mens slowpitch softball

Question
A runner comes home and doesn't touch the plate and the umpire calls him safe out loud and with the hand gesture. The catcher has the ball and his teammates are telling him the runner never touched the plate. So he tags the runner and the umpire now calls him out. Is he safe or is he out? Should the umpire have not made a call until the whole play was played out? Or should the initial call of safe been the end of the play?

Answer
Hi Sye,

By rule a runner is assumed to have touched a base if they pass it UNLESS an appeal by the defense is made.

In this case the umpire mechanic is to hesitate slightly (giving the defense an opportunity to make an immediate appeal by either tagging the runner or touching the plate w/ control of the ball and stating the appeal) and then if no appeal, give a safe signal.  

Since by rule the runner is assumed to have touched the base and no immediate appeal is made, we give the safe signal and would not wait until the entire play is over so as not to give the defense a "clue" that the runner did not touch the base, that's not the umpire's job.

Now in your play the defense does a live ball appeal by tagging the runner, we have an out.

In this play the umpire mechanic was correct.

Mark