bunt
 

NFHS girls softball question. The batter holds the bat over the plate but makes no motion with the bat at the pitch. Is this still a strike on the batter?

NFHS the answer is yes!!!
Rule 2 Section 8
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bat must be withdrawn – pulled backward and away from the ball.

One of the dumbest rules in NFHS (and NCAA) softball, IMHO. Rumor has it they went that way because too many umpires weren't skilled enough to judge when the batter actually attempts to make contact with the pitch. Hello?? How hard is it to see the batter move her bat toward the ball to meet it with intent to tap it back into the infield??

Thank goodness USA Softball still has confidence in its plate umpires to tell the difference between a bunt attempt and nothing.

This rule can throw off umpires doing both diamond sports. If I do a softball game one day and a baseball game the next, I have to remember which rule I am using. Steve Orinick even lists the "batter must pull back on a bunt" as a rules myth in baseball. I also believe that the rule is stupid (just showing bunt does not mean that a batter is actually trying to contact the ball), because there should not be a difference between a boy showing a bunt (OK) and a girl showing a bunt (strike).

Close, Manny. The truth is so many college coaches couldn't tell, that they wanted the judgment taken away from the umpires.

Wow...