Tag with wrong hand ... do you signal safe?

[bobbrix]

Hi all,

11 year old girls, opening night.

Well, I think I messed this one up ... but ... let me know ... probably too many words here, but the actual question is down at the very bottom.

R2, R3 ... passed ball, R3 heads for home and R2 heads for 3rd.

Ball bounces right back to catcher, so R3 spins around and races back to 3rd.

Of course, R2 is now scrambling back to 2nd. Catcher throws to SS who tags R2 with glove but the ball is in her other hand!

SS thinks she did an ok thing, R2 thinks she's out and trots diagonally across the infield and straight into the dugout.

So, I didn't signal safe or call missed tag, I just watched her and when she entered the dugout I called her out because the defensive coach told the girl to go stand on 2nd with the ball, as an appeal for a missed base. No comments from anyone, so I figured I might have called it right.

Checked with my UIC later and he said I should have signalled safe on the tag. At the moment it happened, I was thinking it's not like a 'foot off the bag' call at first, the runner was still a good distance from 2nd. If I had called safe, then I might have given an unfair advantage to either the SS or the runner (whoever thought faster on what to do next).

That's my question, do you signal safe if a runner gets tagged with a wrong hand?

Thanks in advance for any comments/teaching/etc.

bobbrix