balking

Question
In a Babe Ruth League baseball game with runners on, the umpire called a balk. The ump did not make any gestures or anything, but said balk,not yelling it but just saying it(we,the coaches of the at-bat team did not even know who said balk). the pitcher still delivered the pitch, and it was hit into the outfield.The runners advanced and the batter returned to to the plate to resume the at-bat as a result of the balk call. I questioned the umpire why he was so quiet about the balk call. His explanation was the at-team has the option of accepting the hit instead of the balk. The ball is still in play if pitched even if balk has been called. The umpire that said balk was the base ump not the plate ump which made it difficult to know where the word balk had come from because no gestures came with the balk call. I'm confused, are these umpires correct.

Answer
Joe,

The umpire was mostly right.  Typically the ball is dead, but if the batter gets a hit, the result of the play takes precedence over the balk.  So all the runners and the batter should have stayed at their bases at the end of the play just like the balk wasn't called.  This is in rule 8.05 in the major league rulebook - Penalty section:

PENALTY: The ball is dead, and each runner shall advance one base without
liability to be put out, unless the batter reaches first on a hit, an error, a base on
balls, a hit batter, or otherwise, and all other runners advance at least one base, in
which case the play proceeds without reference to the balk.

Hope this helps!

Brian