Other Fp - hbp ???

[CARTERLAKESHARK]

my girls high school season ended tonite against the team that leads the state in HBP. first batter comes up, first thing she does is wipe out the inside line of the batters box, like baseball players do the back line. no biggie, my question is if the batter is leaning out over the plate and turns back towards the umpire in an "attempt" to get out of the way are they always given the HBP ?? even if the pitch is over the plate? our pitcher hit three girls all season, and three tonite. just wondering. thanks.

 

[softballgod26]

It's mainly left up as a judgment call for the umpire. This has happened in several of my girls games and some give a hbp and some don't just depending on the umpire

 

[NCASAUmp]

If a batter is hit by a pitch, the umpire has to ask the following questions.

1) Was the ball in the strike zone? If yes, dead ball, strike. If no, move on to...
2) Was the batter attempting to hit the pitch (swinging at it or attempting to bunt)? If yes, dead ball, strike. If no, move on to...
3) Did the batter make an attempt to avoid getting hit? If yes, dead ball, batter gets first base. If no, dead ball, ball on the batter.

Many associations (including ASA and PONY) still require the batter to at least make an attempt to avoid getting hit. The NCAA removed this requirement, and I'm not sure about NFHS (high school). Perhaps another umpire can provide that clarification.

 

[Comp]

High school followed NCAA a couple of years ago and removed the requirement to attempt to avoid if the ball is entirely within the batters box. Personally I hate the rule, ever since they changed it I have seen more and more girls crowding the plate obviously attempting to get hit and trying to keep the pitcher from throwing on the inside corner. Unfortunately there are many umpires who seem to just award 1st base now on any HBP.

As for wiping out the batters box lines, also illegal in high school ball and the umpire is suppose to call a penalty strike and warn the team. The next offense is a restriction to the bench.

 

[NCASAUmp]

High school followed NCAA a couple of years ago and removed the requirement to attempt to avoid if the ball is entirely within the batters box. Personally I hate the rule, ever since they changed it I have seen more and more girls crowding the plate obviously attempting to get hit and trying to keep the pitcher from throwing on the inside corner. Unfortunately there are many umpires who seem to just award 1st base now on any HBP.

As for wiping out the batters box lines, also illegal in high school ball and the umpire is suppose to call a penalty strike and warn the team. The next offense is a restriction to the bench.

Good catch. And not trying to sound like a coach here, but I thought it was warn first, strike on second offense, restrict to dugout on third offense. Am I wrong? ASA has no such explicit rule, and I can't get off early enough from work to call 4 PM high school games, so I've never registered NFHS.

 

[Comp]

The rule is 3-7 Art 17.

It actually penalizes either team for intentionally removing lines. If on offense, a penalty strike is called, if defense intentionally removes a line a ball is given to the batter. It does not warn first, first offense is a penalty and team warning, next offense is a penalty strike/ball and offender and head coach restricted to the dugout.

 

[CARTERLAKESHARK]

thanks guys, seemed to be a good tactic for them. they have over 30 HBP no other team in the state has more than 10 or 15. the one that started their rally, and got me fired up a little clearly hit the knob of the bat. our pitcher throws pretty hard, no way she hits anybody on the hand with no reaction. no grimace, no shaking out your hand? no way. end rant. thanks guys,

 

[Comp]

Sounds like you ran into a team doing what I described. Crowd the plate, hang over the strike zone and lean into anything close.

 

[CARTERLAKESHARK]

i didn't know the line thing was a violation. first thing i do if im pitching the early games is wipe out the back line of the pitchers box and try to "extend" the parallel lines a little. it sure worked for them. they have six state titles in iowa.

 

[CARTERLAKESHARK]

when the first girl got hit i was asking my buddy that keeps book and our coaches husband if she can be out over the plate like that? then when the one off the knob happens i have seen that and know that it's a strike/foul ball. our crowd goes off! i know it's not gonna help us. thats when the wheels start to come off, we had a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the third, looking at the bottom of their line up, they go to the lean in strategy to get runners on. and with a tight strike zone it worked. went from looking real good to shell shocked. lost 12 - 2

 

[NCASAUmp]

So where was the head coach in all of this?

 

[NCASAUmp]

The rule is 3-7 Art 17.

It actually penalizes either team for intentionally removing lines. If on offense, a penalty strike is called, if defense intentionally removes a line a ball is given to the batter. It does not warn first, first offense is a penalty and team warning, next offense is a penalty strike/ball and offender and head coach restricted to the dugout.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[BretMan]

when the first girl got hit i was asking my buddy that keeps book and our coaches husband if she can be out over the plate like that?

As long as the batter's feet are inside the batter's box, they can lean wherever they want to.

If they are in the strike zone when the ball hits them, then it is a strike and there is no base award. If they get hit in front of the plate and that prevents the ball from entering the strike zone, same thing. Strike and no base award.

If the ball that hits them is ENTIRELY inside the batter's box,then no attempt to avoid the pitch is required. It is an award of first base.

If the ball that hits them is not entirely in the batter's box, then an attempt to avoid it must be made. If no attempt is made, then the pitch is either a ball or a strike, depending on it's relation to the strike zone and no base is awarded.

then when the one off the knob happens i have seen that and know that it's a strike/foul ball.

If the ball hits only the knob, it's not automatically a strike or a foul ball. It is a BATTED BALL. It then becomes fair or foul, just the same as any other batted ball, depending on where it rolls to next and where it gets touched...and the batter better be running to first base.

thats when the wheels start to come off, we had a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the third, looking at the bottom of their line up, they go to the lean in strategy to get runners on. and with a tight strike zone it worked. went from looking real good to shell shocked. lost 12 - 2

Wasn't the strike zone tight for both teams?

What part about their batters leaning in caused your team to score only two runs?

 

[CARTERLAKESHARK]

the one off the knob went foul. strike zone was pretty consistent. coach went out a couple of times, she is very level headed never yells at anyone, no idea what those questions or answers were. thats why i asked here. no we didn't string many hits together, everybody put it in play, just hit it to people alot. their style also didn't make us throw it around. not saying we got robbed. we were up and feeling good. they shifted gears, and it worked. i did here the other coach tell the 7 8 9 hitters to "stick to the plan" and the plan worked. good luck at state.