Batting twice,...is that batting out of order?

Question
Runner on first, no outs.  Batter hits a foul ball in the air that is caught by the Left Fielder in play.  But, after catching the ball, the Left Fielder's momentum carries him and the caught ball, out of play.  Home Plate umpire calls the batter out, but the second umpire (between 1st and 2nd base) awards 2nd base to the runner.  Meanwhile the batter steps back into the batter's box and bats again.

Does this constitute batting out of order?  If so, what is the penalty for that team doing so?  When should we have called time and protested the ruling,...before the 1st pitch or after the batter batted the 2nd time?

Thank you,

Randy Bishop

Answer
Hi Randy,

strange situation I have never seen it in many thousands of batters.

I would have a BOO, not sure what else you could have.  With a BOO the defense always want to let the batter complete their turn at batting.  If you do while the batter is up, the correct batter simply assumes the count.

After the completion of the bat and before the next pitch now we have an "appeal" not a protest.  The batter who should have batted is called out, any advance or runs scored is nullified, and any outs made during the bat stand.

The next batter would be the one following the batter who should have batted.

Mark