And I like "swunt"...haha
We had a similar situation last weekend, but the batter was allowed to "bunt" foul 3 times with 2 strikes and was never called on it. It's a difficult call in my opinion unless you get the opportunity to see the hitter both soft slap and attempt a bunt during the same at bat. I think just by human nature umpires often try to make this call based on what they think the batter intended to do rather than the actual mechanics of what they did. However, I do think slappers get away with quite a bit in this regard (I see my dd do it often). I'd like to see it called a bunt attempt when the barrel of the bat is simply carried through the zone, regardless of hand position.
I’ll use the NFHS definitions to help ...
SECTION 8 BUNT, ATTEMPTED BUNT, DRAG BUNT
ART. 1 . . . Bunt. A bunt is a legally batted ball not swung at but intentionally tapped with the bat.
ART. 2 . . . Attempted Bunt. Any non-swinging movement of the bat intended to tap the ball into play. Holding the bat in the strike zone is considered a bunt attempt. In order to take a pitch, the bat must be withdrawn–pulled backward and away from the ball.
ART. 3 . . . Drag Bunt. A drag bunt is attempting to bunt the ball by running forward in the batter's box, carrying the bat with her. The movement of the bat is in conjunction with the batter's forward movement.
I’d call particular attention to the definition of drag bunt. With a drag bunt, the batter’s body motion is what is pulling the bat through the zone. With a slap attempt, it is wrist/arm action that is pushing the bat through the zone..