I was flipping through the TV channels over the weekend, and caught the last inning of a softball game between the US and Japan - I guess it was the finals of the world cup? The game ended quite strangely and I'm hoping someone can explain what happened (I'm a baseball fan, but am ignorant of the details for softball). The Japanese were batting, with 1 out and a runner on first. The batter hit a fly ball to the right fielder for the 2nd out. The runner was then heading back to 1st as the outfielder returned the ball to the pitcher. Suddenly the 1st base ump signalled the runner out - that's the 3rd out and the game is suddenly over, and the US is victorious. It seems the ball made it back to the pitcher inside the circle before the runner got back to the 1st base bag. Is that considered an out in softball?