In Reply to: spoiler posted by TheHappyBurgermeister on May 25, 2025 at 20:57:50
"What would have happened" matters to the extent that the umpire judges that the runner would've been forced to return to the base. In this case if the pitcher had the ball at the time of the contact then sending her back would've been reasonable even though the contact was on her way home.
As it was, there would've been a play at the plate at best for the defense, and it's not the umpire's job to guess who would've won the race.