When you move to 'Bama, I certainly hope you leave Abel, Baker, Charlie and every other damned ballplayer you know in Jersey.

I promise that I will.

Now let's take this play:

No outs. Billy Bob on 3B, Billy Roy on 2B, Billy Joe on 1B. Billy Lee hits a liner to right center . . .

Passed runner question
 

I have a different way of looking at this question of whether or not a runner has passed another

If I understand this correctly, we have a "front" runner who has retreated toward 3rd, which is now occupied by the "back" runner. The front runner reaches 3rd, touches it, and continues on down the third base line while the back runner continues to maintain contact w/ third base.

At that point -- I've got a passing -- using the following logic. If both of those runners now desire to score, who is closer to scoring? The back runner has already MADE 3rd base and may run home without retouching 3rd -- because they're in contact with it.

The front runner is farther away procedurally from reaching home -- prior to running home they must legally retouch 3rd, a process not required of the other runner.

Since the front runner's position is now farther away from home than the back runner (a reversal of the original order) -- I've got a passing -- and an out by the person who did the passing -- the back runner.

You make an intelligent argument, cpa, and you may well be correct. But there are many cases in which rulings contradict intelligent arguments, or at least follow different intelligent arguments, which is why various codes sometimes interpret the same wording differently.

Example: Both ASA and OBR have a penalty for one runner passing another. So let's examine a play: with a runner on 1B, the batter hits a long high fly down the LF line. The BR runs hard to 1B, but the runner waits at 1B, figuring he'll tag up and advance if the ball is caught. The BR rounds 1B and passes the runner while the ball is still in the air, and then the ball falls into the stands in foul territory.

In ASA, the BR is out for passing the runner while the ball was still live. But in OBR, the BR is not out, and the play is simply a foul ball. However, you cannot tell for sure by reading the respective rule books. You have to know from other sources that the codes call this play differently.

All I'm saying is that we don't know until we get some kind of authoritative ruling. It may also be that Fed, ASA, NCAA, and other softball codes would call a reverse overrun of 3B differently.

You make that call, especially in 'Bama, and you better have your getaway driver waiting with the pick-up running in the parking lot.

R2 out on tag.
R3/R1 scores, having taken a circuitous route from 3rd to home, but was not avoiding an attempted tag.
Basis 1: "catcher ran her back to 3rd " and "catcher throws to second base " in the OP did not include any tag attempt; just a forcing a retreat.
Basis 2: nothing in LL book dissents

You make that call, especially in 'Bama, and you better have your getaway driver waiting with the pick-up running in the parking lot.

I'm not planning to make that call in 'Bama or anywhere else, even if ASA did provide me with that interpretation a couple of years ago. Umpiring a game should not require suicide.