Tournament Rules

Rosters:

· Teams are made up of 3 to 6 players. A minimum of 3 players (counting the pitcher) take the field.

· If you play the field you must bat.

· You can have an 2 extra hitters that do not play the field but bat.

· No more than 3 fielders (counting the pitcher)

· No more than 5 batters (including your designated hitters)

· If you have more than 5 on the roster you can substitute as desired, but there is no re-entry (unless an injury occurs)

Game Duration:

· All games will be 5 innings long.

· 2 outs per side

· 3 strikes is a strike out, 4 balls is a walk.

· Foul tips on 3rd strike that hits in the strike zone is an out, a foul on a third strike that doesn't go into the strike zone is just a foul ball.

· If a team is ahead by 15 or more runs at the conclusion of the 3rd inning, the game is called.

· If a team is ahead by 10 or more runs at the conclusion of the 4th inning, the game is called.

· If a game is tied after 5 innings, the 6th inning starts with the bases loaded for each team.

Field:

· Left Field and Right Field foul pole will be 85' to 100' from home plate.

· Center field will be no further than 120' from home plate.

· The pitching mound will be 40' away from home plate.

· The strike zone will be 3' from the plate. It will be 12" off the ground. 32" high and 32" wide.

· There will be lines marked for singles (at 40') and doubles (at 60') and there will be a line marked 10' in front of the plate that is the start of the singles area (to eliminate bunts and swinging bunts). Ball must cross that 10' marker to be considered fair, balls stopping short of the 10' line are foul and will count as one strike.

· Balls fielded cleanly after the foul line and before the singles line will be ruled as ground ball outs.

Equipment:

· Only official WIFFLE balls will be allowed. They will be supplied. Balls may be scuffed.

· Balls will be provided for each game, if the ball becomes damaged, cracked or broken a different ball will be used, and the damaged ball will be thrown out.

· A ball is considered cracked if a crack is greater than 1/4"

· Bats may be altered, but can be no greater than 2 3/4" in diameter.

· Appropriate footwear is required, no spikes.

· You can not use a glove in the field, you can wear batting gloves if desired while you are at the plate but not in the field.

· If you want team shirts or uniforms that is ok, and up to you.

· Any hats worn in the field can not be used to catch a ball, you can not trap a ball in your shirt either.

Game Play:

· A maximum of 3 players will take the field counting the pitcher.

· A maximum of 5 players will be in the batting order, if you play the field you must hit.

· There is no base running, all of the base runners will be imaginary. All base runners will move the same amount of bases as the ball hit in play ex. runner on 2nd, and a single is hit, runner moves up one base. That puts runners on 1st and 3rd.

· All balls hit in play that come to rest after the first line but before the singles line will be considered a hit. Any ball that comes to rest on the ground after the singles line but before the doubles line will be considered singles. Any ball hit in the air into the field of play that come to rest after the doubles line is considered a double. Any ball that goes over the outfield fence in fair territory will be considered a home run.

· Outs are recorded by:

o 3 Strikes

o Catching a fly ball in the air before it touches the ground or any fencing

o A ball being fielded cleanly with your hands and scooped from the ground before it reaches the singles line (no kicking it with feet, or stopping it with your hands while still on the ground – those balls will be considered fair and into the next base hit area if it’s before the singles line those hits must be ruled a single). Basically field the ball cleanly, you can bobble or juggle but the ball can not touch the ground.

· There is no infield fly rule.

· Any ball that hits a batter is considered a ball, there is no taking your base on a hit by pitch.

· If the batter reaches out to stop a ball with their hand, or any other body part without swinging at it, or before it hits the strikezone/backstop that pitch is automatically ruled a strike. You don't know what the pitcher wants the ball to do, so don't touch it until it's hit, or it hits the backstop.

· The pitcher can have 10 warm up pitches before the start of the game if desired. And can have up to 5 between innings if desired. If a pitching change is made in the middle of an inning a pitcher gets 7 warm up pitches. If a pitching change is made between innings, the incoming pitcher gets the 5 warm up pitches.

· The pitcher must start the pitching motion from the pitching box. Normal pitching motion, no running starts. Keep one foot on or close to the box in a normal manner.

· There are no balks.

Miscellaneous:

· A coin flip between one player from each team (does not need to be a captain) will determine who will be the home team in every game.

· It's a call your own fair and foul balls, and those will be called by the team playing the field. We're going on the honor system. Any call that can not be resolved through those means, ask a tournament official to make a ruling (but this should really be a last resort.)

· Any check swing call is the responsibility of the pitcher, you must break the plane to be considered a strike on a check swing.

· Batter interference (reaching out and grabbing a ball before it gets to the backstop, or leaning into a pitch to have a hit batter, etc) will be the call of the pitcher.

· If the batter swings and it hits his hands and should be ruled a foul is the call of the batter.

· There are no restrictions on pitching speed, a pitcher can throw as fast or as slow as he/she likes.

· Players can only be on the roster of one team.

· At the end of the inning the ball can be kept by the pitcher. The ball can continue to be used as long as they like as long as it is not cracked or broken.

· A pitcher can use only one ball while pitching. It should be the responsibility of the team in the field to return the ball to the pitcher.