League rules
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2024 league rules updated
East Shore Travel League
Rule Book
2024 season Our 16th Season
Please note that for 2024 the East Shore Travel League has set our own Bat Restrictions, and we will not follow the set AAU bat restrictions. We are also playing modify NFHS rules with our own house rules implemented.
This season no players can be double roster at all, and all rosters must be submitted prior to the start of regular season play. The East Shore Travel League is recognized as a National AAU League and is not governor by the State of Connecticut’s Baseball Rules or Baseball Chair, as our league is sanctioned nationally.
Our 2024 League sanction #2KCTBL2211
So please review the entire package prior to registering your program or team this coming season. And of course, with any questions please contact one of the directors and they will be more than happy to help you.
Sportsmanship:
I promise that I shall participate in this 2024 East Shore Travel League AAU Program Respecting and abiding by the rules which govern it
In the true spirit of sportsmanship, For the glory of sport,
And the honor of my team
Code of Ethics:
AAU Baseball subscribes to the Code of Ethics set forth by the National Federation of State High School Associations
AAU Player/Coach registration:
Every team must have all their players & coaches register with AAU (http://aausports.org/Membership/SignUp.aspx)
Each player must register under the youth athletic & coaches under the non- athletic.
If your team is planning on playing in non-AAU sanction events, then you must purchase the extended coverage membership, if you do not have the extended coverage insurance and you are playing in a non-AAU sanction event and an injury occurs your insurance will not cover your injury.
No team will be allowed to participate in the 2024 without each one of their players & coaches registering with AAU.
Insurance certificates:
Please contact the league @ chuck.estl@gmail.com for practice field/ game field & tournament insurance by February 15th, after February 15th, there will be a $35 charge per insurance request from that time forward. No field insurance certificates will be issued until all league entry fees have been satisfied.
To use the AAU insurance for non-AAU events your players & coaches must have the extended coverage membership.
When you request a certificate of insurance, please forward us the following. Complete name of the park or Tournament, address, phone number and a contact person. (You can download the 2024 insurance request forms on the web site).
Black Out dates:
(Black out date forms are located on the website under handout section)
Rosters: (roster forms are located on website under handout section)
All rosters must be presented to East Shore prior to your first regular season scheduled game.
(No roster; No playing; PERIOD)
a.) All AAU numbers must be included on the roster.
b.) All players’ dates of birth must be included on the roster.
c.) All players’ numbers must be included on the roster.
d.) All players parents must sign the league wavier (stating that their son/daughter has a valid AAU insurance card)
e.) All coaches must have two ways of contact (email address & cell phone number)
f.) At least one member of each team must register on rainedout.com for all weather updates.
g.) The roster will be limited to 20 players, 3 coaches & 1 score keeper.
h.) No player can double roster & no player can play on two different programs at any one time. (No exceptions, No waivers; Period). If you’re a program and want to move a player up to a different age group, then you must submit a written release waiver to do so, and that player can no longer go down in age for the remainder of the season.
I.) If a team gets caught using an illegal player during a scheduled ESTL game, the head coach from that team will receive a one game suspension for their next scheduled game. 2nd time will be review by the directors of the league.
j.) 8u-13u teams can pick up any non-roster AAU player up to May 15th/ (14u-19u) June 21st. during the regular season.
k.) Any player that leaves a current East Shore roster to go to a different East Shore roster during the regular season must obtain a release from the current program that there involved with and then the league has the right to accept it or deny it depending on the issues of the release; and it must be within the allowable timetable for adding players to your current roster.
l.) A roster player must be at least 50% of their teams scheduled completed games to be eligible for playoffs, unless being injured (the injury must be documented and emailed to us as soon as it happens)
2024 Age cut off:
8u - must be 8 or under by May 1, 2016 9u – must be 9 or under by May 1 2015 10u – must be 10 or under by May 1, 2014 11u – must be 11 or under by May 1, 2013 12u – must be 12 or under by May 1, 2012 13u – must be 13 or under by May 1, 2011 14u – must be 14 or under by May 1, 2010 15u- must be 15 or under by May 1, 2009 16u – must be 16 or under by May 1, 2008 17u – must be 17 or under by May 1, 2007 18u – must be 18 or under by May 1, 2006 19u- must be 19 or under by May 1, 2005
Field sizes:
8u & 9u- 46/60 closed bases (no leading)
10u- 46/70 open bases
11u – 50/70
12u- 50/70
13u -19u - 60/90
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Game Cancelation:
In the event you must cancel a game it must be emailed 24 hours in advance, or it will be considered a forfeit, and your team will be charged with $110.00 forfeit fee which must be paid before your next schedule game. Please take into consideration that you’re canceling for a major/serious reason other than weather and that the league must explain to the other teams why they’re getting canceled on!
Cleats:
No metal spikes for 9u-12u
No metal spikes for pitchers on east shore fields 2 & 3 due to portable mounds
No metal spikes for any players playing on any turf field (a list will be provided once schedules are official)
Bat rules 2024
If a player is caught using an illegal bat, then at that time of question and in fact the bat is proved to be illegal the batter will be out, and everything goes back to where it was before the batter before. You can only question an illegal bat if a pitch is thrown to that batter; you cannot question an illegal bat if no pitch is thrown.
The head coach is then restricted to the dugout for the rest of the game, the bat is removed from the dugout. The second time that a team is caught using an illegal bat the head coach will receive a 1 game suspension. This will be reported to the league following the game from one of the umpires playing that game. The umpire will report on the team and the number of players using the illegal bat.
8u-9u-10u-11u
any bat stamp USA or USSSA No drop 3 bats
drop 5 to drop 12 only
no bat greater then 32 inches barrel size 2 1/4- 2 5/8 or 2 3/4
12u elite
any bat stamp USA or USSSA
No drop 3 bats & no little league 2 1/4 barrel
drop 5 to drop 10 only
no bat greater then 32 inches barrel size 2 3/4 or 2 5/8 only
12u major
any bat stamp USA or USSSA No drop 3 bats
drop 5 to drop 10 only
no bat greater then 32 inches barrel size 2 1/4 or 2 3/4 or 2 5/8 only
13u
any bat stamp USA or USSSA drop 3 must be BBCOR
drop 3 to 8
no bat greater then 34 inches barrel size 2 5/8 or 2 3/4
14u & 15u
drop 3 only BBCOR.
16u-17u-18u-19u
wood bat only – one piece
Baseballs:
Each team is responsible for supplying baseballs during the regular season.
Each coach must present 2-3 games balls to the umpire @ the start of the game during ground rules.
Recommendations: Rawlings R-200 or R-100, Diamond DOL-1, DOL-A, DOL-NFHS For 13u-19u any National Federation High School game ball is fine
Scheduling:
All schedules will be posted prior to the start of the regular season.
Schedule will be made off each individual black date request within reason. All coaches will release a rough draft schedule prior to final web site posting.
Any scheduling cancelations must be emailed, the league will no longer accept text messages or voice messages about rescheduling or canceling games.
Please keep in mind that when you decide to cancel a game for whatever reason you may have, there is another team on the other end wondering why?
Canceling games due to lack of pitching will no longer be a valid reason, so don’t bother emailing for that reason in 2024. (If you enter a 5-game tournament over a 3-day period you need more than 3 pitchers, so do not cause our league the headache of rescheduling games due to your lack of pitching this season)
Please do not reschedule or cancel/move games without letting the league know first, as we schedule the fields and umpires it is important that we are involved with any scheduling request or cancellation.
Make Up games:
The schedule will be updated weekly as we will try to makeup rain out games ASAP. It is the coaches responsible to check the website weekly for any updates. We will also send out weekly emails with all updates on the Monday night following each weekend. The league strongly recommends that you tell all your parents that if you print off a schedule online April 1st, and hand it out to them it is going to change due to weather, so warn them ahead of time about the schedule changing from time to time.
Time limits for league play; when the time limit expires the home team must have batted in the bottom of the current inning if trailing in the game for the game to be official. Official games are 3 ½ innings for a 6-inning game and 4 ½ innings for a 7-inning game, if the time limit expires prior to the game being official the score at that point will count, and only count due to the time limit expiring. The home team must bat if trailing when time expires.
In event of darkness or weather the game will be pickup from the point where it is call; only if it’s within the time limit and not an official game or if the home team is trailing following an official game, (Home team must bat)
8u/9u/10u/11u/12u – 1 hour 45 minutes for all regular season games, first & second rounds of playoffs (semi-final games 2 hours) (finals no time limit) 6 innings per game
13u- 1 hour 50 minutes for all regular season games, first & second rounds of playoffs (Semi- final games 2 hours) (finals no time limit) 7 innings per game
14u/15u/16u/17u/18u/19u
2 hours (semi-final games 2 hours 15 minutes) (finals no time limit) 7 innings per game
ALL PLAYOFF GAMES MUST HAVE A WINNER, BUT UNTIL WE REACH THE FINALS,
WE MUST adhere to the time limits of each age group.
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Scores:
All scores must be reported via email only to scores.estl@gmail.com
It is completely impossible to update the leagues web site without either one of the coaches sending their scores in.
Please report your score win or lose immediately following your game.
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Mercy rules:
8u
5 runs per inning – innings 1-5 & unlimited in 6th inning.
10 runs after 4 innings
8 runs after 5 innings.
9u-12u
10 runs after 4 innings (home team must bat if trailing in the inning) 8 run after 5 innings (home team must bat if trailing in the inning)
13u
12 runs after 4 innings (home team must bat if trailing in the inning) 10 runs after 5 innings (home team must bat if trailing in the inning) 8 run after 6 innings (home team must bat if trailing in the inning) 14u/15u/16u/17u/19u
10 runs after 5 innings (home team must bat if trailing in the inning) 8 run after 6 innings (home team must bat if trailing in the inning)
Balks:
The third – to – first pickoff attempt is legal
We are playing major league trips only (one per inning per pitcher, 2nd trip you must remove the pitcher) & and all other rules are NHSF
8u & 9u no balks: warnings only
10u & 11u one balk warning per pitcher per game
12u-19u straight balks (no exceptions and no discussions at ground rules)
House Rule: Once a pitcher has been removed from pitching, that pitcher cannot re-enter as a pitcher for the rest of the game (This is very important to the game and must be followed)
Pitching trips:
Each pitcher is allowed 1 trip per pitcher, the 2nd trip they must remove the pitcher from the game.
There is currently no pitch count rule in ESTL, as it is impossible to govern this, we ask all coaches to protect their pitchers and use common sense!
8u games – batter cannot advance on a drop 3rd call strike.
8u games- Pitching mound will be 42 feet.
8u games -No advancing to home plate on pass ball
8u games- 5 runs per inning and last inning will be unlimited rules.
8u games- at 1:30 into game it will be declared last inning of play and unlimited runs score
8u games-only allowed 1 steal or pass ball to home plate successful per inning.
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9u games – batter cannot advance on a drop 3rd call strike, but baserunners can.
Tied Breaker:
In the event of a tied game and there is still time on the clock, we will play another inning or as many innings as you can before the time limit is up.
GAMES CAN END IN A TIE during the regular season When time is expired the game is over, if the home has batted No more tie breaker rule for the
All playoffs’ games must be played until the winner.
Batting Order:
8u-13u Teams can either bat the entire order, 10, 11 or 9 hitters
14u-19u Teams must be bat either 9 or 10
Each team can either bat a DH which will be for a position player only or an EH which can play in the field also
The team must decide before the game if they will use a continues batting order If a team is using a continues batting order they cannot change once the game starts
If a player is injured while using a continues batting order and they come to the injured players spot in the batting order, an out is recorded and then they can continue with the batting order If the team starts with 8 players the 9th spot in the order is a recorded out until the 9th batter arrives (you can finish a game with 8 players)
Courtesy Runner:
Courtesy runner can only be used for the catcher with 2 outs (mandatory) last batted out only.
No exceptions PERIOD.
Headfirst Slide:
Headfirst slides will be allowed in all age groups.
All changes must be reported to the other coach during the game.
One offensive conference per inning (you can take an offensive conference when the opposing team is visiting the pitcher)
Protest Procedures:
a. Protests must be made verbally with the umpire by the offended team at the time of the play and before the next pitch. If a pitch is made there is, then no protest. Do
not call either director about protesting a game after the game is final. The only way a protest can be made is during the game and at the time of question.
b. A fee of $100.00 cash (refunded if protest is upheld) must accompany the protest.
c. All decisions of the protest committee shall be final.
d. Only decisions involving the misinterpretation or misapplication of a rule may be protested. No protest shall be allowed in matters involving solely the umpire’s
judgment.
e. you cannot protest an illegal bat, or a player’s equipment.
Ejections (Manager, Coach or Players):
a. In all age groups, the first occurrence results in suspension for the rest of the game (removal from the field) in which ejection occurs, and the coach must sit out the next scheduled game for that team; if they are coaching more than 1 team, the
ejection will only apply to that team and not another one.
b. The second occurrence is a three-game suspension No exceptions
c. The third occurrence is a five-game suspension
d. If all coaches listed on the team’s roster are ejected during a game; then the team must forfeit upon the removal of the last coach.
e. Any physical touching of an umpire or chest bumping of an umpire will result in an automatic 3 game suspension
All umpires have been notified to restrict a coach to the dugout first.
Any foul language in general will result in an ejection of either a player or a coach.
Any player trying to hurt another player will result in an ejection of both the player & head coach.
General Field Rules:
We are asking all teams to please keep the dugouts cleaned during games at all fields
The Turf fields that we play on does not allow chewing gum or sunflower seeds on the fields or inside any of the dugouts, a direct result of not following those rules and your team or program will no longer be able to play at those Turf Field.
Please respect each other’s fields/park during the season and clean up after each set of games.
Batting Cages: Please ensure that all players are wearing helmets during use of the cages and the pitcher is behind the L-screen.
All catchers must wear helmets during warmups 8u-19u.
The skull cap for catchers playing in the 16u & 19u leagues are legal
Warm up pitches: each pitcher prior to the start of the game will be allowed 8 pitches, and from the second inning on 5 pitches per inning, unless the pitcher is changed.
Parents:
It is the coaches’ responsibility to police their own parents, if a parent or groups of parents are getting out of control then the umpire will stop the game and ask for the coaches to remove the parents and then play will continue. If the problem isn’t removed then the game will be forfeited and the game awarded to the opposing team. This is going to be strictly enforced for 2023. The past two seasons our umpires have been getting abused and it’s going to stop this season. Any foul language from a parent during the game directed at either a coach or an umpire and that person and their kid will be removed from the park. This is the only way a lot of this nonsense is going to stop. So, if you’re a parent causing a scene, you’re then going to cause your son/daughter playing time.
Umpires:
We will schedule all umpires for games and fields
If there is a problem with any of our umpires than please email us at umpires.estl@gmail.com
Please, during ground rules have the head coach go and out pay the umpire either check or cash prior to the start of the game. From the start of the game, only the head coach can address the umpires during the game and no other coaches are allowed to question the umpires during the game.
If a team bounces an umpire check that check must be paid including the bank fees prior to the start of their next game.
Umpire fees:
2024 Umpire fees
8u & 9u $80 one umpire ($40 each team) 10u $70 per umpire if one umpire then $105
11u & 12u $70 per umpire ($70 per team per umpire per game) 13u to 15u & NHS $80 per umpire ($80 per team per umpire per game) 16u to 19u $85 per umpire ($90 per team per umpire per game)
Additional fees:
If a game gets called before the start of the 3rd inning due to darkness or rain, the umpires have been instructed to return half of the payment; but only if it is the 2nd game of a double header and not a single game. If it’s a single game, then the
umpires keep their fee for that game.
If you have a scheduled double header off the East Shore site and both coaches decide to cancel the second game, then both coaches must pay each umpire half the fee of that game, plus the game that their playing.
If you have a schedule double header using east shore umpires and both umpires get to the field and another board is doing the game, then both coaches and the coach that scheduled the other umpires must pay both umpires.
If a scheduled game is canceled same day or a team no show’s a scheduled game than the umpire/umpires scheduled to work that game must be paid half of fee
Fields:
If you have your own field to use, please make sure of the following.
A.) Do you hold the permit for that field?
B.) The times & dates that you sent in for scheduling belong to your team
C.) Who makes the call for canceling games (your program or a city/town employee?)
D.) If there are any park/town rules for using the field (email them to the league so we could inform the other teams)
E.) If it has lights who controls them and what are the hours of usage?
League Standings
In event of a tie breaker to determine playoff seeding's
1.) head-to-head record vs. the team or teams tied with
2.) Runs against
3.) Runs scored.
4.) coin flip
Concussion Policy
We have therefore established this concussion policy for and on behalf of the East Shore Travel League, which is as follows: Where there is reasonable cause to believe that a concussion may have occurred, such participant shall be allowed to continue his/her participant in a regular season game without a medical release to resume such participation.
