Batter delay - ASA

[mcrowder]

Had an odd one in an elimination game Saturday. Partner said he would have done the same thing I did, but maybe he was just being agreeable with a partner he didn't know ... it felt like I could have handled this better.

Home winning 2-1, home batting, 3-4 minutes left in a timed game.

1 out, big hitter comes up, faces her 3B coach, swings 3 times, steps in the box, hand up, digs in and faces pitcher. Not a HORRIBLE delay, but 8-10 seconds ... and identical to her behavior the first time she came to the plate. A couple of times, during the 3 swings facing her coach, I said, "Let's go batter" (just like the first time she batted), and she turned around, got in the box, dug in, and was ready.

However, pitcher is getting increasingly frustrated (almost pouting, stomping around the mound and such) and visitors sideline is getting restless.

2 batters later, 2 outs, 1:20 or so on the clock, 2 runners on. New batter behaving similarly. One difference, if it matters - she did not behave this way her first at bat. Anyway, on the 2nd pitch, she's facing her coach, and I say "Let's go batter" ... no response. 2-3 more seconds, I say a little louder, "Let's GO, batter" - no response. 2 more seconds, I tell pitcher to pitch. As she's winding up to pitch, all of a sudden the batter gets in the box with her hand up - the pitch is coming. It felt VERY unsafe, as the pitcher was throwing bullets and the batter wasn't even looking.

Luckily, this got the point across and she stopped stalling ... and got walked, running out the clock. But I did not like the way this played out. Honestly, I did not feel they were stalling illegally - they weren't tying shoelaces or taking conferences, and until that last batter, while they were definitely in no HURRY, I didn't feel they were crossing the line. It's not potential stalling tactics I want to talk about, unless from this description you'd have done something different. It was the directed pitch that bothered me, from a safety standpoint. The only other time I've ever had to tell a pitcher to pitch because of a batter's delay, the batter never got in the box at all, so there was no issue. This one kind of came up on me unexpectedly.

Thoughts? (PS - sorry so long)