legal equipment?

Question
B1 steps into the batter抯 box with a bat that has a certification mark, but appears on the Non-Approved
Bat List. This is legal equipment.

True or False?

Answer
Hi Kevin,

False, this is not a legal bat.  

The official bat in ASA Championship Play must meet all of the requirements of Rule 3, Section 1 and:

  1. must bear either the ASA approved 2000 certification mark or the ASA 2004 certification mark, and must not be listed on an ASA non approved list, or
            
  2. must be included on a list of approved bat models published by the ASA National Office;

Bats that have the 2000 cert mark are not allowed in ASA play unless they appear on the approved bat list.

In addition as of Jan 1, 2008 there are some bats with the 2004 cert mark that were "grandfathered" in and they also are now non-approved.

All of this can be found on the ASA website.

It is the sole responsibility of the player to use an approved (or legal) bat in ASA play regardless of the mark on it.  As an umpire I would have no absolutely no choice in ASA championship play but to call the batter out, disqualify them from the game AND the tournament for using a non-approved bat (regardless of the mark on it).  The tournament director and UIC would also have no choice but to uphold the tournament disqualification.

Mark