Hbp pony

[Txwalt]

In pony, does the batter need to make an attempt to get out of the way of a pitch to be awarded 1st base. I'm getting conflicting info and haven't seen my pony rule book for a few years. A couple years ago I had a kid that would stand perfectly still and get hit. She didn't do it on purpose. She,, well, it was her first season of softball and this was mustang.

Walt

 

[Comp]

the 2013 rules I found online say the batter must attempt to avoid.

 

[heavy]

We played a PONY tournament a couple of weeks ago and our batter was awarded 1st base after swinging and missing and getting hit by the pitch. Blue said because the batter was in the batter's box and got hit she got 1st base.. I didn't go to the rule book but that has to be wrong...

 

[Umpire]

PONY's rule is currently written the same way almost every other softball organization's rule was written up until recently.

The batter needed to attempt to avoid getting hit. This means that whenever possible, the batter needs to try to get out of the way. A batter who "freezes" and gets drilled is still awarded 1st base. A ball that strikes the ground and bounces and strikes the batter is awarded 1st base. A batter who has swung and then gets hit with the ball is charged with a strike.