Rule Question
This is more for my curiosity about how everyone else sees this, but I wanted to get other opinions. I coach a rec league team that's supposed to transition to competitive soon. The league is structured to foster this transition, so it uses a modified USSSA rule set for the first 3 weeks of the season, then goes to normal comp rules. The relevant modification here is that a runner can never steal home and they can't advance to any base on a passed ball. So, one of our batters strikes out swinging but the ball gets by the catcher. The batter runs to first and the catcher grabs the ball and doesn't attempt a throw, but for some reason they also stand near the backstop just holding the ball and seeming confused about what to do with it. For some reason, and without me telling her to, the runner at third just takes off for home. The catcher is still just looking confused and doesn't realize why everyone is yelling until it's too late. The runner barely beat the tag, but they did so we get another run.
At this point, the other coach comes out and says that was a passed ball and the runner on third can't advance. I pointed out that unlike a routine passed ball, a dropped third strike is a live ball. On a passed ball it's treated as dead and a runner can't advance unless they were already stealing. But with a dropped third strike the batter is a runner just as if they hit the ball. The ball can't only be live for the batter and everyone else has to stay put. I also pointed out that we had a base runner take home on us in the prior game (different opponent) when our catcher dropped the third strike and threw to first. The umpire ended up siding with me, but the coaches kept yakking about it for the rest of the inning.
In my mind, given the wonky rules that we have at the moment, even though the ball made it past the catcher it's not treated like a "routine" passed ball. It's a live ball, and because it's treated the same as a hit the runner on third didn't "steal" home. It was a sneaky and ill-advised decision to run, but a legal one.
What do you all think?