F2 Throws to F5 to Hold R2

[Manny A]

I worked an ASA-sanctioned Father's Day All Star tournament this past weekend. I noticed quite regularly this situation:

Runner on second (R2) took a pretty good lead after each pitch. When F2 would catch the pitch, she would stand up, look at R2 as R2 stood there, maybe even feint a throw to second, and then would throw the ball to F5 covering third base. F5 would then chase R2 back to second before throwing the ball to F1.

Would this be a situation where F2 is throwing to a base but not actually making a play on a runner? In almost every case, R2 never made any move toward third. She just stood there maybe 10-15 feet off second, baiting F2 to throw behind her so that she could take off for third.

Nobody complained about it, but I was curious. It seemed to be fairly routine tactic to address the situation.