Dropped third srtike

The word unintentionally in your post is the key to the answer.

A batter out of the box could only be charged with interference on a dropped third strike in this case if he deliberatly interfered with the catchers attempt to field the ball...

unintentional contact with the ball as adjudged by the umpire...... then no interference, to record the out the runner would still need to be thrown out.....

More of an "Ask the Umpire" question than a scoring question. Not an issue as our "Ask the Umpire" moderators frequently are welcomed into other forums, like this one.

For scoring purposes in this case, the pitcher is credited with a strikeout and it sounds like a wild pitch based on the description of the ball in the dirt being blocked. Other choices are passed ball (catcher should've controlled the pitch with ordinary effort), E-2 (throw wild or hitting runner or kicking the ball around when the play at first could easily have been made with ordinary effort) or E-3 (throw that should've resulted in an out with ordinary effort being missplayed by the first baseman).

For earned runs calculation, a wild pitch is on the pitcher (if he scores, its earned). An error or passed ball is considered an out when reconstructing the inning.

Thanks for posting a scoring question. We haven't had one since late October. In another nine weeks, we'll be playing HS games that count. I think all of us score keepers could use some spring training!