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There was a play discussed a while ago where the ball gets away from F2 and the bat strikes the ball on the backswing. The outcome is different when the batter is still holding the bat as opposed to when the batter released the bat before it hits the ball.
If I recall correctly some of the discussion centered around the batters intent. Basically experienced players are expected to know what they are doing and what they can and cannot do.
In a situation such as the one used to start this thread a player is not expected to toss his (her) bat in such a way as to interfere with a play or possible play. When a player does so it can be presumed that they did so on purpose. We don't KNOW that is the case but they should know better and the onus is on them to dispose of the bat without causing interference. After all the player has choices as what to do with the bat.
A player running has little choice as to what to do - they must run to the base. Hence the standards for interfernece would be much higher.
For young kids I'd treat this as weak interfernce. BR to 1st runners back to their last base. For those that shave - BR is out.
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