BATTING POSITION
QUESTION: In high school, baseball and softball, runner on first base; two strikes on batter; batter swings at pitch which contacts him / her on fist and rolls foul. Is batter awarded first base? Does batter resume count of two strikes? Is batter declared out?
ANSWER: Dead ball, batter is called out on strike three. In order to be ruled a foul ball, ball must contact the bat first before hitting the batter’s hand. (BB& SB- Rule 7, Sec. 2, Art. 1(b); BB- Rule 7, Sec. 3, Art. 4 and SB- Rule 7, Sec. 2, Art. 3)
QUESTION: Several players bat out of order before the opponent discovers the infraction. The player’s turn at bat now occurs while he/ she is a runner on base. Is he/ she declared out as a batter? Is player removed from the base?
ANSWER: Player remains on base and is not declared out. Batting order position is skipped and correct order is continued. (BB- Rule 7, Sec. 1, Art. 2 note; SB- Rule 7, Sec. 1, Art. 2, Penalty # 5).