Weird play tonight.

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by chapmaja

Rec League 6th grade game.

I'm working with a new umpire who is doing her first 2 umpire game behind the plate. R1 at 2nd, R2 at first, B3 at the plate.

Low line drive to SS who makes a shoestring catch. From my angle on the play (as the BU) I thought it hit the ground. She immediately tags the R2 after the catch, then runs over and tags R1 who is now standing on 2b. I did not see or hear the out call on the catch, so I call R2 out (tag), and R1 safe at second. B3 is standing on 1b, so I think we have 1 out. The PU comes up and tells me she called an out on the catch (the dirt I saw coming up was from the glove, not the ball hitting the dirt). At this point, now instead of 1 out, we have 3 outs. One on the catch. 1 on R2 tagged while running from 2b to 3b, and one for R2 being off 2b without having tagged up.

I'm a little confused by your description of what happened. Sounds like you're mixing up the designation of R1 and R2 midway through the discussion.

You said that after F6 made the catch, she tagged R2 out. R2 started at first base. How was F6 positioned such that she could tag out R2 right after the catch? And was R2 on or off the bag when that happened?

You also said after F6 tagged R2 out, she ran over and tagged R1 who was standing on second base. Is this the same R1 you said started at second base? If so, why would she be out on the tag? She's where she's supposed to be on the play.

Then you really confuse me when you describe that two runners were tagged, and both were R2.

I think what you meant to say was that F6 made the catch, tagged R1 (the runner who started at second base) when she was off the base, and then tagged R2 (the runner who started at first) after she advanced and was standing at second.

That all said, as BU, you should have started behind and between F6 and second base. It would be very difficult to see a catch/no catch on a line drive from your position on a ball batted to F6, since her glove would be between you and the ball. As soon as the ball enters the glove, you should've been able to glance at your PU partner to see what she had. At the very least, you could have looked her way after F6 tagged R1. It's the PU's call, and you need to be aware of the call while you're determining the outcome of the tags.