Softball Balk Explained: Rules, Consequences, and Common Mistakes

Question
What happens if a pitcher ends up with a balk?  What happens to the runners and the batter?  My pitcher was losing her balance and had to place her hand back into her glove to regain her balance.  A balk was called.  The batter, who had 2 strikes and 0 balls, was awarded 1st and the runners on 2nd and 3rd were awarded 1 base. Was this the correct call?

Answer
Hi Kristin,

There is no such thing in softball as a "balk".  Nope, Nada, nothing even close.  I assume F1 had separated her hands and then brought them back together as she was losing her balance.

We have a ddb, an illegal pitch and since the pitch wasn't delivered (I assume), the only option is a ball on the batter and all runners are advance 1 base.  So the "P" word could have been used as there is no balk (mis-interp of the rules) and the award for an IP was incorrect.

Mark