DB Strike in Little League

[UmpJM]

Stat-Man,

Well, yes and no. I presume this is the LL rule you are referring to:

6.02 --
(c) If the batter refuses to take a position in the batter's box during a time at bat, the umpire shall order the pitcher to pitch, and shall call "Strike" on each such pitch. The batter may take a proper position after any such pitch, and the regular ball and strike count shall continue, but if the batter does not take a proper position before three strikes are called, that batter shall be declared out.

This rule is in effect at all levels of LL baseball, but is generally considered a "rule of last resort"; do everything to encourage the player to get in the box, and only invoke this rule if it's really necessary to keep the game moving.

Until the "23 changes" introduced this year, under OBR-based rules the ball remained "live and in play" during such a "directed strike". Under the "new" OBR, the ball is dead during a "directed strike". I do not believe (but am not certain) that LL has adopted this rule change as of yet.

JM