[Tru_in_Blu]

USA Softball 18U tournament this past weekend. I am on the bases, an inexperienced umpire is PU.

Bases loaded, no outs. Batter hits a ball that is rolling in foul territory towards third base. Along the foul line there is some grass about 2 - 2 1/2 feet from the line. The runner from third base after leaving on the pitch release is now about 4 feet from the base in foul territory. She has her heel on the ground and traps the ball under the front part of her shoe.

PU takes a second and declares a foul ball.

Defensive coach asks for time and talks to PU who then asks me to come in to discuss. She said the coach thinks that was INT on the base runner. I said you could make a case for INT. She thought about it for a few seconds and decided the runner was out for INT.

The batted ball was not a screamer. It did not "hit" the runner in foul territory. The runner did something very deliberate in stopping the ball.

Would it have stayed foul if untouched? Possibly. There is that little mounding of the turf where the grass is growing. The ball could have hit a clump of grass and come into fair territory or clipped the base on the way by.

My dilemma is that I cannot find the correct rule reference in the USA Softball rules book. Now I may have the wording stuck in my head from NFHS.

The paraphrasing I recall is something like: "or interferes with a ground foul ball that might have a chance of being fair". But it might have been related to a BR.

I know that in some cases, passages I recall are not where I might expect them to be.

Can anybody help?

Thanx.