Getting playoff experience

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by DTQ_Blue

...their pitcher began rushing. I could have called an IP for not simulating taking her signals after stepping on the plate, but quietly told F2 to go out and tell her to slow down. F2's attempts were only partially successful. So with every runner now being a potential winning run, I do not want to have an IP call be a factor in deciding the game. So I'm watching F1 on every pitch and if there appears to be any chance that she is going to deliver too quickly I hold up both hands and recite the count as slowly as I can speak; yea I'm giving the count on nearly every pitch. It did slow F1 down...

First, 99 times out of 100, the proper call here is NO PITCH (for the quick pitch), not IP. That would be my first action to slow her down...

"NO PITCH" (me, hands raised, stepping out from behind the plate). "Pitcher, wait until everyone is set." 9 times out of 10, with a high school age pitcher, this will be the end of the QPs.

But, if it isn't, I might do the "no pitch" a time or two more, and if she still does not get the message, she is getting the stop sign from me on every pitch, probably exaggerated at first, accompanied with "the look". Gradually doing away with it, but if the QP's resume, (which it never has in my experience), further action would be warranted, including IP's, and maybe it just might happen that the first of these is with a runner on base.

I really don't know if my approach to this is "proper" with the NUS, NFHS, etc., but it does work.