Balk or Live Ball?

Happened a couple of times in a game the other day. As the pitcher starts her back swing, the ball slipped out towards second base. My thought is that this is a balk. Was ruled as a ball and the base runners could advance at their own risk. Worked out in our favor once. One time it didn't. What is the correct ruling on this?

thanks

There are no balks in fastpitch. It is a ball on the batter live ball. Runners may advance at own risk

eagle6 said:

Happened a couple of times in a game the other day. As the pitcher starts her back swing, the ball slipped out towards second base. My thought is that this is a balk. Was ruled as a ball and the base runners could advance at their own risk. Worked out in our favor once. One time it didn't. What is the correct ruling on this?

thanks

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You witnessed the correct ruling. There is no such thing as a balk in softball

If a pitcher starts their motion and stops, it is a dead ball and a runners are advanced. Have had this called on my daughter and the umpire called it a balk. He called it the wrong thing i guess. In the end, just wanted to know if they got the call correct. I know if they go through the motion and dont release the ball, it is an illegal pitch. wasn't sure if losing it on the backswing was different or not.

eagle6 said:

If a pitcher starts their motion and stops, it is a dead ball and a runners are advanced. Have had this called on my daughter and the umpire called it a balk. He called it the wrong thing i guess. In the end, just wanted to know if they got the call correct. I know if they go through the motion and dont release the ball, it is an illegal pitch. wasn't sure if losing it on the backswing was different or not.

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That is because it is an IP. With NCAA changing their IP rules, this may change for lower levels as well. Main change is no base advance on IP.

Umpire was wrong to call it a balk.

eagle6 said:

If a pitcher starts their motion and stops, it is a dead ball and a runners are advanced. Have had this called on my daughter and the umpire called it a balk. He called it the wrong thing i guess. In the end, just wanted to know if they got the call correct. I know if they go through the motion and dont release the ball, it is an illegal pitch. wasn't sure if losing it on the backswing was different or not.

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He did. In softball, you only have illegal pitches. "Balks" are baseball where the action of the pitcher is an attempt to deceive a runner. Since a runner in softball may not leave before the pitch is released, the IP is a matter of deceiving or gaining an unfair advantage on the batter. Since the IP doesn't really affect the runner's status, the NCAA has elected to not award the runner. ASA proposed the same change a few years back, but it fail to receive enough support in the council.