TwoBits,
As described, this would indeed be a "quick pitch" Balk.
If the batter had been reasonably set at the time the pitcher threw, this would be a legal pitch, which the batter would be free to "offer" at, or not, as he saw fit.
Though this may not have been the pitcher's "normal" delivery from the windup, as described there was nothing "illegal" about this more "hurried" delivery, other than the fact that the batter was not reasonably set to receive the pitch.
Under FED rules, the ball would have been immediately dead on the balk and the R3 awarded home. Under OBR, asuming the pitcher actually delivered the ball, the ball would, for the time being, remain "in play" and the batter would have had the opportunity to try to recover and offer at it if he chose.
JM
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