ASA rules. 10U rec. The league has no rule against throwing bats.
The batter was not a very strong hitter, trying to hit against a hard thrower. On an 0-2 pitch, the batter stepped into her swing then spun on her front foot while swinging as hard as she could. She released the bat during her backswing, and the bat headed directly for the catcher, who wisely jumped out of the bat's path. The runner reached first base on the dropped third strike.
Coach asked the ump about the thrown bat, ump said there's no rule against throwing bats so the runner is safe.
So I get she's not out for throwing the bat, but couldn't the ump have called interference on the batter for flinging her bat towards the catcher? While I'll admit that she looked like she was going to miss the third strike even without the bat flinging, moving away from the plate to avoid being hit by the bat certainly kept her from attempting to retrieve the ball and throw down to first.
Thoughts?
The batter was not a very strong hitter, trying to hit against a hard thrower. On an 0-2 pitch, the batter stepped into her swing then spun on her front foot while swinging as hard as she could. She released the bat during her backswing, and the bat headed directly for the catcher, who wisely jumped out of the bat's path. The runner reached first base on the dropped third strike.
Coach asked the ump about the thrown bat, ump said there's no rule against throwing bats so the runner is safe.
So I get she's not out for throwing the bat, but couldn't the ump have called interference on the batter for flinging her bat towards the catcher? While I'll admit that she looked like she was going to miss the third strike even without the bat flinging, moving away from the plate to avoid being hit by the bat certainly kept her from attempting to retrieve the ball and throw down to first.
Thoughts?