League Rules

THE ALASKA WIFFLE®  BALL LEAGUE 2025 RULES

General Gameplay

1. Team Structure:

   • Games are played with 2-5 players per team.

   • A minimum of 2 players must be present to avoid forfeit.

   • You may bat all 5 players, but only 3 can play in the field.

   • Teams may freely make substitutions, Pitchers can be changed freely. (Even if they exit the game, they can come back later.)

2. Field Dimensions:

   • Pitcher’s Mound: 45 feet from the strike-zone for players 15+.

   • Short Mound: 40 feet from the strike zone for players 14 and younger.

   • Home Run Fence: 85 feet from home plate (adjustable for field size).

   • Home Plate: positioned 3 feet in front of the strike-zone

   • Bunt Line: 20 feet in front of home plate.

3. Game Length:

   • Games will last 3 innings long.

   • Extra innings are allowed.

4. Balls and Strikes:

   • Strike Zone: A strike zone behind home plate will measure 24’’ tall and 20’’ wide.

   • The zone will stand 15’’ off the ground

   • 4 balls = walk, 3 strikes = out.

   • 3 outs per half inning.

   • Foul tips into the strike-zone with 2 strikes will be strike 3.

5. Pitching Rules:

   • No speed limit. Radar guns may be used for aesthetics but not enforced.

   • There are no Balks.

   • The pitcher must have his foot on the mound while releasing the ball.

   • No “loading” the ball with rocks, dirt or other debris.

Batting

1. Bats Allowed:

   • Any bat is legal under 39 inches in length.

   • It must have a plastic barrel of some kind.

   • It must be under 3 inches in diameter.

   • No excessive amounts of bat-tape on the barrel. (Umpire discretion.)

   • Bat can be corked.

2. Contact Rules:

   • Foul fly balls caught are outs.

   • Hit batters do not count as walks.

   • No bunting. Any bunt in fair territory is an out.

   • A batter's hands are considered an extension of the bat. (Only when swinging.)

   • Batters may not intentionally step in the way of the strike zone at any point during the pitcher’s delivery. (Switching batter boxes, etc.)

3. Home Runs:

   • Ball must clear the fence in fair territory to count.

   • If a fly ball is somehow helped (bobbled, pushed) over the wall by a fielder, it is a home run. (Unless they have secured the catch.)

   • A ground-rule double applies if the ball bounces over the fence, through the fence, under the fence, etc.

Defense

1. Fielding:

   • Teams must have a minimum of 2 players in the field and no more than 3.

2. Catching Fly Balls:

   • Clean catches count as outs.

   • Balls tipped into the air off the hands must still be caught cleanly.

3. Throwing to Bases:

   • Pegging runners is allowed. All attempts at a runner should be below the head, however fielders have the right to do what is necessary to get the runner out.

   • On a play at home plate, the backstop net and strike-zone can be used to get runners out by throwing the ball and beating them to the backstop. If there is no net or it is too far back, then the ball must simply cross the plate before the runner reaches home.

   • On a play at the plate, runners may not turn back after going more than halfway in between 3rd and home.

Base Running

1. Base Running:

   • No stealing.

   • Lead-offs are permitted the second the batter makes contact with the ball.

   • Ghost Runners move as much as the runner behind them and move at the same pace.

2. Tagging Up:

   • Runners can tag up.

Miscellaneous

1. Sportsmanship:

• No intentionally targeting players with pitches.

• Bat Flips/Celebrations allowed, however please refrain from being offensive.

• Trash talk will not be tolerated to an extent.

2. Equipment:

• The ball used will be the Official Baseball Size WIFFLE® Ball, it may be cut, scuffed, clean, or grated, etc. You cannot use a cracked ball. If the ball is fully cracked in any way, it will be considered illegal and immediatly taken out of the game.

• To prevent disputes over equipment, each team will have a dugout for their own equipment/bats/balls.

• The equipment owned by a team in their dugout may not be used without permission of the owner.

• There will be a set of “community” bats and balls for everyone to use.

3. Mercy Rule: 6 runs per half inning.

4. Replay Review: Cameras will be used for reviews on challenged calls. Each captain/manager of a team has one challenge at the start of each game. They may challenge a call of their choice, if the challenge goes their way, they retain their challenge and may use it later in the game. However, if they challenge and the call does not go their way, they lose the ability to challenge for the rest of the game. (Due to excessive challenging.) Balls and strikes cannot be challenged by a manager, only the umpire.

5. Season Structure: The season will consist of each team playing 3 regular season games, an HR Derby and ASG Will follow. After this, the top 4 teams will make the playoffs. The tie-breakers for making the playoffs goes as follows: Record, Matchups, Run Differential, Tie Breaker Game.

6. The Nature Of The Sport: WIFFLE® Ball is a gentleman's sport, meaning we love to keep a competitive and hype atmosphere while still being respectful of other players, umpires, and the commissioner. This rulebook does not cover every single bit and piece of how to play of the game of WIFFLE® ball, however most of the rules refer to baseball or other WIFFLE® ball league rules. If you have a question about the rulebook or how to play, please ask the commissioner/tournament director Hunter Slabinski before the game begins. With that being said please be forgiving to new and younger players getting into the sport who may not yet fully comprehend every aspect of the game. If someone doesn't know a rule please help them out, we're all here because of the love of the game. All calls on controversial plays go back to the commissioner/tournament director, who's call will be final on all plays.