illegal pitching motions (senior slow pitch softball)

Question
A pitcher raises his left arm straight up in the air as if to call a time out and at
the same time pitches the ball with his right hand.  The batter is distracted by
this "gesture" and does not swing at the pitch which is called a strike.  The
pitcher purposely made this motion to distract the batter.   Is this an illegal
pitch?

Answer
Hi Richard,

No, not an illegal pitch as there is no rule against this.

Only an umpire can call time, not a player, and in sp this gesture shouldn't cause any problems to the batter, the ball still has to travel at least 50' 6-12 at a moderate speed.

Mark