hands together: when to call illegal

[Little Jimmy]

This was discussed somewhere here in the last couple of years. If the pitcher comes on the pitching plate with her hands already together, can she legally remove herself from the pitching plate and negate the hands together illegality that just happened? If not, when and how is this called? For example...

A. Pitcher steps on plate with hands together. Signal delayed dead ball at that moment or when she begins the pitch?

B. Pitcher steps on plate with hands together, but then removes herself legally. Dead ball at that moment or no penalty since hands didn't separate and no pitch was actually begun?

[RKBUmp]

Once a pitch is illegal there is no way to make it legal. If the pitcher steps on with the hands together it is an illegal pitch. Signal it with the delayed dead ball signal and say illegal loud enough for the batter and catcher to hear you. If the pitcher is smart they will not throw the pitch, nothing good can come of it. But, do not declare it dead immediately, wait a moment to see what the pitcher does as the offense does have the right to attempt to hit the illegal pitch and take the result of the at bat or the IP penalty, which ever benefits them more.

[CecilOne]

Originally Posted by RKBUmp

... snip ... If the pitcher steps on with the hands together it is an illegal pitch. Signal it with the delayed dead ball signal and say illegal loud enough for the batter and catcher to hear you. ... snip... But, do not declare it dead immediately, wait a moment to see what the pitcher does as the offense does have the right to attempt to hit the illegal pitch and take the result of the at bat or the IP penalty, which ever benefits them more.

Correct, supported by 6-1-1 a and the resulting penalty and the supporting case; but a delayed dead ball.
Yes, the "remove herself" paragraph can cause confusion; but that seems to apply only to a legally obtained position in the plate.
At least, for NFHS.