Chocowinity Recreation Department Inc.

 League Schedules

1.       The league schedule will at a minimum provide 8 games to each team.  Each game will be played as scheduled unless a team is unable to place a minimum of 8 defensive players in the field at the beginning of the game, therefore forcing an automatic forfeit.  Knowingly in advance, if a game needs to be rescheduled for lack of appropriate number of players, the League President must be notified at a minimum of 72 hours prior to the game in question, and if not done so timely, the game will remain as scheduled.  If an agreement is made to reschedule a game, the game must be played within a 14-day time period.  The season schedule as determined by the League Presidents and their Board of Directors, doesn’t allow for rescheduling of a game within the predetermined time period of 14 days, the game will result in a forfeit. 

2.       In the case of rain prior to the game before 3:00 p.m., the City of Washington Recreation Department will decide if the fields are playable.  After 3:00 p.m., the playability of the fields will be solely in the hands of the umpires and Leagues Board of Directors.  During the weekdays if the first game of the night is canceled, all the games for the night are canceled.  Once play begins on a weekend, the playability of the fields will be solely in the hands of the umpires and Board of Directors.  In the event of rain or inclement weather on Friday night or early Saturday morning, every attempt will be made to play games as scheduled once the field conditions have been evaluated by City and Board of Directors.  In an effort to provide time to prepare the fields for play, Saturday game start times could be delayed up to a maximum possible delay of 4 hours.  In any event, once a game has been canceled due to weather conditions, the game will be made up at the next available rain make-up date as dictated by the schedule.

3.       The President and the BOD’s will make every attempt to have built in days into the league schedule to allow for make up days for rain-out and inclement weather.  A rained out or suspended game remaining at the end of the season will not be played unless its outcome would affect the standings and playoff positions or reduce the season scheduled games below 8.  

4.       In the event of ties in the standings at the end of the regular season the following procedures are to be followed to determine seeding for tournament play:

a.       A team not losing during the regular season against another team will be the higher seed.

b.       If teams split their regular season games, seeding for tournament play will be made by comparing their records against each league member, beginning with the highest place team in the division.  The team with the better record against the highest place team is the higher seed.

c.        If a tie is still present after situations A and B the two team coaches will draw for their seeding in the tournament. 

Playing Field

1.       Ground rules and other playing rules not covered by the Tar Heel League, Inc. Baseball Rules and Regulations & Official Playing Rules will be governed by the National Federation of State High School Association Baseball Rules for 2019.

3.       8U: The distance between all bases must be 60 feet.  The distance from the point of home plate to the front of the pitching rubber must be 40 feet.  Around the 40-foot pitching rubber there will be an 8-foot radius circle which all defensive players are required to have both feet clearly inside the circle when a pitch is delivered.  Defensive players inside of the pitching circle are always required to be parallel with the pitching coach or behind them for their safety.  This is a coach pitch division and coaches that are pitching are required to stand in contact with the pitching rubber when delivering the pitch.

4.       10U: The distance between all bases must be 60 feet.  The distance from the point of home plate to the front of the pitching rubber must be 46 feet.  All playing fields must have a pitching mound.

5.       12U: The distance between all bases must be 70 feet.  The distance from the point of home plate to the front of the pitching rubber must be 50 feet.  All playing fields must have a pitching mound.

6.       15U: The distance between all bases must be 90 feet.  The distance from the point of home plate to the front of the pitching runner must be 60’6”. 

 

 

 

League Rules

1.       At the start of a game, managers will present to the scorekeeper, opposing manager, and umpire, a list of players available to play for that game.  The list will begin with the starting lineup and follow with substitutes available to play.  When a substitution is made, the scorekeeper must be notified, and the substitution announced. 

2.       A team may play with eight players. If a ninth player becomes available, he may be inserted in the game at the bottom of the lineup.  If a team starts a game with eight players, there is no out charged when the ninth batter would ordinarily have batted; however, if a team plays with nine players and a player is removed because of Coach’s decision, absence or ejection, an out will be charged for that player's position in the batting order.  If a team has less than eight players because of absence or ejection, the game will be forfeited.  If a batter is injured during an at-bat and the count is still live (less than 3 strikes/4 balls), the batter who is next in the lineup assumes the count and the game continues.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the injured player is unable to continue the game, his/her spot in the lineup is skipped over on each subsequent at-bat.  If a team is playing with 8 players and an injury occurs to a player that prohibits the player from continuing the game, whether at bat or otherwise, the game will be suspended and completed at a later date at which time the game will resume play current to the conditions prior to the injury.

3.       No more than 15 minutes will be allowed between games, unless the official schedule permits.  Games will not start before their scheduled time without consent of both the managers, umpire and scorekeepers. 

4.       Time Limits:

b.       8U – 1-hour and 15 minutes or 6 innings, whichever comes first

c.        10U and 12U – 1-hour and 30 minutes or 6 innings, whichever comes first

 

 

 6.       8U

a.       This is a bat all division.  The coach must submit a batting order to the umpire, scorekeeper, and opposing team before the game.  All players must be listed in a batting order for the entire game.  In the event a player is injured (umpire will make the ruling), the scorekeeper will be notified, and the said player will sit out for the remainder of the inning with no penalty in the batter order.  If the batter cannot return due to the injury the team will skip his position in the lineup with no penalty.  NO player shall sit in the dugout for two consecutive innings.

b.       A maximum of five runs or three outs will constitute an offensive inning.

c.        Six innings or the time limit will constitute a game or once a team becomes mathematically eliminated, the game shall end.

d.       No walks are allowed, and no bunting is allowed (attempted bunting will constitute as a strike).

e.       An eight-foot radius circle is to be drawn around the pitching rubber.  A defensive player, with both feet in the circle, must remain inside the circle, even or behind the pitching rubber, until the batter contacts the ball.

f.         All outfielders must be positioned in a similar radius across the outfield and should not be on the infield dirt.

g.       Each batter is allowed five pitches or three swings per at bat.  There is no limit on the number of foul balls on the 5^th pitch or the 3^rd swing.

h.       There is no infield fly rule.

i.         No base stealing is allowed.  A runner may leave the base once contact is made with the baseball by the batter.

j.         Base runners that miss touching a base, or leave a base early, shall be called out by the umpire upon completion of the play.  A delayed dead ball shall be called by the umpire.  The umpire’s judgement will rule on the runner’s position at the point time is called by either umpire.  Time is called once the front runner is contained. 

k.        A team may have a courtesy runner for the catcher at any time.  The runner used as a courtesy runner will be the player that made the last out. 

l.         Catchers must be in a squatted catcher’s position behind the batter and not standing or off to the side.

m.     The coach who is pitching must stay in contact with the pitching rubber until the ball is released.  Once the coach releases the ball, he/she cannot be involved in coaching until time is called as there are base coaches to direct runners. A coach may not deceive defensive players to get the ball thrown before time is called.

                                                               i.      If a coach does deceive a defensive player into making an errant throw the ball is declared dead, the batter is declared out, all runners return to the base occupied before the pitch and the lead runner is declared out.  The adult pitcher/coach should only communicate with a batter or player before the ball is put in play. 

n.       If a batted ball hits the coach who is pitching (making every attempt to avoid contact) before the defensive player touches the ball, the ball is dead, with all runners advancing one base if forced.  If the coach who is pitching intentionally interferes or makes no attempt to avoid contact, the ball is dead, the batter is declared out, and all runners return to the base occupied before the pitch except the lead runner, who is also declared out.

o.       The coach who is pitching must leave the field from either first or third base baseline when the batted ball is put in play and is not allowed to coach until the ball is declared dead. 

p.       If the 5^th pitch is wild, hits the batter, or is over the catcher or batter’s head, it is the umpire’s discretion to allow a 6^th pitch to the batter unless the batter swings at the pitch. 

q.       A team must have eight players to start a game.  Teams may have up to ten (10) players on the field on defense, consisting of up to four (4) outfielders, one (1) first baseman, one (1) second baseman, one (1) third baseman, one (1) shortstop, (1) pitcher and one catcher.

r.        The defensive team shall be allowed two coaches in the outfield foul territory to assist in play calling, one coach in the grass in foul play along the first base line and one coach in the grass in foul play along the third base line.  The coaches are not allowed to come any closer to the playing field then the infield dirt and are not allowed in fair territory unless time is called.   

s.        Overthrows to first base are declared a dead ball and all runners will advance one base if they are forced to do so.  Example, if there is only a runner on third when the overthrow occurs, he does not advance because there isn’t a runner behind him to force him home.  Overthrows to all other bases are still considered to be live until the lead runner is contained.

t.        Defensive players shall stop the lead runner in this division.  Throwing the ball into one of the pitchers does not stop play, nor does calling time while holding the ball in the infield.  Time will only be called by the umpire when, in the umpire’s discretion, it appears that the play has stopped between the fielder(s) and the base runners. 

u.       The domination rule discussed in the above 6U division section applies to this division.  Fielders shall not roll or intentionally and repeatedly bounce throws to a particular base in order to achieve a put out for their team.  Coaches must teach fielders to make the best throw possible to any particular base without intentionally teaching them to roll or bounce the ball to the base on purpose just to achieve an out.  Again, this is a teaching division where coaches are required to teach fielders to throw the ball properly and make proper baseball plays.

7.       10U

a.       This is a bat all division.

b.       All games will last 1-hour and 30 minutes or 6 innings, whichever comes first.  No new inning can be started after the 1 hour and 30 minutes has expired.

c.        Pitching rules and limitations

                                                               i.      A player shall not pitch in more than 6 innings in one day, nor more than 6 innings in a calendar week, Monday thru Sunday.

                                                             ii.      Pitchers throwing the last day of the week must have the allotted rest period

                                                            iii.      The rule of three (3) innings pitched will constitute one (1) calendar days rest in between the three innings pitched and the next pitching session, regardless of calendar week.   

d.       All coaches must understand and review the pitching rules and must sign the pitching ledger for each game within fifteen (15) minutes after the game’s completion or the ledger recorded by the official scorekeeper shall be deemed official and correct.

e.       A runner leaving the base early before the ball crosses home plate will result in an umpire putting the runner back on that base, unless the runner is put out.

f.         Intentional base on balls are allowed, however, the defensive coach must notify the umpire before the first pitch is thrown to the batter.

g.       Run Rule – 12 runs after three innings, 10 runs after the fourth, fifth, or sixth inning.  The losing team must have an equal number of at bats.

h.       If a game is canceled before it becomes a regulation game (4 innings), it must be replayed from the exact point of interruption with the same ball and strike count on the batter and the same lineup as near as possible.

i.         A starting pitcher will be allowed to re-enter the game as a starting pitcher once.  No other pitcher will be allowed to re-enter the game as a pitcher.

j.         When on defense one coach is allowed outside the dugout within arm’s reach of the dugout.  All other coaches must always remain in the dugout.  No buckets, chairs, or other equipment is allowed outside the dugout when play has started. 

8.       12U

a.       Rules for 12U are the same as listed above for 10U with the additions of the items listed below.

b.       Lineups can consist of all batters being in the lineup at the same time (bat all) or the lineup may consist of a starting 9 with substitutions.  It is the duties of both head coaches and the scorekeeper to ensure that all players enter the game. 

                                                               i.      Each team is required to play each player two innings defensively, except when the umpire feels that a player is not able to play because of illness or injury.  If a game is shortened to 3 or 4 innings due to rain or the run rules and a player did not play 2 innings defensively, the coach is required to play that player enough innings the next game to reach 4 total innings for the 2 games.

                                                             ii.      If any team fails to follow the minimum playing requirements for any division, the game in question will be forfeited and the BOD’s will issue a warning to the coach.  If a second infraction occurs the coach will be suspended for the next game and a third infraction will result in the coach being suspended for the remainder of the season. 

c.        Games will last 1 hour and 30 minutes or 6 innings, whichever comes first.

d.       Pitcher’s mound shall be 50 feet from home plate and the bases shall be 70 feet apart.

e.       Runners can take leads off all bases and can steal at will.

f.         Balks will be enforced at the discretion of the umpires.

g.       Pitching rules and limitations are the same as listed above for the 10U division.    

h.       When on defense one coach is allowed outside the dugout within arms reach of the dugout.  All other coaches must always remain in the dugout.  No buckets, chairs, or other equipment is allowed outside the dugout when play has started. 

 

 

 

9.       8U to 12U Additional Rules

a.       Only the head coach can argue or dispute calls made by the umpires.  First, play must be called dead. Second, the head coach will approach the umpires in a professional manner and ask/question the call at hand.  Third, coaches are to understand that judgment calls are judgment calls and if he/she feels the call has altered the outcome of the game then the coach will proceed with the rules set forth for protesting a game.

b.       Any player or coach who is ejected from a game will be suspended for the following game. 

c.        A base runner may slide head first into any base, but no base runner can dive over a fielder in an attempt to reach a base.  A base runner jumping over a fielder to avoid a tag from a fielder who is physically possessing the baseball will also be immediately called out.  However, a base runner jumping over a fielder who is in the prone position (lying down attempting to gain possession of the ball) will be deemed to be attempting to avoid a collision with the fielder and play will continue without a call from the umpire.

d.       Offensive coaches in the coach’s boxes at first and third base are to remain in their respective coach’s boxes (within reason) during an active play and are to refrain from entering onto the field or going down the base line toward home plate during an active play. 

e.       Offensive and defensive coaches cannot touch or physically assist a base runner during an active play.  Any active play where a player is touched by result in the runner or hitter being called out, at the umpire’s discretion.