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ASA 6-10-E covers the specific situation where an umpire judges that a player, manager or coach intentionally tries to make the pitcher commit an illegal pitch. The effect is a No Pitch call, as well as a team warning for the obviously unsporting act.
There is no rule in ASA that allows us to have "offsetting penalties" when it comes to a batter verbally requesting Time which, in turn, causes a pitcher to hesitate or stop his/her delivery. Why, I'm not sure. Similar rules exist in other softball organizations.
In FED, the batter verbally asking for time is not mentioned; what is mentioned in rule 7-3-1 is when the batter steps out of the box or holds up her hand to request time. But to me, I would argue that verbally requesting it has the same implication as putting up the hand, so I would rule the No Pitch.
In NCAA play, rule 11.12.5 is more open-ended. It does include the language "holding up her hand or using any other action as if requesting time". So if this happened in college play, the PU should rule the No Pitch.
So why would ASA pitchers as young as 8U be held to a higher standard than NCAA Division I pitchers? Candidly, I don't think they should. But without an actual rule or case play, we are bound to calling an IP here.
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"Let's face it. Umpiring is not an easy or happy way to make a living. In the abuse they suffer, and the pay they get for it, you see an imbalance that can only be explained by their need to stay close to a game they can't resist." -- Bob Uecker
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