Interference, or no? How many outs?
 

ASA 16A. Three umpires. Loser's bracket game, eight teams remaining on Saturday. I am U3.

1 out, R1 on 1B. A relatively routine grounder is hit to F6 and thrown to 2B to F4 for the force out. As F4 turns and begins to release the ball from her glove to throw to 1B, R1 slides into 2B, contacting F4's feet (still on the top of the base) with her feet, and knocking F4 to the ground hard.

EDIT for clarification: The BR is still two+ steps from 1B when this occurs.

What is your call?

Nothing.

Dead ball. Interference by retired runner. So, batter runner is out. This is 16U (high school) softball, not Major League Baseball.

So now a runner cannot stay upright, cannot continue in a straight line to the base, cannot slide into the base and cannot turn out of the way without being called for interference in any situation?

Was the play close at 2nd or was there a possible retired runner?
I guess that is what you are asking?

The play at second was not particularly close, regular hammer out. The contact was made by R1 after she was retired.

This play generated a lot of discussion this week. I know, HTBT, and I'll post my ruling next post. I wanted to see what the board thought.

Does ASA softball have the same comment as OBR does regarding interference by a retired runner? Continuing to run the bases is not interference by that act alone. Sliding into a base is continuing to run the bases.

I believe the statement in asa is continuing to run the bases after being put out and drawing a throw may be considered an act of interference.

^^^ This. And only this.

I don't think there is a call to be made here (except for the out on the on R1), unless by chance the slide was malicious or illegal in some way. Without seeing the slide, my first inclination is to assume it is a routine slide where the play is close enough for the runner to justify sliding.

That said, after reading the OP again, I could see an interpretation of the play that has the runner initiating the slide late (as in too close to the bag such that it is interpreted as malicious) or unnecessarily sliding (as in the runner had time to stop and peel away or kneel to get avoid interfering). In those cases, you could call interference. My gut is still telling me this wasn't one of those instances and thus not interference.

Looks like I am on the losing end of this one. I ruled INT, runner and BR out. It seemed pretty cut-and-dried to me. This was the most obvious attempt to take out a fielder with the ball I'd ever seen in JO play. It seems odd to me that a runner sliding hard into a fielder and knocking her down, preventing a play, is not a case of INT when a runner on her feet who doesn't even make contact with a fielder can be called for INT.

Well, you are up against the axiom that a legal slide is always legal contact. Was the slide legal? NFHS defines an illegal slide; ASA does not. If she was sliding into the fielder rather than sliding to acquire the base... ?? You saw it, we didn't.

Wrong. She did exactly as she is supposed to do. She cannot remain upright, cannot veer to the side.

This applies if she runs to a base AFTER being put out and someone throws the ball to try to put her out again. Nothing like this scenario.

ASA Rule Supplement 13....Crash Interference

This talks about remaining upright and crashing into a fielder with the ball.
There is a statement in the RS which reads.....A runner may slide into the fielder.

As described, I have nothing on the OP