spsl high school fastpitch

Question
the situation was, a runner on 2nd, the umpire called dead ball due to catchers interference. the runner advanced to third. the batter was awarded 1st base. After the coaches questioned the call the ump said it was a delayed dead ball. we contested the advancement of the runner. Did he make the right call allowing the runner from 2nd to advance during a dead ball call, and can he change it to a delayed dead ball call when confronted??

Answer
Let's start with your second question.  An umpire can change a call when questioned.  Usually it is something like a base umpire being requested to get help from the plate umpire for a pulled foot on a play at first.  Obstruction of the offense (batter) by the defense (catcher) is always a delayed dead ball.  This means the offense can take the result of the play or the award for the obstruction.  The important thing is to make the right call even if it takes a bit of discussion after the play is over.

Since it doesn't sound like there was any play, the award should have been batter awarded first.  The only reason the runner on 2nd should advance would be if they were forced by a runner on first being forced to advance by the award of first to the batter.

Tom