NFHS hit by pitch rule

[prosec34]

Regarding the NFHS rule on HBP, this came up Saturday for me in a freshman playoff game. Tie game, bottom of the seventh with one out and the bases loaded. The pitcher throws inside and the pitch gets away, going straight at the batter's torso. The batter turns his shoulder in to where it hits him in the back, but in no way did he make an attempt to avoid being hit. Arguably, he tried to lessen the impact of the blow, but he didn't try to get out of the way. From his body language, you could tell he was only too happy to be hit in that situation.

I recognized the issue immediately, but I hesitated for a half-second while I thought it over. My partner, who is more experienced, called for the batter to go back to the batter's box. I immediately backed up my partner's call, but of course, the coach and fans on that side went ballistic.

Luckily, the call didn't matter as the batter got the game-winning hit. Nevertheless, I went to my case book to see if it shed light on the situation, and it didn't. Taken literally, the NFHS rule would not give first to the batter, but I really don't like that rule. That's not baseball the way I understand it.

I'd like some opinions from veteran high school umps on this.