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Jr Legion; Fed rules; R1 & R2, 1 out; bottom 5 Ball hit to F9 on a hop and runners are moving on contact. I move to 3BLX as F2 is setup inside the foul line awaiting the ball. A play at the plate is imminent. R2 arrived just after the ball, which I saw in F2’s glove. R2 slid feet first outside the foul line and F2 applied the tag below R2’s left knee prior to R2 touching the plate. As F2 rotated his body to tag the runner, I rotated counterclockwise to follow him and clearly saw F2 apply the tag. F2’s knees were on the ground blocking most of the plate. There was nothing close to any kind of obstruction. As I waited to make sure F2 still had the ball, F2 held his position, with his glove in front of him on his left thigh, with the top of the glove touching the ground between his legs. From the HT bench I heard, “It’s on the ground!†The catcher never seemed to move either arm, and I rotated around to the front of F2 while looking to see if the ball was on the ground between his legs. It was not. I called the runner out as the catcher held up his glove, holding the ball. Based on what I had heard from HT bench, I went to my partner almost immediately and asked if he had seen the ball on the ground. He did and I changed my call. I cannot for the life of me figure out how I was not able to see the ball on the ground, nor see F2 move to grab it off the ground. Is this something that is avoidable through a different mechanic? When I saw the tag, I was just outside the LH batter’s box, near where 1B foul line met the box. After the tag, I kept my eyes on F2 looking for anything that could have been a scramble to pick up the ball, yet saw nothing apparent. Ultimately the call was correct, but did I make more difficult than it should have been?