To fully appreciate the situation...the field had a foul line and a second out of bounds line. There was seating for the parents behind the out of bounds line, but there was no chain link fence separating the parents from the field.
Runners at 1st and 2nd, pop up to 3B, umpire immediately and loudly calls "IF rule, batter is out."
3B drops the popup. Runner at 2B starts jogging (not running, jogging) toward 3B...because she needs to conserve her energy because it is so far from 2B to 3B. 3B picks up the dropped ball and looks at it like she just found an Infinity Stone from the Avengers. The runner is now next to her. A light bulbs starts to flicker on and off, and so she and the runner are now running side-by-side in a race for the bag.
3B touches the bag before the runner...which of course means nothing since there is no force out. The ump signals safe.
There are now two 14YOA kids surrounded by a millieu of adults screaming either "get back", "tag her", or "what just happened".
The runner, apparently scared by this throng of crazed adults, decides to vacate 3B and return to safer and more tranquil grounds at 2B. She starts jogging (not running) back to 2B. The runner who was at 1B had moved to 2B, probably for a better view of the events.
The former occupant of 1B, now at 2B, is quite confused, because 1B is now occupied by the batter-runner...even though the batter-runner is, of course, out.
About this time, the 3B looks around with that universal 14YOA girl lobotomized look of "huh? were you talking to me?".
I was hoping that the runner would take off and make a game of it, and that 3B would then chase her around the infield and outfield trying to tag her...but, it was not to be.
3B stumbled forward and tagged the runner when the runner was about 1/2 way between the 3B and 2B.
What followed were lengthy lectures on the IF rule...by the coaches and the umpire. A projector and a power point would have been helpful.
Runners at 1st and 2nd, pop up to 3B, umpire immediately and loudly calls "IF rule, batter is out."
3B drops the popup. Runner at 2B starts jogging (not running, jogging) toward 3B...because she needs to conserve her energy because it is so far from 2B to 3B. 3B picks up the dropped ball and looks at it like she just found an Infinity Stone from the Avengers. The runner is now next to her. A light bulbs starts to flicker on and off, and so she and the runner are now running side-by-side in a race for the bag.
3B touches the bag before the runner...which of course means nothing since there is no force out. The ump signals safe.
There are now two 14YOA kids surrounded by a millieu of adults screaming either "get back", "tag her", or "what just happened".
The runner, apparently scared by this throng of crazed adults, decides to vacate 3B and return to safer and more tranquil grounds at 2B. She starts jogging (not running) back to 2B. The runner who was at 1B had moved to 2B, probably for a better view of the events.
The former occupant of 1B, now at 2B, is quite confused, because 1B is now occupied by the batter-runner...even though the batter-runner is, of course, out.
About this time, the 3B looks around with that universal 14YOA girl lobotomized look of "huh? were you talking to me?".
I was hoping that the runner would take off and make a game of it, and that 3B would then chase her around the infield and outfield trying to tag her...but, it was not to be.
3B stumbled forward and tagged the runner when the runner was about 1/2 way between the 3B and 2B.
What followed were lengthy lectures on the IF rule...by the coaches and the umpire. A projector and a power point would have been helpful.
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