ASA-13U..... PU has a 3rd ball in his possesion. He decides to stick it between the backstop's chainlink and one of it's support uprights. It was out-of-sight and out-of-the-way until a wild pitch dislodged it. The ball dropped from its hideaway and the 2 balls came to rest about a foot from one another. There did NOT appear to be any confusion as the catcher retrieved the right ball and R1 scored anyway.
What if the catcher had become confused over which ball was which with R1 coming home. How should this be handled?
Chuck

Well, the umpire needs to learn that two balls will fit in a ball bag or put them in a dugout or anyplace where they CANNOT get involved in the game.

But, if that happened, and the balls were in the same general vicinity, the one the catcher picks up is going to be the one that was pitched. d:-)

Agree completely with Mike. Whatever ball that catcher grabbed would be the game ball. And then the ump should stand by for the ration of stuff that'll be coming from both coaches over how could he have done that.

No argument there, the umpire is definitely going to have his/her heritage questioned on this one. So, you just as well get an out if possible.

But one thing is for sure, the umpire needs to keep his/her outh shut since they are the one who created the problem.