I would guess they use a “dead” ball.
Wonder if you can still “burn” a player to get an out?
Wonder if spitballs are legal?
I don’t know.
With underhand pitching and no gloves, I'm guessing your guess is right.
“See it used to be that this whole place was a stadium. And two teams would meet and play a game called baseball. One team would beat the other team to death with things called Baseball Bats, and the best bats were called Swatters. True fact.” - Moe Cronin