B causes IP(?)

[chapmaja]

Originally Posted by teebob21

The rule (2016 book, but I'm sure it's the same) is 6A.10(e): No pitch shall be declared (E) when a player...calls time...for the obvious purpose of trying to make the pitcher commit an illegal pitch. (emphasis mine, rest of the rule snipped; and the ellipses are also snips). Effect: Dead ball. All subsequent action on that pitch is cancelled.

Unless the batter is trying to bait the pitcher, this is an IP. The onus is on the pitcher to deliver a legal pitch no matter what the batter is doing. Once the hands go together, we're going to have a pitch, legal or illegal.

At low levels, I might kill it and reset it. I can sell that in rec ball. At the Gold qualifier level, IP all day every day.

At what point do you consider the batter trying to bait the pitcher? I think the first time I've got an IP. If the same team is making a regular habit of this, now I have to seriously question if the team is trying to bait the pitcher into an IP or not.

At Rec league or low level travel ball I'm not calling an IP and will kill it with a no pitch. At the higher level I better have a near certainty that the offensive team is baiting the pitcher.