Sam wrote:Hitting kids in lieu of intentionally walking them just doesn't happen. Who in the world would:
a) Sanction hitting a kid
b) take a chance on missing the batter and throwing a wild pitch allowing the runners on base to advance when you are trying to set up one or more force plays in the infield.
Some coach has been pulling your collective legs. One would have to be completely brain dead to try and hit a batter instead of walking them intentionally.
Come to Texas. My kid's goal was to make damn sure they paid for it everytime they did it. Her last run at the playoffs in high school, on game one , they plunked her 3 out of 4 at bats, the 3rd at bat they missed and she put it out of the park. After the last at - bat, hit in the back, she stood there for a minute, threw the bat down and walked up to the blue and said something to him, they turned and took her base. The next day, out in the parking lot before the 2nd game, I asked the blue what she said, (most if not all the blues in our general area have been calling her games since she was 6 and are friends - outside of game time). He said, "She said, When are you going to start doing your job!." He explained that in softball, the blue has to hear the coach tell the pitcher to hit the batter before he can take action. But before the second game, the blues went to the C/S team dugout, this was Victoria East or Victoria West , don't remember which and he warned them that if they pulled the same crap, they were looking at forfeit. Don't know if he really would have but she didn't get hit, she put two balls out and we run ruled them. The parents told me to tell her to retaliate - she was the pitcher then, but she said, and I knew she would because since she was 9, this was her attitude about retaliation, "Why the h would I put their butts on first base, the best thing I can do is put them back in the dugout."