General:
- Minimum age of players is 16, no exceptions. This is for insurance reasons.
- Games will be played with a 6 male and 4 female format.
- Games must be played until the full 7 innings are completed.
- The 7th inning is an open inning. Mercy rule is not in effect. If the home team is leading in the bottom of the 9th the game is officially over and does not continue to bat.
- No metal cleats are allowed.
- Teams will ump their own games. Please make sure your umpire has a good grasp of the rules.
- There will be a $50 team charge for any forfeit whatsoever. This fee must be paid to the league before your next game. If you know you’re not going to be able to fill your team that week make sure you call the other team.
- For any game in which replacement players are needed, each team may only replace up to 3 players. If any more non roster players are needed it would be considered a forfeit.
- Both teams must text Dustin their final score after the game. If you don’t report your score by Friday at the latest you will incur a $5 fee that will need to be paid before the year end tournament.
- For days where bad weather is an issue all games must be played unless league convener (Dustin) has called the games for that time. Decisions will be made an hour before game time. Please do not text me throughout the day asking about the weather, I will notify you. Let’s try to get as many games in as possible, a little rain never hurt anyone.
Offense:
- All players must bat. If a player must leave before the end of the game they will be considered an out when their spot comes up in the order.
- For the batting order you cannot bat more than 2 male batters in a row.
- Walks are mandatory in every at bat. (Including bases loaded)
- If a male batter is walked and followed by another male batter he is only awarded 1st base. If a female batter is directly behind him in the order he is awarded 2nd base. The female batter then has the choice to take her bat or to take 1st base automatically.
- No bunting.
- No stealing bases.
- No lead-offs but there will be anticipation* allowed.
*Anticipation is when a runner is allowed to come off the bag when a ball is swung at and missed.
- Sliding is permitted at 2nd and 3rd base only.
- A caught fly ball is live, runners must tag on a caught fly ball.
- If the runner crosses the commitment line between 3rd and home they must go home. Runner must run behind home plate. The runners foot must be on the ground in order to be called safe at home. Crossing the threshold is not enough.
- Home plate is NOT live. If a runner touches home plate while trying to score they will be called out.
- The infield fly rule is in effect. If a pop-up stays within the infield while runners are on 1st and 2nd with less than 2 out then the batter is automatically out. **The ball is still live during this time and runners may try to advance if they so choose**
- When running to first base the runner must use the orange safety bag (unless trying to extend to extra bases), the 1st baseman must use the white bag.
- Runners can be tagged at any point in time on the base path except for the space between the commitment line and home plate. This includes runners on the way to first base.
- If a runner crosses the commitment line between 3rd and home the runner must go home. They cannot go back to 3rd for any reason.
- Courtesy runners will be used only after a player has reached 1st base. You will be allowed 1 courtesy runner per inning. Runners can be used from any base. Male for male, female for female.
- There is a +2 homerun rule in place. A team may only have 2 homeruns more then the other team at any given time. Any additional homeruns will be an out.
- An inning will end after 3 outs have been made or if 5 runs have been scored.
Defense:
- Outfielders must stay on the grass until ball is put into play.
- There is no 5-man infield allowed.
- **PITCHERS MUST WEAR A PITCHERS MASK AT ALL TIMES WHILE ON THE MOUND.** NO EXCEPTIONS.
- **Pitchers must pitch no closer than the pitchers mound and no further than 10 feet past the pitchers mound.** No exceptions. If a pitcher pitches outside of that zone a No-Pitch (ball) will be called.
- A pitch must be 6 feet in height. Anything lower must be called a “No-pitch” by the umpire. A “No-pitch” is an automatic ball but the batter still has the option of swinging if they choose. If this happens then regular pitch rules will apply.
- If a ball thrown out of play from the outfield (example: over the fence, into the dugout) then all runners will be awarded 2 bases.
- If a ball is thrown out of play from the infield the runners will be awarded only 1 base.
- Any foul ball caught by the catcher results in the batter being called out. There is no minimum height required for a foul ball.
- An outfielder cannot throw out a runner at 1st base when the ball is initially hit. A throw to 1st base will be allowed if the runner turns towards second base in an attempt to advance.