Dropped third strike, but batter out...

Question
Just curious about a recent incident at a girls 11-12 fast pitch softball game.

One out. On third strike, catcher drops ball, but first base is occupied. Batter runs towards first anyway, but is already out. The confused catcher throws toward first and several errors ensue that allow three runs score. However, the batter that is out also runs the bases. Is it legal for the batter that was out to be on the field running bases while the ball is live?

This was not a game deciding incident, but I was curious.  Thanks for your opinion.

Answer
Hello Terri

It appears like this was an excellent learning experience for the team and coaches.

The batter is out when she has three strikes and first base is occupied with less than two out however on any dropped third strike the ball remains live and in play and runners may advance at their own risk.

When batter-base runner starts to run on the dropped third strike with first base occupied and fewer than two out the only thing the plate umpire is obligated to indicate is "strike three". Some plate umpires will also verbally say "Batter's out".  Although the batter was already out, ran the bases, and drew a throw to first she cannot be called for anything illegal unless she directly interfered with another play. The catcher should have known that the batter was out and ignored her. The other defensive players should also know what the circumstances are. A good catcher should look to prevent the other runners from advancing.

In the mid 90's ASA  experimented with a JO third strike rule so that if the batter-base runner drew a throw in violation of the third strike rule the ball was dead and the runners were returned however that was rule was rescinded after a couple of years.