When you hold up your hand, that means time out, and time out is all over the field, not local, and not momentary.
In slow pitch, it's very common for the PU to hold up his hand between pitches and then drop it when the batter is ready. That's not really necessary for the game, but umps do it to prevent disputes over quick pitches. (Slow pitch pitchers are ever looking for some way to disconcert the batter.) Umps around here (NJ) usually raise their hand between pitches in fast pitch, too.
When moving to baseball, it's often hard for me to remember not to raise that hand, but if it's up, it's the same as if I announced "time out," and any play that happens has to be nullified. The main thing then is to be vigilant about quick pitches.
I'm glad you reminded me about this issue. This year, I'm going to try to keep the hand down in SP and FP softball, too. The pitcher must still wait for the batter to get set.
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greymule
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