Other Strike zone question

[Sailorjoe6308]

As stated in a previous post we play WSL where I live. The only differences I see in the pitching rules are as follows. Pitch height minimum is 5ft with a 3ft hump/arch in the pitch and a max height of 10ft. We are given the pitching area, so no toeing the rubber. On to the situation and ultimate question.

Batter steps into the box. Runner on 1st and nobody out. Batter always crowds the inside of the plate. I throw a pitch that is inside but can see it moving in towards the zone. Batter leans into the path of the ball and is struck by the pitch. Umpire called it a ball. My question is not whether it's a ball or strike. Because I've learned arguing that is pointless and it's easier as a pitcher to adapt to the zone of the umpire. My question is if what the Batter did is legal? I know it's not fast pitch so no free base. Just looking for some guidance as I develop as a pitcher.

 

[eddieq]

Most rulesets provide guidance on this. If the batter’s action prevented the ball from entering the strike zone you get a dead ball strike. Umpire’s judgement entirely. Didn’t see it so I cannot comment on what the call should have been.

 

[Sailorjoe6308]

Most rulesets provide guidance on this. If the batter’s action prevented the ball from entering the strike zone you get a dead ball strike. Umpire’s judgement entirely. Didn’t see it so I cannot comment on what the call should have been.

So it is a judgement call. But if it's blatantly obvious then it becomes a strike similar to a pitched ball, that's clearly a ball, hitting the bat and landing foul. Thank you for your help. Still developing as a pitcher. I have a ton of right to left movement naturally. On days with little to no wind I can get about 6" of movement right to left. On days with winds hitting the 15-20mph range I can start a pitch just inside the right handed batters box and have it come through the zone and land on the outer edge of the zone. So having that much natural movement I started fiddling around with a couple other pitches. I've almost got the knucleball 100% down. Screwball still needs a bit of work but when it's on it is one of my nastier pitches.

 

[jbo911]

I've had this happen multiple times. If it happens more than once in a game I'll just say "you didn't think that was going to be a strike before he hit it?" Only once did it continue to happen and the ump called one a strike. After that, only one really drunk guy continued to try to do it. Lol

 

[Sailorjoe6308]

This is the first batter I've had lean into a pitch in slowpitch. As a baseball player I leaned into a pitch or 2 that were close to hitting me. But I'd never heard of or seen anyone do it in slowpitch.