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Rules 7 year old

The Machine Pitch league is instructional baseball. The purpose of this program is to teach participants the fundamental skills needed to play baseball and start to learn good sportsmanship.  During league play there will be no keeping of score other than to determine when the run limit and or 3 outs have been recorded.  The league and coaches will not be required to keep track of wins and losses.

Regular Baseball Rules Apply Except as Noted Below

Eligibility - to play in the 7 year old league is determined by the player's age as of April 30th of the year. A player is eligible to play at grade level as long as they are not playing with younger children.

The Field of Play - Base distance shall be 40 foot base paths. The front legs of the pitching machine will be placed at 38 feet. A 10 foot in diameter circle is to drawn around the pitching machine. Any batted ball hitting the pitching machine is dead and the hitter is awarded first base. All runners advance one base. Fair Ball Arc - There will be a 10 foot arc drawn from 1st baseline to 3rd baseline in front of home plate. A ball must go past this line to be fair.

Pitching Machine - Both teams will use the same, league-issued pitching machine, agreed-upon by the two coaches, for the duration of a game, with one agreed-upon speed, within the range of 25-30 mph.

Defensive Players - There shall be 10 defensive players in the field at a time. During league play, all players are to play a minimum of 3 defensive innings. The player playing the "pitcher" position must be positioned within 5 feet of the pitchers circle before the ball is put into play. This player is not to interfere with the coach pitching. There is to be 4 outfielders (Right, Right Center , Left Center and Left field). Outfielders must be at least 20 feet beyond the infield baseline at the beginning of each play. A catcher must have a mask and chest protector on when behind home plate. At no time is a coach to place more than 10 players in the field at a time.

Offensive Players - All players shall be eligible to bat. A late arrival is put at the end of the batting order. The batting order is to be given to the opposing coach and is to remain the same unless a player leaves the game.

Change of Inning - An inning shall end after one of the following has occurred, which ever comes first, 5 runs have been scored or three outs have been recorded.

Game Length - A complete game shall consist of 6 innings or 1 &1/2 hours.

Batting - All players shall be pitched by a coach from their team using the agreed-upon pitching machine. Players have 5 attempts to put the baseball into play. If after 5 attempts the batter has not hit the ball, the batter is out.  At the discretion of the coaches/umpire, a poor pitch by the machine need not count toward the "5 attempts."

Time Out - Time shall be called when an INFIELD defensive player is attempting to throw the ball to the pitcher. Coaches are expected to teach cut off throws to the infield players which the infield will then throw the ball to the pitcher at which time the play is dead and all runners stop and the umpire will place all runners on the closest base.

Other Rules:

·       There is no leading off or stealing.

·       There is no infield fly rule.

·       There is to be 1st and 3rd base coaches only while their team is batting.

·       The defensive team may have a maximum of 2 coaches in the outfield. These coaches are not to interfere with the progress of the ball.

·       A player throwing a bat will be warned one time, the next occurrence of a thrown bat by the same player will result in an automatic out.