I ump PONY, FED & recently LL Jr division ( 13-14 yr). I have been in the custom of asking the batters to "please stay in the box" between uneventful pitches. This is clear in FED7-3-1 & pretty clear in OBR 6.02(b) explanation. The same rule is in LL 6.02 but is not clear on stepping out between pitches ( typically as F2 throws ball back to F1 "to get a sign"). Some LL managers seemed irritated by this practice to speed up the game.

Is this rule, practice or what?

There is no stepping out rule in LL Jrs. I do tell them not to get too far away. If they start walking way away from the box I tell them to stay in in the vicinity. In PONY there is a stepping out rule but no penalty. If the batters start the holding the hand up thing to get back in box I tell them I won't let the pitcher quick pitch them but I'm not calling time every pitch for them because it takes the pick-off ability away from the pitcher.

Remember that in Fed, stepping out of the batter's box is no longer penalized unless the batter intentionally delays the game(7-3-1 penalty). I would ask the batter to please remain in the batter's box so as not to delay the game.

Greg