Deflection

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by harmbu

FED. R1 & R2. Ball is hit up the middle and caroms off F1's leg. As the ball bounds toward F4, R1 and F4 collide and the ball passes the fielder. Defensive Coach wants a double play because of interference. Offensive coach says that because of the deflection, F4 is no longer protected. Who is correct? I will tell you what was called later.

If F4 is still fielding the batted ball (and not just chasing after a loose ball), then he's still protected. This sounds like the case -- so it's interference.

That part of the rule is the same in FED and OBR.

Whether it's a DP or not depends on the code. In FED (as in the OP), you can get it if a DP is "likely". That's a HTBT. In OBR, only if the interference is willful and deliberate with the intent of preventig a DP -- and that doesn't sound like the case here.

Note that there's a difference between "contacting the fielder" and "contacting the deflected ball" -- the runner is protected from the latter, not from the former.