2017SALT LAKE INTERLEAGUE RULES

Salt Lake Interleague Baseball (SLIB) consists of the following leagues: Avenues, Catholic Youth, Central City, and South Salt Lake.

Preamble: The leagues of Salt Lake Interleague Baseball are recreational. The goal of the SLIB is to provide a , fun, and educational sports environment for players, coaches, umpires and parents. These rules are designed to encourage participation by all players in all games. Coaches should value player development and participation above winning.

SLIB uses the 2017 Cal Ripken Rulebook. The rules listed below supersede or augment that rulebook. Coaches may by mutual consent change these rules on a game-to-game basis except where noted below.

These Rules apply to all Interleague games:

Home teams occupy the third base .

LENGTH OF GAMES

All games are six except for Coach /T-ball games unless interrupted by rain, darkness or other circumstances.

Minors & Majors: no new shall begin after 1:40 (1 hour 40 minutes) as noted by the official scorekeeper. No Major game shall continue after 1:50 (1 hour 50 minutes) of play. If a game is not completed in less than 1 hour 50 minutes the final score will revert to the score at the end of the last completed inning.

Rookies/Machine Pitch: no new inning mark is reached 1:30 after the game starts, as noted by the official scorekeeper. If an inning starts before the time limit has elapsed, the inning shall continue. No game shall continue after 1:40 (1 hour 40 minutes) of play. If a game is not completed in less than 1:40, the final score will revert to the score at the end of the last completed inning.

PeeWees (Coach Pitch/T-ball), there is no official time limit. An hour or less is generally enough.

The start of the next inning is defined as the end of the previous inning. No game will be declared a tie unless an calls it for safety reasons or for darkness. Games are official when four innings have been completed (three and a half when the home team leads).

Home team is responsible for keeping the official scorebook and ensuring that the field is in playing shape. (The visiting team should help, if needed, to get things moving.)

In Rookie/Machine Pitch, the home team also is responsible for setting up the .

A game may start with 8 players in uniform within 10 minutes of the scheduled start time. Teams may have 10 players on the field defensively at all levels, including Majors, but four must be in the . Stacking the is not allowed in Peewees or Rookies (only , first, second, short, third and ).

For all divisions, teams will not be charged an automatic when playing with fewer than nine players.

The HOME team will present the umpire with two new game balls, to be returned at the end of the game.

EQUIPMENT No metal cleats.

Bats can be no more than 33 inches long and 2 ¼" inches in diameter. Bat must comply with current Cal Ripken standards. For the 2017 season that means that bats must have a BPF (Bat Performance Factor) of no more than 1.15. Wood 2 ¼" barrel bats are allowed. If any bat cannot be clearly identified for its make and model to determine the barrel composition, then the bat should be removed from the game. Coaches knowingly allowing players to use illegal bats may be suspended.

PLAYERS

All players must be included in the order. Late arrivals can be added to the bottom. Except for certain pitching situations, there is free substitution defensively, although all players remain in their original positions in the . Coaches are encouraged to “sit” players evenly. For example, on a team with twelve players - each and every player should sit out for a inning. Coaches are also encouraged to assign players to the infield and outfield evenly. Our goal is to encourage a love for baseball and grow the pool of players from year to year.

Revisions 08-14-17 Pitching

Each pitcher is allowed a maximum of 6 innings per week of pitching (Sunday through Saturday). Coaches should monitor players who play in multiple leagues. Innings pitched in alternate leagues do against the weekly maximum. A single pitch in an inning is considered 1 inning. Any pitcher who throws more than 2 innings on a given day must have two complete days off before pitching again. (For example: A pitcher who throws 3 innings on Monday cannot pitch again until Thursday, and has 3 innings left for that week).

Pitchers get 8 warm-up pitches between innings. Players who warm-up pitches must wear a mask and a cup.

Major and Minor are allowed to pitch a maximum of three innings per game.

Rookie/Machine Pitch a maximum of 7 balls thrown for a batter with the exception of a foul on the 7th pitch in which case that pitch may be re-thrown with strikes counting. A player is out after three strikes unless the third strike is a foul. The first two fouls will count as strikes.

Rookie/Machine Pitch – Only one player is allowed in the pitcher position in the game at any time. There may never be two players in the pitcher position.

No except for Major games played on the 70ft base paths. Umpire should take the opportunity to offer instruction to the pitchers balking. Runner should only be given a base on if the balk actually affects the game. For all other divisions and Majors played on 60 ft. base paths, umpires should not tell pitchers that they are balking and runners are never given a base on a balk.

Majors (and only Majors) will be playing with a dropped/uncaught third strike rule. The batter becomes a runner when the third strike called by an umpire is not caught, providing (1) first base is unoccupied or (2) first base is occupied with two outs. A batter who does not realize his/her situation on a dropped/uncaught third strike and who is not in the process of running to first base shall be declared out once he/she begins directional movement toward their dugout. Umpire discretion on this will not be brought into question.

GAME RULES

No stealing in Rookie/Machine Pitch, even on passed balls. Stealing is allowed at other levels, but runners may leave their bases only after the pitch crosses the plate. Leadoffs are not allowed. A player leading off must return to his original base. If a player is caught leading off - umpires will issue one warning; a second offense will result in an automatic out. Leadoffs are allowed for Majors 70ft base paths.

For Minors and Majors, players can steal any bases on passed balls for the entire Fall season. This rule may be augmented with the agreement of both coaches before the beginning of the game. The umpire must be informed of the decision to steal on passed balls.

At all levels, if the base runner intentionally runs into a defensive player for the sole purpose of dislodging the ball from the defensive player, the base runner shall be called out immediately. Cal Ripken contact rule will be applied at the umpire’s discursion. Players must at home plate when a play is possible. Failure to slide will result in an out.

The will only be applied to Majors games.

Maximum number of runs per inning is 6 for all divisions. There is no mercy rule. Teams are to continue to play until they complete six innings or reach the time limit. The max runs per inning still applies in all innings. When a team is ahead by a large amount it a good time to give inexperienced kids a chance to try skill positions like Pitcher, Catcher and 1st Base.

Sliding into any base must be done feet first unless returning to first, second, or third. Not following this rule will result in the umpire issuing a team warning. After the warning all further players breaking this rule will be called out.

Rookie/Machine Pitch batters are allowed to advance to second base if the ball is into the outfield. Rookie/Machine Pitch batters may only advance to first base if the ball remains in the infield. Rookie/Machine Pitch players may not advance past the next base once the ball has reached the infield. Any player that is past a base when the ball enters the infield may advance to the next base only. Rookie/Machine Pitch batters that hit the ball beyond the fence are entitled to a home .

Revisions 08-14-17