Had a situation in a middle school game, playing by high school rules, that once the pitcher receives the ball in the circle that all runners have to be on the bag. The pitcher and 3rd base runner were playing the stare down game while the pitcher was on her way to the circle and as soon as she stepped into the circle, the runner was called out by the umpire for not being on the bag. I contend that since once the pitcher gets into the circle then the runner needs to go back. Is the umpire correct?