AlwaysImprove wrote:In my read of the rules on this, if the defense was making the play, and it looked like the play should result in an out; Whether the fielder interfered, purposely or inadvertently, this would result in interference. Am I not understanding?
NCAA:
1.72 Interference
Equipment or the act of an offensive player, coach, umpire or spectator that denies
the fielder a reasonable opportunity to play the ball. The act may be intentional or
unintentional and the ball must have been playable.The runner did what a runner is supposed to do, try to advance to the next base. She is neither required or expected to concede the base just because she may be ruled out. This runner committed no act of INT.
It is a myth, usually more prevalent in the SP game, that a runner must move out of the way to not be charged with INT. Actually, turning out WOULD be an act of interference if that move causes INT with the defense attempting to make a play. In that case, the runner closest to home would be ruled out.
It is also true that, as you presumed, there needs to be a play with which to interfere and obviously that was not the case here though that just adds gas to the fire.