These aren't adults playing professional baseball, where the unwritten rules are well-known and accepted.
These are frickin' little kids.
T-ballers are hurling 100mph these days? Get real, bruises are good for kids. Perhaps the kid needed to learn to pay attention. Hit him with a thrown ball so he won't be hit by a batted one later.
I suspect there is more to this story then is being reported. Certainly including an overprotective mother.