Intentional delay of game

[Dakota]

ASA gives no POE nor Case Book guidelines to the umpire in how to recognize "tactics noticeably designed to delay or to hasten the game." Some umpires (bolstered by a rather blatent case at an ASA national tournament that was ruled on by the tournament UIC) will allow nearly any legal tactic. They will only enforce this rule if the tactic was per se illegal.

I am not that strict, but I also think the penalty under the rule (forfeit) is so severe that by-the-book enforcement will be rare, since most umpires will be reluctant to declare a forfeit because every batter suddenly has loose shoe laces.

When I detect noticable delay tactics, I issue a warning to the coach, and then become anal about calling out "batter up", explicitly signaling the pitcher to pitch, etc. To date, that has been sufficient to keep the game moving. There is not much I can do about legal actions by the coach wanting to delay (making substitutions, etc.)

I would not declare a forfeit in the case you described, since it was a single act, and a warning at that point was moot.