Tournament Rules

THE 2025 WIFFLE® BY THE WATER TOURNAMENT RULES

General Gameplay

1. Team Structure:

   • Games are played with 3-5 players per team.

   • A minimum of 3 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.)

   • If a player is injured during the game and cannot continue, the team may continue on with two players if they choose to. The injured player cannot return to the game and is each time his spot in the lineup comes up, it counts as an out.

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.

   • There is no limit to how much a pitcher can throw.

   • 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.

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

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

   • Batters may not intentionally step in the way of the strike zone at any point during the pitcher’s delivery. If they do, it will be ruled a no-pitch unless if it’s a strike. (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 3 players in the field.

   • Hit balls on a fly that are catches count as outs.

   • Balls tipped into the air off the hands must still be caught on a fly.

   • A ground ball fielded cleanly is an out.

   • If the ball is bobbled at all, it will count as a single resulting in an error.

   • No baseball mitts or gloves of any kind in the field (Bare hands.)

2. Errors:

   • An error is a play either on a ground ball where the ball is touched by the fielder but not fielded cleanly, or is bobbled (more than one attempt to field the ball.)

   • An error can also be when a fly ball is dropped by a fielder.

Base Runners

1. Base Running:

   • There is no baserunning in this tournament. The runners move depending on where the ball is hit in the field.

   • A single is any hit ball that stops rolling before the wall, or an error.

   • A double is any hit ball that rolls to the wall, under the wall, or bounces over the wall.

   • A triple is any hit ball off the wall on a fly.

   • A home run is any hit ball over the wall on a fly in fair territory.

   • Ground balls that are tipped/touched by a fielder before the wall are errors and singles, even if they roll to, bounce over, or go under the wall.

   • Fly balls even if tipped/touched by a fielder off the wall or over the wall on a fly will remain Triples and Home Runs.

   • Baserunners advance one base on singles, two bases on doubles, three bases on triples, and everyone including the batter scores on a home run.

2. Tagging Up And Double Plays:

   • There are no Tag up or Double play rules for this tournament.

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, 10 runs at the end of 2 innings to call the game.

4. Umpires: Fair and foul ball calls are the responsibility of the batter. Rulings on singles, doubles, triples, home runs, groundouts, flyouts and errors are the responsibility of the fielder closest to the ball/play. Check swings and strikes are the responsibility of the pitcher to call out. Tournament officials/director will settle disputes on calls. Any disputes over game outcomes will be handled by the tournament director, whose decision is final.

5. Tournament Structure: Each team will play 3 pool play games to decide seeding for bracket play. The top 6 teams will be seeded into a single elimination bracket, with the top 2 seeds getting a bye. There will be quarter-final matchups, the winners of those two games will play in semi-finals matchups, then the winners of those two games will play in the championship game. The championship game will be 5 innings long. The 1 and 2 seed will get byes. The winner of the 5 and 6 seed game will play the #1 seed. The winner of the 3 and 4 seed game will play the #2 seed. The tournament director will randomly decide the pool play matchups before the start of the tournament. Teams are seeded in this order of tiebreakers: W-L record, matchups, Home Run Derby. In a tie breaker HR Derby each team will select one hitter and one pitcher from their team. Each hitter will have three swings. Whoever hits more home runs wins.

6.  More Miscellaneous: A bat toss before the start of the game will determine the home team. The two captains/managers of each team will take turns placing their hands on top of the others until one player must place their hand on the knob/top of the bat. That player may now call home or away. The batter is responsible for calling out the situation with the runners and outs before he steps in for the first pitch of each at bat. New pitchers get five warm up pitches before the start of the game or when coming into the game for the first time. All pitchers get three warm up pitches before the start of the second and all subsequent innings.

7. 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.

HR Derby and All Star Game: The HR derby and ASG will be a part of this year's Wiffle By The Water Friday Night Meet and Greet! The HR derby and ASG is open to all players at the tournament. For the HR Derby, every player will have one minute (60 seconds) to hit as many HR’s as possible. The top 3 players with the most homers will advance to the championship round. If there are any ties necessary to be broken, the players in the tie will get 30 more seconds to hit as many Home runs as they can. Any ball pitched before the timer runs out is live, after that final live ball is pitched, the round is over. The player with the most Home runs will win the tiebreaker. The All star game will have the same rules as any pool play game, except it will be 5 innings long. Teams will be picked at random before by the tournament director.