I am interested in seeing what everyone here comes up with on a play that I saw at a tournament this past weekend. 18U ASA rules, but that doesn't really matter.

Batter squares to bunt. Pitch is delivered, rather high but possibly still in the strike zone. Batter raises bat to the ball, misses, and gets hit with the pitch. What do you rule?

That is certainly black and white basic. You state batter raised the bat to bunt the ball; we have an attempt. Dead ball, strike on the batter; if strike three, batter is out.

The location of the pitch (in or out of the strike zone) no longer matters.

Agree. I made a similar call this past season. Only difference was mine was a low pitch, not high.

Offer & miss = strike.
Hit batter = dead ball.

Dead ball, strike.

I agree, dead ball & strike. I had that in a game this past year.

High School District Championship game three years ago. Batter squared to bunt, realized too late that ball was headed right at her. She pushed the bat at the ball, probably trying to protect herself, but got drilled and went down in a heap.

She rolled over with big tears in her eyes. I looked down at her and said: "young lady, I know that probably hurts like hell, but it will hurt a lot more when you know that I have to call a strike on you!"

She managed a weak smile, got up, dusted off, and dug back in at the plate. Smacked the next pitch to CF.

WMB

Well...I was working with a rookie umpire, who was kind of caught like the proverbial deer in the headlights. However, he did come out to me and ask how he should rule after being asked to do so by the defense. I asked him a series of questions wherein he talked himself through the bunt attempt. When he reached that point, I told him that this was a classic example of a dead ball strike.

Of course, the offensive coach wanted to argue that she was merely trying to protect herself. He grumbled all the way back to position, which was kind of surprising since he was ahead 10-0 at that point.

But that raised the question in my mind...is there ever a time when bat movement in this situation could be considered a defensive manuever?

I have seen times where a batter was ducking away from a pitch that was high and inside, and as a result of the ducking away movement, the bat came around her body. I did not rule this bat movement as a swing, since the batter was not attempting to hit the ball.

It may be splitting hairs here, but if I saw the bat movement first prior to the attempt to avoid being hit by the pitch, I would rule a strike. If the bat moved as a result of the batter's attempt to get out of the way, the pitch is what it is based on its relation to the strike zone. Of course, if the ball contacts the bat, we have a batted ball and play accordingly.

If the defensive bat movement in question was an attempt to strike the ball, it's an attempt to strike the ball - regardless of whether it was defensive or offensive. The motive of the batter is unimportant.

dead ball strike