Yeah I missed that in the OP also.

I had assumed the runner did abandon by lining up (that could then be team area). But knowing now that she ran down to first initially, the umpire corrected her mistake.


Also just by calling a runner out does not kill anything (except maybe your credibility some times).

As many have already said...

First, this was not an appeal play, so defense leaving fair territory is irrelevant.

Second, this was not a judgment call. The third strike was a judgment call. Ruling the BR out was a misapplication of the third strike rule.

Third, the ruling was corrected and the umpire acted to repair the situation as best as he could. The defense did not earn the out; they (and especially the catcher) knew the pitch was not caught, and knew (or should have known) the BR was not out regardless of what the umpire said. They chose to try to get away with one and did not.

Fourth, the idea that once an umpire calls a runner out that the call cannot be changed is false.

Fifth, it is not "rewarding" the offense. It is correcting the erroneous call that placed the offense in jeopardy.

Good discussion. Thanks again for your comments. I might discreetly mention it to our rules interpreter at our upcoming banquet. I'll post whatever he has to say about it.

I checked with the pitcher's father again this morning to verify that the batter had immediately run to 1st base. (I agree that there wouldn't be much to discuss here if she had waited until all the handshakes were completed and bats were put away...) He verified that the batter had ignored the ump's call and had run immediately to 1st.

I can see both sides of this argument.

I'm curious ... what is the defense's "side" of this argument? I can't see any justification there. They didn't get the batter out.

Well, I wasn't there, but I imagine the defense's argument went something like this...

A duly-authorized, well-dressed, highly-trained, highly-compensated OHSAA official stepped up and, in no uncertain terms, declared the batter "OUT!!" The catcher, who was taught not to argue with umpires, did exactly what she was supposed to do after the final out was officially called.

That's their side of the argument, more or less...

OK, some of you say that this is correctable. How? Do you simply allow the BR to remain on 1st?