Time of Interference

[jmkupka]

Took an NCAA test last night... answered this one as true:

R1 on 3B, R2 on 1B. 1 out. B3 grounds to F6, toss to F5 at 2B, R2 interferes with the throw to 1B. Speedy R1 crosses the plate before the interference occurs. The run counts.

Asked moderator afterward, he said my answer is correct. Runner scored before TOI.

Later, I'm thinking, if R1 is no longer runner closest to home (for purposes of retired runner INT), B3 is. If B3 is the 3rd out, how can any runs score?


Or am I not thinking this through?

[Manny A]

The penalty is that runners return to their bases at the time of interference, but the BR is placed on first base safely. You don’t return the BR to the plate to bat if she was still short of first base at the TOI.

So the out on B3 at first base becomes a penalty out after she had legally attained the base. It’s not an out before she reached it. So the run would score.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Do not believe you are overthinking it. Assuming the BR did not reach 1B prior to the INT, no runs should score:

NCAA 2017

6.2.3 No run shall be scored if the third out of an inning is the result of:

6.2.3.1 A batter-runner being called out before reaching first base or any other base runner forced out because of the batter becoming a batter-runner.

[CecilOne]

Originally Posted by jmkupka

Took an NCAA test last night... answered this one as true:

R1 on 3B, R2 on 1B. 1 out. B3 grounds to F6, toss to F5 at 2B, R2 interferes with the throw to 1B. Speedy R1 crosses the plate before the interference occurs. The run counts.

Asked moderator afterward, he said my answer is correct. Runner scored before TOI.

Later, I'm thinking, if R1 is no longer runner closest to home (for purposes of retired runner INT), B3 is. If B3 is the 3rd out, how can any runs score?


Or am I not thinking this through?

R2 interfering with an attempted play on B3/BR at 1st implies that B3/BR had not reached 1st at the TOI.
Is the BR out at the instant of INT? That seems correct, which would mean third out by BR, no run.

Edit for disclaimer: I never answer as NCAA rule.

[jmkupka]

Manny interp:
That was my rationale.


Irish/Cecil interp:
With 0 outs at the beginning of the play, R1 would score (vs. being returned to 3B).
With 1 out at the beginning of the play, no run would score.

[IRISHMAFIA]

IMO, as a matter of priority, the runner closest to home is ruled out prior to base assignments

12.8.7 When, after being declared out or after scoring, a runner interferes with a defensive player’s opportunity to make a play on another runner.
12.8.8 When a coach, while in the coach’s box, intentionally interferes with a thrown ball or interferes with the defensive team’s opportunity to make a play on a runner. Note: If a thrown ball accidentally touches an offensive coach in foul territory, the ball is live and in play.
12.8.9 When the offensive coach near third base runs in the direction of home plate on or near the baseline while a fielder is attempting to make a play on a batted or thrown ball, and draws a throw to home plate.
EFFECT—(12.8.7 to 12.8.9)—The ball is dead. The runner closest to home plate at the time of the interference shall be declared out. Each runner not forced by the batter-runner must return to the last base legally touched at the time of the interference.

[CecilOne]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

IMO, as a matter of priority, the runner closest to home is ruled out prior to base assignments

12.8.7 When, after being declared out or after scoring, a runner interferes with a defensive player’s opportunity to make a play on another runner.
12.8.8 When a coach, while in the coach’s box, intentionally interferes with a thrown ball or interferes with the defensive team’s opportunity to make a play on a runner. Note: If a thrown ball accidentally touches an offensive coach in foul territory, the ball is live and in play.
12.8.9 When the offensive coach near third base runs in the direction of home plate on or near the baseline while a fielder is attempting to make a play on a batted or thrown ball, and draws a throw to home plate.
EFFECT—(12.8.7 to 12.8.9)—The ball is dead. The runner closest to home plate at the time of the interference shall be declared out. Each runner not forced by the batter-runner must return to the last base legally touched at the time of the interference.

"at the time of the interference " being important.

[Tru_in_Blu]

I don't do NCAA, either.

But I think the timing of the INT does factor greatly here.

Had the runner not yet touched HP at the time of the INT, that runner would be out. The batter runner would have gained first base, albeit a moot point since the inning would be over. But that runner would have been considered a "left on base".

Since the runner scored prior to the INT, I think the run would count. Now we're looking for the next runner closest to home to call out due to the INT by a retired runner. That runner is now the batter who has reached first base. In this case, run scores there are now 3 outs, and no runners LOB.

[youngump]

Does it change anything if we add a runner at 2nd? In that case the BR would be awarded 1st, but I still don't think this run is meant to score.

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by youngump

Does it change anything if we add a runner at 2nd? In that case the BR would be awarded 1st, but I still don't think this run is meant to score.

Well, if the bases were loaded, then the out at second base removes the force from R2. So her out for being the closest to home would be a timing play, not a force play.

[josephrt1]

Originally Posted by youngump

Does it change anything if we add a runner at 2nd? In that case the BR would be awarded 1st, but I still don't think this run is meant to score.

I'm not a college ump (do USA) but I think the NCAA rule book answers your question. (I'm looking at the 2015 NCAA book.)

In section 12.19, page 147, one sentence stands out. "If the batter-runner has not touched first base at the time of the interference, each base runner shall return to the base legally occupied at the time of the pitch."

In your example of the runner going from 1st to 2nd and after being put out, interferes with the throw to 1st, we have a dead ball. The runner closest to home (runner going from 2nd to 3rd) is now called out for the 3rd out which is not a force out. If the batter-runner had reached 1st before this interference, the run will count. If the batter-runner had NOT reached 1st before this interference then all runners return to the base occupied at the time of the pitch negating the run and putting the runner who crossed home plate back at 3rd base. I read this to mean that even if this was not the 3rd out, the run would still be taken off the board which i don't think anyone was considering (and actually sounds pretty odd).

I think this answers your question. I don't see a similar explanation in the USA book or the 2012 ASA case book, but it would sure help.