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Originally Posted by Ump29
Situation - (OBR) 2 strikes on batter. Batter refuses to step back into box. Umpire tells pitcher to pitch. Batter steps back in and hits a single. Umpire calls batter out !! Correct call ??
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No and yes. The umpire got the correct call, but he got there the wrong way.
OBR no longer uses the "directed strike." But even under the old rule, once the umpire directed the pitcher to pitch, the batter could not step back in and attempt to hit the ball. So under the old rule the batter's action was not allowed.
Under the new OBR rule, if the batter refuses to get in the box, the umpire calls time and adds a strike to the batter's count. The ball is dead and no runners can advance. In your case there were already 2 strikes on the batter. The "penalty strike" would be strike three and time for the batter to sit down (or get tossed). Rule 6.02(c).