[greymule]

I quoted the rule

I see that you quoted the FPSR. Is that from the NCAA book?

the rule is clear you do not have to have a play for their to be interference.

That's true, at least in Fed, for a category of INT that is generated by illegal contact. But I don't see that the contact in the OP was illegal, or absent a play, even INT. How is it illegal contact?

In the zillions of discussions this forum has seen about INT at 2B, I've never heard the situation reduced to a simple "slide or avoid." There is much more to INT than that, including whether a play is possible. The way I see it, illegal contact is different from INT in that (1) you can have INT without illegal contact (which requires that a play be possible), and (2) illegal contact creates INT regardless of whether a play is possible. (OBR not included in this.)

Of course, if the runner goes into 2B standing up in an obvious effort to interfere rather than reach the base, I'd call INT (if there's a play remotely possible). However, simply running upright straight toward 2B—without sliding or veering—and getting hit by the ball is just tough luck for the defense.