Umpiring Calls

Question
Hi Dr. Ambrose,

I had a few situations pop up this weekend at a 10U B national qualifier tournament.
1) R1 at 1st, groundball to F4. F4 "tagged" the runner as she went from 1st to 2nd. I was behind the plate and saw that the fielder pulled the famous tag with the empty mitt and the ball in the other hand, but my partner called her out. Coach came out to talk to the base umpire about her call. The coach then turned and asked me what I had, and I indicated safe, no tag made.
A) For etiquette, I should have waited until my partner asked me for help, correct?
B) Based on my call, we pulled the runner back from the dugout and put her on second base. The defensive team's coach then came out to argue that since the runner had left the field and gone into the dugout, she should be out regardless of the call. My reply was that since we had initially called her out, and didn't overturn it until her coach came out, I wasn't going to penalize them for her leaving the field. In the end, I know we got this right and had the proper result, but 1) blew the etiquette portion, 2) should the runner have been called out again for having left the field?

2nd Question: I've been taught to treat all fielder as if their arm is 3 feet long, so if they're reaching from the basepath of the runner to tag, and the runner goes around them, call the runner out for leaving the basepath. I had this situation on a slow roller to first, and called the runner out. Unfortunately for me, the field was marked properly, with the 3 foot running lane, and the runner did not step "out" or even on the chalk while avoiding the tag. Does the 3 foot lane come into play in this situation, or is it really there to determine safe/out on a thrown ball which hits the runner? I'm pretty sure I booted this play, since the lane was there and it was pretty clear that the runner didn't swing outside of it to avoid the tag.

Answer
Hi Kevin,

A) yes you should always wait for your partner to indicate they want some help.  There are numerous subtle ways to let them know they may want to talk to you but your partner should approach you first.
2) no

A runner as you know has 3' on either side of their "base path" to try to avoid a tag.  If the runner was outside the lane and moved more than 3' to avoid the tag they would be out.  So you see it depends on where the runner was when the tag was attempted.  Remember it's not where the fielder is, but a direct line between the runner and the base.

The lane really doesn't come into the play other than it gives you a good reference, just in my mind I can't see how a runner going to 1st could be running in fair territory, move just to the lane to avoid the tag and be greater then 3' from their base path.  But you saw the play, I didn't.

Mark

Mark