I can't believe nobody mentioned that you can have a strike awarded to the batter if the umpire determines that the pitch was a strike...
A batter hit by a pitch can result in a strike if:
- The batter is in the act of swinging or offering at the pitch when hit by the ball.
- The batter is hit when the ball is inside the strike zone (ie: the ball actually hits the body part that's in the strike zone).
- The batter is hit out in front of the plate and prevents the ball from entering the strike zone.
In all cases, the ball is immediately dead when it touches the batter. Then a strike is added to the count. If strike three the batter is out.
Attempting to avoid the pitch: NCAA, NFHS (high school) and, I believe, a few other that I don't officiate do not require any effort to avoid the pitch
if the ball is entirely inside the batter's box. If the ball isn't, then the batter still must make some effort to avoid the pitch in order to be awarded first base.
The bolded part is the part that most people seem to forget when discussing this relatively new rule. This is a recent rule change. NCAA first changed it about 3 years ago, then NFHS followed suit a year or two later.
For ASA, the above exception is not a rule. The batter must show some effort to avoid the pitch, no matter where it is, to be awarded first base.