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STOP THE PRESSES. I just received an opinion for Randy Allen of the NFHS Softball Committee and if I am reading him right, then mcrowders original malicious contact or obstruction may be closer to the truth. It appears that the NFHS is definitely moving forward again on all non-malicious contact being called obstruction.
I gave him a play (like Dakotas) with six different scenarios of the runner making some contact with a stationary defender about to catch the ball. I presented my opinion that the runner has an obligation to avoid contact if possible or be called for interference.
His reply: The rule is quite clear and involves umpire judgment. If the defensive player does not have the ball and blocks the base, hinders the runner and impedes access to the base, and contact ensues it is obstruction. If the umpire judges contact to be malicious contact, them the malicious contact supercedes obstruction and the runner is out and ejected. In your play, it is either obstruction or malicious contact. There is no incidental contact referenced in the rules book. Our goal is to more clearly define obstruction.
Emphasis mine.
The end result of the removal of the words "runner stays on feet and crashes into defender with the ball or about to catch a thrown ball" from 8.6.14 thus removes Interference from our list of calls. We can only call obstruction or, if judged so, malicious contact.
IMO, this is another major change that, unfortunately, is not documented or taught well enough by the NFHS.
WMB
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