Thrown Bat

[GIMNEPIWO]

My fellow Coach asked me how I would rule in the following situation:

Pitcher, while making a legal pitch drops the ball and it rolls towards the batter ... when the ball has almost reached her, she throws the bat at the rolling ball( so that the bat has completely left her hands when the bat makes contact with the ball ), takes off for first and reaches the bag prior to the throw.

My initial response was that she may be out or maybe just a strike, in any event I said it would not be legal ...but I would get back to him, here is what I was thinking ( NFHS )...

... equiptment is supposed to be used in the manner in which it was designed ( 3-2-10 ), meaning the bat is to be held in the batters hands ... warning to the player and the Coach ( 3-6-16 ) ...Dead Ball, batters out, runners return,.... I have not found all the supporting rules to justify my thought process ...
..........But then I thought it may just be a strike ... NFHS rule 7-2H ... A strike is charged to the batter when a pitched ball, in the umpires judgement, is prevented from entering the strike zone by any actions of the batter ( dead ball strike ) ....

What am I missing ? I found 7-4-14 but didn't think that applied since the pitch was still a pitch, albeit on the ground

[wadeintothem]

Of course this COULD be an IP -- so this might even be a free shot at the ball by the batter if you do call the IP.

There is no rule which would make your play illegal. In fact, there is a fairly commonly used bunt where the bat is kind of dropped into the the ball and the bat is not held at the moment of contact. It is not entirely unheard of for a batter to truely accidently lose posession of the bat during the swing and the bat still make contact.

I would consider issues such at - interfering with a catcher on a steal and I would certainly consider this a swing and I would rule it as any other hit ball... including rules regarding the ball making contact with a batted ball a 2nd time (if applicable).

Assuming fair ball, I got nothing here on this play but a base hit.

[wadeintothem]

oh and also, welcome to the blue. You've now officially received your first "what if a UFO flys in in middle of the play" type question and your response should be equal to the task of making them as incredulous as possible.

[GIMNEPIWO]

oh and also, welcome to the blue. You've now officially received your first "what if a UFO flys in in middle of the play" type question and your response should be equal to the task of making them as incredulous as possible.

LMAO >>> yeah, thats what I thought to about the UFO ... but, my fellow Coach had his wheels turning to make this a play for when a ball is bouncing or rolling in .... maybe something fun for the gals thats off the wall ... off the UFO wall ...or I guess it would be IRO ... identified rolling object ... Thanks Wade

[umpinva]

My fellow Coach asked me how I would rule in the following situation:

Pitcher, while making a legal pitch drops the ball and it rolls towards the batter ... when the ball has almost reached her, she throws the bat at the rolling ball( so that the bat has completely left her hands when the bat makes contact with the ball ), takes off for first and reaches the bag prior to the throw.

My initial response was that she may be out or maybe just a strike, in any event I said it would not be legal ...but I would get back to him, here is what I was thinking ( NFHS )...

... equiptment is supposed to be used in the manner in which it was designed ( 3-2-10 ), meaning the bat is to be held in the batters hands ... warning to the player and the Coach ( 3-6-16 ) ...Dead Ball, batters out, runners return,.... I have not found all the supporting rules to justify my thought process ...
..........But then I thought it may just be a strike ... NFHS rule 7-2H ... A strike is charged to the batter when a pitched ball, in the umpires judgement, is prevented from entering the strike zone by any actions of the batter ( dead ball strike ) ....

What am I missing ? I found 7-4-14 but didn't think that applied since the pitch was still a pitch, albeit on the ground

As the play is described, I have a live batted ball.

[Fever98#6]

Curious ...

Would that also apply to dropped third strike..?? Pitcher rolls ball or hits off hip..batter swings and then advances..??

[wadeintothem]

Yes, that would be an uncaught 3rd K

[K'SDAD]

OK since we are in the realm of UFOs...
Say the pitcher has an oops and rolls the ball toward the batter who has 2 strikes. Could the batter swing as soon as she saw the ball on the ground and run to 1st upon the completion of her swing even if the ball had not reached her yet?

Of course she can.

[wadeintothem]

What if the ball goes behind the pitcher? (We've all seen that).

batters swing the bat all the time. Thats not the definition of a strike. Its a pitched ball swung at.

Was it an attempt to hit a pitched ball? If there is no legit opportunity to hit the ball, then there is no strike.

For this UFO I say bring her back, but it was a live ball, so any other advancement would stand.

[K'SDAD]

I did not say it would stand I said she could do it.