Interference?

[MT 73]

Runner on first collides with F3 who is about to catch a pop up but is still able to catch the ball.
My friend called interference as soon as contact was made and then also called out the BR on the catch.
Does the catch negate the interference?
Or are both the runner and BR out?
Looking for ruling in both Fed and OBR.

[bob jenkins]

If the infield fly was in effect, the call is correct. If not, R1 out, BR to first (assuming the ball was fair)

[Rich Ives]

Originally Posted by MT 73

Runner on first collides with F3 who is about to catch a pop up but is still able to catch the ball.
My friend called interference as soon as contact was made and then also called out the BR on the catch.
Does the catch negate the interference?
Or are both the runner and BR out?
Looking for ruling in both Fed and OBR.

The ball is dead on the interference so the catch didn't happen. The batter would only be out if it was an IFF because he already was. Otherwise it's either give him 1B if it's fair or it's a foul ball.

[MT 73]

Originally Posted by Rich Ives

The ball is dead on the interference so the catch didn't happen. The batter would only be out if it was an IFF because he already was. Otherwise it's either give him 1B if it's fair or it's a foul ball.

Thanks gents.
Question: would it be prudent to wait to see if the catch is going to be made before calling interference or to just kill it at the moment of the violation?
My friend who made the call said the impact was minimal and did not impair F3's ability to catch the pop fly.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by MT 73

Thanks gents.
Question: would it be prudent to wait to see if the catch is going to be made before calling interference or to just kill it at the moment of the violation?
My friend who made the call said the impact was minimal and did not impair F3's ability to catch the pop fly.

Don't wait. Call it as soon as it's INT. In OBR, it's INT to "fail to avoid the fielder ..."

While the FED rule says "it's INT to hinder a fielder ..." (and not "it's INT to contact the fielder ...)" almost any contact on a batted ball will be judged to hinder the fielder -- whether that happened in your play or not is impossible to say, but there's a strong benefit of the doubt to this being INT.