The City Council is standing behind a ban on the use of metal and non-wood composite baseball bats in high school games after baseball bat manufacturers, coaches, and parents sued the city in federal court, arguing that the ban is unconstitutional.

The metal bat ban, scheduled to take effect in September, “arbitrarily and unjustifiably prohibits the use of bats that are preferred by the vast majority of high school players, coaches, and teams,” the suit says. The council “failed to identify any scientific support for its assertion that this prohibition is needed to protect public safety.”

Mayor Bloomberg vetoed the bat ban legislation, but the council overrode the veto by a vote of 41 to 4. Supporters of the ban say metal bats are more dangerous than wooden ones because they propel baseballs farther and faster.

A California-based baseball bat manufacturer, Easton Sports, spent more than $134,000 lobbying the council to oppose the bill, according to the city’s lobbyist reports. Records of lobbying in 2007 have not yet been released.

Plaintiffs in the suit include Easton Sports, USA Baseball, the National High School Baseball Coaches Association, Wilson Sporting Goods Company, and Rawlings Sporting Goods Company.

A senior counsel in the New York City Law Department’s administrative law division, Jerald Horowitz, said in a statement that the department is awaiting the formal legal papers and will evaluate them thoroughly.