8U Coach Pitch
"COACH PITCH RULE SET”
LENGTH OF GAME:
· Is up to the tournament director, however; the recommendation is 55 minutes for pool games and 60 minutes for bracket games or seven (7) innings.
RUNS ALLOWED PER INNING:
· Five (5) runs per half inning maximum. After five runs the teams will switch from offense to defense.
RUN RULE:
· 12 runs after 4 innings
· 10 runs after 5 innings
· If time has expired and either team is behind and cannot catch up or go ahead, the game is over immediately.
PITCHES:
· Each batter allowed 5 pitches or 3 missed swings.
BALLS:
· No balls will be called.
FOUL BALLS:
· Foul balls are counted for swings, except on last pitch
LAST PITCH FOUL:
· Unlimited last pitch foul balls
NO bunting, slapping, stealing or slashing will be allowed
WALKS:
· There will be no base on balls (walk) awarded, including intentional walks.
INFIELD FLY RULE:
· There will be “NO” Infield Fly Rule.
BALL TYPE:
· Balls must be 11”diameter with .47 C.O.R. and .375 compression. Color and stitching are optional, as long as all the balls are the same in color for any one game.
BATTED BALL:
· Batted Ball hits pitching coach, is dead ball and declared no pitch, unless intentionally interfered with by coach. Then interference rules apply. All runners return to base.
BATTERS:
· Teams may bat the minimum of nine players / up to their entire roster, however; in the event of injury and no substitute player is available – the team will take an out for that place in the batting order. In other words, the batting order will not collapse. The batting line-up also cannot increase, it must stay the same throughout the entire sequence at bat for the game.
· If a team chooses the lesser number of players than the entire roster, substitutions may be made freely, as this is a fundamental building game, however; if they substitute batters those substitutions must remain in the same spot of the batting order. (Ex. A player may not be substituted in the #3 spot, pulled from the game and then substituted in the #6 spot. They must remain in the #3 spot, if they are substituted for again.)
PITCHING DISTANCE:
· 35’ foot
BASE DISTANCE:
· Bases will be set at 60 feet
DEFINITION OF A LIVE BALL:
· A “live ball” begins with a batted ball and continues with all defensive efforts until the umpire declares “time” or “dead ball”. Runners may only advance during a live ball.
PITCHING ITEMS:
· Coach pitches to their own team.
· The Coach-Pitcher must keep both feet inside the pitching circle and have one foot in contact with the pitching rubber at all times until the point of release. Also the Coach-Pitcher will use a straight ahead pitching approach. They also must stay within the boundaries of the 24” pitching rubber. To clarify, the Coach-Pitcher may not pitch from either side of the pitching rubber so as to gain the advantage of a directional hit.
o PENALTY:If at any time prior to release of the ball, the Coach- Pitcher steps outside of the pitching circle or is outside the imaginary 24 inch pitching rubber boundaries, or throws a pitch without a foot in contact with the pitching rubber, a strike will be called on the batter.
· The Coach-Pitcher cannot “coach” the batters from the mound. Coach-Pitchers are allowed to speak to the batters prior to them entering the batters box. Once these players have entered the box they are no longer allowed to speak to the hitters with such statements as “swing, run, go, no, slide, etc.”
o PENALTY:
§ First offense: Coach-Pitcher is warned and a strike is added to the batter. If this is the third strike – the batter is out.
§ Second offense: The batter is immediately called out.
BASE RUNNING:
· While the ball is in play, all runners are free to advance at their own risk. Play is stopped on defense by stopping the lead runner. Once the lead runner has been stopped, the ball is no longer in play, the ball is thrown to the pitcher’s circle and no runner may advance.
o Example #1: Runner “A” is at 2nd base when the batter (Runner “B”) hits the ball. Runner “A” then runs and reaches third base safely, while the ball is fielded and is thrown to the 3rd baseman that now possesses the ball and is capable of tagging Runner “A” out if she was to attempt to advance. The Umpire declares play stopped. The ball is then thrown to the pitching circle and Runner “B” is halted at 1st base.
o Example #2: Using the same scenario as Example #1, Runner “A” is at 2nd base when the batter (Runner “B”) hits the ball. Runner “A” however is tagged out prior to reaching 3rd base. In this scenario, the ball is not dead, but rather Runner “B” would now become the lead runner and may continue to advance at her own risk until she is declared out or her progress is stopped by the defense, resulting in the umpire stopping play and the ball being thrown to the pitching circle.
LEADING OFF:
· Girls can leave the base when the ball is released. Runners must return to the bag they obtained their lead from when the ball is thrown back into the pitching circle. Again, there is NO stealing.
· Runners leaving the base prior to the ball being released:
o Each team will receive one warning from the umpire
o Runners leaving early after the warning will be called out by the umpire.
DEFENSE:
· There will be 10 defensive players allowed on the field.
THROWN BALL:
· Accidently hits pitching coach, it is a dead ball.
INTENTIONAL THROWN BALL INTERFERENCE:
· Intentional interference by coach, interference rules apply.
THROWER INTENTIONALLY HITS PITCHING COACH:
· If the umpire determines the ball was intentionally thrown at the coach, play is stopped, the ball is dead.
OVERTHROW RULE:
· The overthrow rule is NOT in effect. All balls are live play until the pitcher has control of the ball in the outer circle; runners can continue to run until this time.
· No back picking will be allowed in this division.
DEFENSIVE COACHES:
· Two coaches can stand in the outfield in fouled ball area only, one on each side. (Left side and right side)
PROTESTS:
· All umpire judgment calls are final………… “NO” protests allowed.