When does a play end?

[SC Ump]

The wording is a little different between ASA and FED, but the concept is the same. In your situation, the batter/runner can round first base by a step or two, stop if she wishes and see where the ball is, and then immediately return to first or proceed to second. Once she makes that choice of proceeding or returning, she cannot change her mind as long as the pitcher has the ball in the circle and it not making a play on her.

If she rounds first and proceeds to second without stopping within a couple of steps of first, she has "committed" herself towards second.

In FED, there was a rule wording change last year that states the batter runner may stop once. Some interpret this to mean that they can stop once anywhere along the path before deciding to return to first, e.g. she could be three inches from second, stop and decide she wanted to return to first. My belief is that this interpretation is incorrect and that the stop must occur within a step or two of first base. I would not be surprised if there is a clarification of this in the next rule and/or case book.

By the way, if you access to a rule book, just review the section on the "Look Back Rule" for detailed information.