sdiamond wrote:Batter swings at pitch but ball doesnt hit bat but does hit her forearm, Ump says dead ball? cannot find a ruling on this.
Correct call is dead-ball strike. The dead-ball effect is easy to miss in USA/ASA rules. In my 2013 copy, this situation is covered in Rule 7 BATTING - Section 4 A STRIKE IS CALLED BY THE UMPIRE, the applicable strike rule is H and the dead-ball effect is farther down below L in "EFFECT - Section 4F-L".
NFHS rule is 5-1-1:
ART. 1 . . . Ball becomes dead immediately when (see Table 5-1):
a. a pitch touches a batter or the batter’s clothing (8-1-2b).
NOTE: (F.P.) The ball becomes dead even though the batter strikes at it.Pitched ball contacting batter is always an immediate dead ball - including the hands. Whether it is HBP or just a ball/strike depends on location of pitch, rule set and what batter did or didn't do.