10U Girls Fast Pitch ASA defensive player interference

Question
In our last game, the umpire awards a base to a base runner stealing third.  The runner ran into the 3rd baseman who was trying to catch the throw from the catcher.  The umpire awarded the runner home saying that the fielder interfered with the runner.  Is this a judgement call and was it correct?

Answer
Hi John

this would actually be called "obstruction" not "interference".  The defense obstructs, the offense interferes.

Ok now that we have the terminology correct......ASA RS36. OBSTRUCTION.
Obstruction is the act of a fielder:
A. Not in possession of the ball, or
B. Not in the act of fielding a batted ball,
which impedes the progress of a batter-runner or runner who is legally
running the bases.
If a defensive player is blocking the base or base path without the ball,
they are impeding the progress of the runner and this is obstruction.
In past years, coaches taught their players to block the base, catch
the ball and make the tag. Now defensive players must catch the ball, block the base and then make the tag.

Ok so F5 did not have possession of the ball yet (they were waiting on the throw from F2) and hindered R1, we award the base the runner would have made had they not been obstructed...in this case most likely 3rd.  We do not give them an extra base simply because they were obstructed.

Now if the throw from F2 went onto LF and in the umpire's judgment R1 would have made home had they not been obstructed the award is home.

Mark