Pitching - 2 questions (Hand Together & Deliberate Pace)

We played a double header in our league last night and faced two totally different pitchers. In the first game, the pitcher was very slow and deliberate in her pre-pitch rhythm. I was joking with my team that she was a "human rain delay" since she took forever to pitch the ball. She took her signs behind the pitching plate, would take her sweet time, step on the PP, wait longer, and then finally pitch. After the first inning I asked the home plate ump if she could speed her along a little bit, but she said the pitcher was fine and that she knew the pitcher worked slow. It was no big deal and I dropped it, but then it seemed to get worse, especially when we got runners on base. I decided to time the pitcher from when she received the ball from the catcher until she started her next pitch. On 4 straight pitches, these were her times (28 secs, 32 secs, 29 secs, and then 35 secs). Is this normal? I know there is the 20 second rule to deliver the pitch, but I rarely see it called. Am I overreacting in asking the ump to call the illegal pitch? The game was extremely slow and really dragging on.

In the second game, we had the exact opposite. Their pitcher worked extremely fast. She would take her signs behind the rubber, step on the rubber with both feet with her hands separated with the ball in her pitching hand, and then pitch immediately. Both of her hands would swing forward to start her pitching motion, with the two hands converging out in front of her face, but never touching. From their, bother arms would do a half back swing back, and then her pitching arm would start forward in the windmill motion to pitch the ball. I asked the ump between innings if this was legal, since in my view she wasn't "deliberately taking a sign on the pitching plate" (I know she can take it from behind the plate, but she was at times walking thru her pitch as she stepped on the PP and not pausing) and also that she was never bringing her hands together to start the pitch. The ump stated that the two arms converging on her initial motion forward was bring the hands together, but I stated they were never touching. The ball, which was in her pitching hand, would never even touch the glove. The ump said they were in the same area, and that simulates bringing the hands together. My question - what constitutes bringing "the hand together for not less than 1 second and not more than 10 seconds" to start the pitch? Does the pitching hand and the glove hand need to touch, or just come in close proximity to each other?

35 seconds is way to long, it would drive me nuts.

Umpire should have at least issue a warning.

Sounds like you simply had an umpire that doesnt want to make waves, similar to umpires who refuse to call illegal pitches and claim the pitcher "isnt gaining an advantage". Well how the hell wouold they know if the pitcher is or is not gaining an advantage unless they force them to pitch legally?

The rule says the pitcher has 20 seconds to deliver the pitch after receiving the ball. The majority of pitchers will deliver a pitch in 12-14 seconds and it is amazing how much longer it seems to take when that is only increased to 16 seconds. If a pitcher is only exceeding the 20 seconds by a small amount every once in a while I am not going to be a stickler and call it, but 30 seconds or more on every pitch, yes Im going to call it. Especially in a timed game, there is no reason to allow the pitcher to just waste time. And by the way, exceeding the 20 second limit is not an illegal pitch, it is simply a ball awarded to the batter.

The hands MUST come together, as in touch. Being in proximity to each other is not touching, just as the old vicinity play in MLB is no longer. The not pausing to simulate a signal after engaging the pitching plate has become an epidemic especially with the proliferation of the wrist bands. It was even a point of emphasis in NFHS this year to make sure the pitcher pauses with the hands separated after engaging the pitching plate. For the most part it went completely ignored by the officials. As for the hands coming together for a minimum of 1 second, it is generally accepted that the hands touching satisfy the 1 second requirement. There is no way for an official to know if it was only .7, .9 or a full second. If you put a stop watch on most pitchers that have the hands in motion when the hands touch you will find the vast majority of them do not have the hands together anywhere near a full second.

Again, sounds like you just had an official that didnt want to make waves and was taking the easy way out.

If you want to see the opposing team lose their collective mind have your pitcher bring her hands together for 5 - 7 seconds before starting her motion. Then on the next pitch only touch.