Finally!

[CecilOne]

Originally posted by Roger Greene
For a bat hitting a batted ball you can also invoke Fed 7-3-6
"...If a whole bat is thrown and interferes with a defensive player attempting a play, interference shall be called."

No intention is required. You can even declare 2 outs if it prevented a double play.

Roger Greene

deja vu!
I don't think Rule 7-3-6 applies to this kind of play. It is about the bat actually going toward a fielder like when it slips out of the batter's hands and flys toward F1 or F5. The word "whole" is in the book because it differentiates a whole bat from a broken piece of a bat, also covered in 7-3-6, which is not interference. This case did not sound like the bat went toward a fielder.
Also it is about a "thrown" bat; whereas this case is apparently covered by 7-4-1-k and it's case F.