Dropped 3rd strike bases loaded.

Question
"In a U12 ASA girl's fastpitch game last night, a situation occured that caused some questions. Bases were loaded, there was one out, and a strike out occured, but the catcher couldn't hold onto the ball. She retrieved it and stepped on home plate. The batter kept running and the catcher threw the ball down to the 1st baseman. The catch was made and the base was tagged. When the ball was thrown the runner on 3rd advanced and scored. What is the correct call on this?

The umpire originally called it 2 outs and no run scored. Then the other team balked and he over turned it and said the run count and the batter was the only out.

Thank you for your input!"  

Answer
Thanks for the question!

First of all... This is a messed up situation.

Here's what I would have done.

Ok... with less than two outs, there can NOT be a dropped third strike with a runner on first at the time of the pitch.  For a dropped third strike to occur, first base has to be empty with less than two outs at the time of the pitch, or anytime when there are two outs.  In other words, in this situation, the batter can not run on a dropped third strike.

So, the dropped third strike is gone.  Regardless of what the umpire told everyone about how many outs there were, the official scorer keeps the official count of outs.  Usually it is the home team keeping the book.  Now if I'm coaching, I always know how many outs there are.  As an umpire, you should never give the number of outs without being asked.  When you do get asked, the umpire should say, "I have x out(s)."  That way the umpire absolves himself of being responsible for keeping the correct number of outs.  Also if something like this happens, the umpire can wash some of the blame away.  I personally love it when players realize what I actually say when they ask how many outs there are.  They usually give me a comment about being "clever" or something to that effect.

Now, let's deal with the actual play.  I'm going to tell you right now, no one is really going to like my call here, but it's the best way to handle this... So if this were me, I would call dead ball and kill all play.  Then I would call the batter out for interference.  There was no situation here where a dropped third strike could happen, so then the only reason the batter is running to first is, they either are ignorant of the rules, or are doing it on purpose to score a run.  I know that the wrong number of outs was announced in your situation which compounds the problem.  So the runner would be running because she thought she could run.  However, I抦 not going to let the coaches off the hook for not keeping track of outs themselves.  Once I checked an official book to verify the number of outs. I would get both coaches away from everyone and explain the call.  I'd still call the batter out for interference because with 1 out and bases loaded, she can not run on a dropped third strike.  Then I would put all three runners right back where they were with bases loaded, no one would score, we抎 have 2 outs, and the next batter would come to bat.  Very messy, and very nasty but ultimately the best way to handle the situation in my humble opinion.  I have included the definition of interference below for your convenience.  

Interference - Interference is the act of an offensive player or team member, umpire or spectator that impedes, hinders, or confuses a defensive player attempting to execute a play. Contact is not necessary.

I hope this helps answer your question, if not please reply!