[BretMan]

It appears you are correct, Hugo. NFHS makes an exception when the batted ball is first touched by the pitcher. When that happens, the second fielder trying to field the deflected ball is still considered to be making the "initial play" and thus has full protection from being interfered with.

Why they have this exception...beats me. It sort of makes sense if the pitcher barely nicked the ball and it continued on in a pretty much straight path. But if it deflected off at some odd angle, the second fielder is likely to make a quick, unavoidable course change. I don't think that a runner who accidently contacts a fielder in this case should be rung up for interfernce. And, apparently, neither does ASA, where the interference with the second fielder must be intentional, no matter who first touched the ball.

Chalk it up to another one of those rule differences that exist mainly to confound and confuse us!