"Just out of curiousity, but why were you not watching the ball? 
"
Sometimes it doesn't matter if you see it coming; its hard to get out of the way. I know because I took a bad hit this summer.
Men's FP, multiple runners on, fly ball to CF, Im in "C" coming inside to pick up catch and throw. In girl's ball I like to get somewhere between the SS and pitcher's plate. I start so deep with the men, and they throw so fast that I seldom get past the base path.
On this night the throw went home, F2 cut it in front of the plate and fired to third. I took a step towards 3B to see the throw skip past F5. F6, backing up 3B fielded the ball on one hop and fired to 2B. At this point I was in direct line and no more than 25' from a hard thrown ball by an adult male. I got hit in the forearm and then the rib cage. Had huge swelling and bruises in both areas. My hand went numb and I was sure my arm was broken. Fortunately not, but it was a month before the arm felt good again. Had that ball hit almost anywhere else in a 12" - 16" radius and I probably would have left the field on a medical cart.
WMB