[Jim Porter]

I'd like to add that in professional baseball it is sort of an unwritten rule to look the other way when a pitcher goes to his mouth on the mound, as long as the pitcher wipes off his hand first. They're even instructed at Evans' school to shout out a reminder to the pitcher to wipe off his hand if he doesn't do it right away. Umpires, of course, prefer that the pitcher step onto the grass, go to his mouth, and then wipe it off before handling the ball, and they ask the players to do that. Most often, the players are happy to comply.

Only the direct application of saliva to the ball should be penalized, and that can occur either on or off the mound.

Forehead sweat applied to the ball, however, seems to be allowed from what I've seen in MLB. I've seen more than one pitcher in MLB apply forehead sweat before rubbing up the ball.

Of course, the orginal question dealt with high school ball, and unless the original poster is from Massachusetts or Rhode Island, all of that was entirely irrelevant.