 3rd slows down the throw to 2d where the tag also has to be made.

The way the outs are obtained changes significantly if the pitcher caught the ball.