Foul Tip

[Larry Wolfe]

I wasn't on this field but was working this 100+ team national tournament and this situation created a lot of discussion.

Batter attempts a bunt which goes up and to the side but not above the batter's head. Catcher lunges to the side and cleanly catches the ball outside of the catcher's box without the ball hitting the ground. Is this a foul tip, simply a strike, or simply a foul and dead?

By the way it was ruled to be simply a foul because it did not go directly to the catcher's glove. In my opinion, directly simply means that the ball touched nothing in between and therefore this play is simply a foul tip.

Any thoughts?

[Edited by Larry Wolfe on Aug 5th, 2002 at 02:20 PM]