T-BALL
Ground Rules 2023
T Ball shall be governed by the rules of Little League Baseball and the General Ground Rules Except as followed
Teams
a. The team rosters shall consist of players with the league age of four, five and six years olds.
b. The player agent shall organize the T Ball rosters.
Playing Rules
a. Regulation Games
(1) Time limit is one (1) hour
(2) No inning is to start after fifty (50) minutes from scheduled start time
(4) No game will exceed six innings
(5) Games are considered non-competitive even though the score is kept.
b. Game Rules
(1) No more than 6 players are allowed in the infield including pitcher & catcher. All infield players should line up in their natural positions including 1st base, 2nd base, short stop & 3rd base and should not be positioned to play on the baselines or positioned too close to the batter If a team chooses not to field a catcher, there will be only 5 infielders allowed.
(2) Outfields must be positioned to begin each play outside the infield lines.
(3) The batting order should be set to include all batters in a continuous order. Each team will use the same number of batters each inning. In the event a batter is used twice in an inning to even out the number of batters per team, the batting order will begin with the next batter at the start of the next inning.
(4) Each team member shall play defensively at least every other inning.
(5) The base coaches must be responsible adults.
(6) The player pitcher must wear a Little League approved batting helmet during defensive play.
(7) No offensive player other than the batter and base runners are allowed out of the dugout onto the field during play. The batter shall not leave the dugout until the preceding play has stopped.
(8) The catcher must wear all defensive protective equipment including the throat guard and protective cup for males. It is recommended that all males wear a protective cup.
(9) In the event an injury occurs during play, the game will be stopped immediately. If the ball is still in play, the runners on base during the injury may be allowed to advance only one base.
c. Runners
(1) Each runner may advance only when the batter has put the ball in play.
(2) When the ball is overthrown to a base when attempting to achieve an out, the runner will only proceed one base except as otherwise noted for first base.
(3) Play stops and the ball is dead when the defensive pitcher has the ball in his possession while in the pitcher's circle unless the pitcher is running to make a defensive out on a running play.
(4) A runner achieves the next base if, in the opinion of the umpire/coach, he/she has crossed the halfway (white) line without being put out before the play has been stopped.
d. Batter
(1) A batter shall not become a runner unless he puts the ball into play. Batted ball must go fair and out of batters circle.
(2) There will be no bunting
e. Scoring
(1) No runs will be scored after three outs.
(2) If a runner is declared out, but left on base; the run will not be scored when crossing the plate.
(3) Since these games are considered Non-Competive and we have no official umpires during game play, runners should be considered safe when a call is in dispute by opposing teams.
(4) All coaches and volunteers should all be using the practice of fair play when on the field during a game.
3. Miscellaneous
(a) Only a maximum of five (5) authorized coaches are permitted in the dugout during any game. Only one (1) defensive coach will be allowed in the infield during play. Interference by this coach will result in all runners being allowed to advance one additional base.
(b) Loss of player: Vacancies in the roster of the team shall be filled from the player agent’s list of late registrants.
(c) The Home Team will get bases from the equipment room and will rake & water the field if needed. The Visitor Team will return the bases, rake & water the field at the game’s completion. In many cases another game is scheduled to play afterwards so bases should be left out for these cases.