umpire loses track of count

Question
Girls (12-15yr old) Fast Pitch (NFHS rules).  We had a situation where a batter was called out on strikes.  She goes into the dugout.  The at-bat teams scorekeeper approaches the umpire to let him know that the pitch previous to the 3rd strike was actually the 4th ball - so she should have walked.

The umpire agrees - he messed up on his clicker - and recalls the batter from the dugout and places her on first.  

(So in other words - count was full - she got the 4th ball - umpire mistakenly did not have her walk - nothing was done (or said at this time) - she then receives another pitch - the 3rd strike - he calls her out - then someone brings up the fact she already had 4 balls).

What should be done?  Should the umpire correct his mistake?  Doesn't the fact that nothing was done - and another pitch was thrown overrule the walk?  

Thanks for your time on this!  

Answer
Hi Karla,

Actually I had a very similar situation in a tournie 2 years ago.  I had a (now hall of fame) umpire on the dish and he dropped a count (it happens) and a play happened on the next pitch.  To make a long story short the offense protested and I was brought in as UIC to settle the protest.

It may not seem fair but any protest to the count must be brought before the next pitch, legal or illegal.  In this case ball 4 was not protested when a 3-2 count was announced.  The umpire, the batter, the coach are all responsible for knowing what's going on.  When the next pitch happens no protest can be made.  We have an out.

Mark