Throwing a bat

[Tru_in_Blu]

USA Softball application.

RS #52 speaks to ejecting a player who throws a bat in anger. Obviously, there may be different levels of anger and/or the forcefulness of the bat throw. The latter may reside in umpire’s judgment as to whether the action results in an ejection.

A question came up in a game recently where a batter popped the ball up, was angry about it, and “threw his bat” towards his team’s on deck circle. The umpire in this case called the batter out, but did not eject the player. The ball ended up not being caught costing the offense a base runner.

I’ve not been able to find rule support for calling the batter out. Would this have been grounds for protest?