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"Personally, this sounds like someone trying to apply a baseball mentality to an ASA softball rule."
Personally, this sounds like someone trying to be a jerk. Why must you always be so sarcastice and insulting, Mike. Why can't you understand that umpires come here trying to learn something and better themselves.
No, it is not baseball! It is from a play that happened to me in a college softball game a couple weeks ago. Line shot down 3B line, ricochets off F5 towards F6. R1 and F6 collide, preventing F6 from getting to the ball. BU is basically a NFHS umpire and he is applying a HS rule and calling the runner out for interference. I am thinking ASA rule on deflected ball and don't believe an out could have been made. None of us, including coaches, are positive of the college rule, so we go with ASA. BU is not sure that he could judge whether or not an out could have been made, so the interference call stood. Coaches were angry. Later I read that NCAA is not the same as ASA for they have the words "make a play. So it should have been interference, except that NCAA and ASA have the "intentional" word in the rule. (BTW - college doesn't have a "deflected" ball. NCAA has a "ricochet!")
"anytime the defense is the cause of a change in direction of a ball"
What part of "deflect" do you not understand? It is not necessarily an error; often this becomes a base hit. So the line drive "deflects" off the pitcher's head and you say "Oh, tooo bad, you blew it. Now we are not going to protect your teammates from being run down by the runner," when they still think that they have a chance to make a play (or out, whatever).
If the second fielder has a chance to make an out, then why shouldn't they be protected in their pursuit of that deflected (or ricocheted) ball?
WMB
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