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Wait a minute. How do we assume the contact was illegal? It was not ruled malicious. It seems from what was described, that the contact took place at the plate. At which point either the runner intentionally tried to dislodge the ball maliciously, or the runner tied to tag the plate without sliding, incidental contact. Just because the catcher dropped the ball, doesn't mean that the "contact was illegal" and "that it altered the actions of a fielder in the immediate act of making a play".FED Sect 4.2.b.
If the runner had made contact with the catcher before he received the ball up the line, thats different. At the plate there would still be judgement if the contact was because two people were meeting at the same place or on purpose by the runner. Malicious.
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