Batters Interference?

Question
We have high school kids who umpire and don't always know all the correct calls to make.  The league age is 7-12.  Last night we had one of the kids ask a question about umping.  This is is:  If an umpire thinks that the batters are intentionally leaning into the pitch and getting hit, to get on base, is there anything he can call.  He had to let 5 kids walk to base because of being hit.  He didn't think they were all balls, but actually strikes that the batters were leaning into.  The inning lasted 45 minutes because not one child would swing the bat, not once.  Could the umpire have made a call to stop this?  Thanks for you help.

Answer
By rule, a player must make an attempt to get out of the way of a pitch.  There's a lot of leniency given on this call, but in the end it comes down to the umpire's judgement on whether or not any attempt was made.  If the umpire judges no attempt to avoid the pitch by the batter, the ball is automatically dead when it hits him and the umpire can rule the pitch a ball or strike and the batter stays in the box (unless it causes him to strike out in which case he would head to the dugout).  Obviously you want to use this rule with discretion.  This is the way I've made that call since I began umpiring and it has worked out very well.  If the ball enters the batters box, regardless of how the batter reacts, if it hits him, I award him first base.  If the ball hits the batter between the plate and the batter's box (narrow region, I know, but being on the inside corner in the slot you can see this), I kill the play, call a ball and keep the batter in the box.  If the ball hits the player over the plate, I kill it and call a strike.  When this is happening a lot as described here, keeping the kid in the box one time will normally keep any other players from trying it.  After all, who wants to get beaned for nothing.  I hope this answers your question.  Feel free to leave feedback.