No call leads to out?

[WestMichBlue]

Situation: PU only, Women's SP, low level rec league using mat; many young women, some teenages, that obviously never played ball in HS so level of play sometimes approaches that of the family picnic softball game.

R1 on 2B, R2 on 1B, one out, Batter hits high fly on infield, I move out and signal and call IF. Ball is dropped by F5, picked up by F1 and thrown back to F5 as runners advance. F5 backs up a step and touches 3B and watches R1 come by her to land on 3B.

I make no call. Coach says something to R1 and she walks of base heading back to 2B. F1 (smart player) yells for ball and runs over and tags F1. I call out, inning over.

Coach looks a little befuddled, but he understands what happened and eventually teams leave the field and we go on with the game.

Later I wondered if I aided the confusion by failing to make a call on the play at 3B. I didn't feel that I could call "safe" on the initial base tag as R1 was still 6' away. Should I have called "safe" when R1 reached the bag? (Thus ending the play.) Or is it a "non-play" (as I saw it then); no call and walk away. (Would have called time at some point, but R1 ruined that by leaving 3B.)

What do you think?

WMB