Decatur County  Family YMCA T-Ball

3/5 DIVISION RULES

SPORTSMANSHIP

  1. Abusive language or actions by a coach, player, or spectator will not be tolerated. Respect is expected by all parties to teammates, coaches, opposing team, referees and spectators. The guilty party will have to leave the area of play. Referees may suspend play until the person leaves.
  2. All games will end with teams and coaches shaking hands.

 EQUIPMENT

  • Soft baseball
  • Each player receives a YMCA jersey and MLB Replica Hat. It should be worn at all games.
  • Baseball gloves are required
  • Rubber cleat BASEBALL shoes are recommended but not required. NO METAL CLEATS. No cleats in the YMCA if there is rain.

GAME DURATION

 

  • Games are 5 innings or 60 minutes whichever comes first. The last inning must start before the 50 minute mark. Otherwise game will end.

SCORING

 

  • No score kept for this game.
  • No run limit

NUMBER OF PLAYERS

 

  • A maximum of six players may be in the infield. There is no limit on players in the outfield.
  • Coaches of the defensive team will be permitted to station themselves in the outfield area. At no time can they physically participate (touch a player or the ball) while the ball is in play. Coaches of the offensive team may stand at each base. A coach or the home plate umpire will adjust the tee. At no time may the offensive coach enter the field during the play or physically participate.

FIELD DIMENSIONS

  • The base distance will be approximately 45 ft.
  • A box will be painted on the 1st and 3rd base sides. These boxes will serve as the “dugouts” for the teams. When your team is up to bat all players not currently batting must remain inside the “dugout.”
  • A circle will be painted near each “dugout”, this will serve as the “on deck” circle. Players are not allowed in the circle, even if they are next in the order, the “on deck” circle is for helmets and bats only. We have found that this will keep the players from swinging the bats around blindly and helps to make the fields a lot safer.
  • A semi-circle of approximately 10 feet in radius will be drawn on the field. If the ball does not go past this line, the ball will be considered foul and the batter will try again.

BATTING

  • The ball is hit off a tee located at home plate.
  • The tee must be set up lower than the batter’s waist.
  • Batter may not swing at the ball until the umpire says “batter up”.
  • All batters must wear a helmet and they must keep it on the entire time that they are running the bases.
  • A ten-foot arc will be drawn in front of home plate, and the ball must be hit out of this arc before it becomes a fair ball.
  • After hitting a fair ball, the batter must attempt to lay the bat down.

Batting Order

 

  • Each half inning will end once a team bats through their whole line up. Once the last batter in the batting order hits and play has stopped, the inning will end.
  • All team members present at the game shall be in the batting rotation and bat continuously in that order (it is permissible to reverse the order every other at bat.)

Base Running

 

  • Players are not permitted to steal or lead off bases.
  • When a ball is over thrown, play is stopped. No runners can advance.
  • If a player is called out at a base, he or she may stay on base.

FIELDING

  • No player may block the base path.
  • Every player must play at least one inning in the infield.
  • All players must begin play behind the pitchers mound
  • Play is stopped and the ball is dead when one of the following occurs:
    1. Any attempted throw by an outfielder to home plate or to an infielder who holds the ball in the air to stop the play
    2. On a throw by an infielder to 1st base, whether the ball is caught at 1st base or not (this rule is to emphasize the fundamental of throwing to first without punishing the kids for a bad throw or catch).