Pitching Rules Clarification

[smddad]

USSSA Ruleset

I was helping a 10U coach and after a game, the FU comes up to him and starts telling him how his 8yr old pitcher was illegal. I was listening. The girl brought her hands together at her waist, then raised them up to her chest where she paused for about 5 seconds. Then she separated and pitched the ball. He said that movement from the waist to the chin was okay, but her pause was not.

I stepped in and said that there was nothing illegal with her motion in any rule set and that the pitch did not start until she separated her hands, which she has 10 seconds to do so.

He countered with "she cannot stop or reverse her motion." I said, "True. After the pitch starts, which is when the hands separate." I finally told him to go check with his UIC, because he was starting to get a bit pushy at this point AND it was after the game was over.

So to the umpires here, is my interpretation correct?

 

[Amy in AZ.]

You are correct.

 

[BretMan]

Not ALL rule sets say that the pitch starts when the hands separate. USSSA pitching rules closely follow high school rules, and they both say that the pitch starts when the pitcher makes any motion associated with her wind up once the hands are brought together.

What this pitcher was doing doesn't sound like it was illegal since bringing her hands up to her chest apparently wasn't part of her wind up. But you were arguing the point based on your misinterpretation of the actual pitching rule.