Matthew Austin Memorial Tournament 2016 Official Rules (8U, 9U, 10U, 11U, 12U 50/70 Divisions)

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1 Matthew Austin Memorial Tournament 2016 Official Rules (8U, 9U, 10U, 11U, 12U 50/70 Divisions) I. Premises/Facilities A. NO DOGS or other PETS are allowed on the premises. B. NO TOBACCO of any kind is allowed on the premises. C. NO ALCOHOL of any kind is allowed on the premises. D. NO SKATE BOARDS, SCOOTERS or BICYCLES will be allowed on the premises. E. Batting cages may be used on a first come first serve basis. F. Teams listed to play the next round of games shall have priority on use of the batting cages. Teams listed to play on fields 3-6 are to use the cages on the West side of the complex. Teams listed to play on fields 1 & 2 are to use the batting cages on the East side of the complex. G. Teams shall be limited to 30 minutes in the batting cages while teams are waiting. H. If time permits, teams may warm-up in the outfield grass prior to their game. I. No formal infield or outfield warm-up is allowed on any field. J. No soft-toss (baseballs or whiffle balls) will be allowed into any fence on the premises. K. No batting or fielding practice on empty fields. L. No warm-up throwing or other skills will be allowed between the bleachers or behind the dugouts. M. There is to be NO PARKING on the West side of the complex. Your vehicle will be ticketed by the city. N. 30 minutes after the end of the last game of the day, no one other than tournament officials are allowed on the fields. II. Tournament Hosts A. The Matthew Austin Memorial Tournament is being hosted by the Matthew Austin Memorial Fund and is not affiliated with Pasco Little League or Little League Inc. in any fashion although references to Little League rules may be mentioned below. B. The Matthew Austin Memorial Tournament is a NOT-FOR PROFIT Tournament and all proceeds and donations will go to Pediatric Brain Tumor/Cancer Research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA. 1

2 III. IV. Tournament Rules A. Playing rules not specifically covered in this document shall follow the current year Little League rule book. B. All References to Little League rules are to the current year baseball official regulations and playing rules for Little League baseball. C. 50/70 Rules will follow the Official Little League Rules The Game The umpires will be instructed to keep the games moving by allowing/enforcing the following: A. The manager or a coach may warm up pitchers between innings. B. Pitcher and catcher are not to be involved in any team huddle between innings. C. A pitcher returning to the mound in consecutive innings shall take no more than 5 warm-up pitches or consume no more than 90 seconds. D. A substitute pitcher that was previously on the field shall take no more than 8 pitches or consume no more than 2 minutes to warm-up. E. A substitute pitcher that was previously in the dugout or substituted between innings shall take no more than 5 pitches to warm-up or consume no more than 90 seconds to warm-up. The pitcher should have warmed up on the sideline. F. Visits to the mound will be limited to 20 seconds after the manager/coach reaches the mound. If the manager does not hustle to the mound the count will begin when the manager leaves the dugout. G. One offensive timeout per inning will be allowed. The umpire will limit time outs by the offense to 20 seconds. H. Only one batter will be permitted outside the dugout between innings to warm up. No hitting aids (hit sticks, soft toss, etc.) are permitted between innings. I. NO ON DECK BATTERS ARE PERMITTED. J. If the umpire feels that any coach is intentionally delaying the game, the umpire will set up behind the plate and say play and start calling balls or strikes depending on the offending team. After each called pitch, the umpire will wait 20 seconds and call the next ball or strike. K. If the defense does not resume play after one batter, base runners will be awarded one base per ball called. If the offense does not resume play after one batter, the next two batters in the line-up will be declared out and a new inning will be started. 2

3 V. Ending Games Games shall end according to Little League Rule 4.11, on page 60 of the Little League Rules with the following exceptions. A. 10 Run Rule 1. If the home team has a 10-run lead any time after 3-1/2 innings, or the visitor is ahead by 10-runs any time after four completed innings, the game shall be terminated. 2. The 10-run rule will be waived during the Championship games; however, the coach of the team losing by 10 or more runs has the option to concede the game any time after four complete innings. B. Extra-Inning Games 1. If the game is tied at the end of six innings and the time limit described in section C below has not been reached, extra innings shall be played until the time limit is reached. 2. If the game is tied at the end of the last allowed completed inning the method defined in section VI below will be used. C. Time Limit Exceptions 1. Drop Dead Time limit is 1 hour and 55 minutes (115 minutes) 2. No new inning may begin after 1 hour and 40 minutes (100 minutes). 3. All games shall be stopped at the end of a complete inning. 4. There will be NO time limit for the Semi-final or Championship games. D. Tournament Officials Exception 1. A game shall be ruled official and complete if it is called by umpires or tournament officials due to darkness, inclement weather or other reasons beyond the control of the tournament officials provided that four (4) innings have been completed. 2. If four innings have not been completed, the game shall be suspended and resumed from the point of interruption when safe play can be resumed. 3. In the case of inclement weather, the tournament official may reschedule from pool play to elimination rounds to complete the tournament with a champion and provide as many games as possible. VI. Declaring the Winner of a Game A. In the case of a tie after the time limit is reached and the inning has completed, the score at the end of the preceding completed innings will determine the winner. B. If no winner can be decided by the preceding innings (score was tied at the end of all completed innings), a coin flip will decide the winner. The score of the last completed inning will be listed for purposes of pool seeding. 3

4 C. If no team has scored at the time limit, a coin flip will decide the winner. VII. VIII. IX. Bracketing Seeding The following will be used to seed teams for bracket play. A. Seeding 1. Win-Loss record will be used to seed teams from pool play. 2. The Tie Break formula described in sections B or C will be used in the event of a tie. B. Seeding Tie Breaker for Two (2) Teams The following tie break formula will be used to determine the higher (better) seeded team after pool play when two (2) teams are tied in win-loss comparison. 1. Head-to-head. 2. Fewest runs allowed 3. Fewest runs scored 4. Coin toss. C. Seeding Tie Breaker for Three (3) or More Teams 1. Head-to-head record between the tied teams. (If one team beat all other teams involved in tie) 2. Fewest runs allowed in games involving tied teams. 3. Sum of run differential for games involving tied teams. 4. Fewest runs allowed in all games played. 5. Sum of run differential for all games played. Personnel and Dugout A. Only players in the game line-up and maximum of 3 coaches are allowed in dugout during the game. B. No bat boys or girls or siblings are allowed in the dugout or warm-up area. C. There is no on-deck circle and no players or coaches are permitted in the fenced areas next to dugout on Fields 3 through 6 during play. D. Dugout gate must be closed during play. E. Home and Away dugouts (not home team) will be designated on the tournament schedule. Home dugouts are the 3 rd base side and Away dugouts are on the 1 st base side. F. A coin flip will still be used to determine Home team during pool play or if the seeds are equal during elimination play. Substitutions A. Free substitution will be in effect for the duration of the tournament. B. If a player is removed from the field due to injury, the player may not play until the next scheduled game and will be removed from the line-up without penalty. 4

5 C. All players are required to play a minimum of one inning in the field and must be in the batting line-up. Players not in the line-up will not be permitted to participate in the game. D. Each player must be on the field for an entire inning consisting of 3 consecutive outs prior to the end of a game. If a player takes the field for the first time during the last part of an inning where the home team takes the lead to win or the time limit expires; the player has not played a full inning, the game will be forfeited. E. A courtesy runner for the catcher is permitted with two outs. The courtesy runner must be the player who was last put out. If a courtesy runner is used for the catcher and that player does not play the position of catcher the following inning, any run scored by that courtesy runner will not be counted. F. No other courtesy runners are allowed. X. Pitching A. Pitchers are limited to pitching 3 innings per game. B. Pitchers are limited to pitching 6 innings per day. C. Pitchers are limited to pitching 9 innings per tournament. D. Once a pitcher is removed from the mound, the player may not re-enter as a pitcher. A pitcher must be removed from the mound upon the 2 nd visit by the coach/manager. If a coach calls time to confer with another player and crosses the foul line, this is considered a trip to the mound for that inning. E. Violation of the pitching rules will result in forfeiture of the game. F. Pitchers may re-enter the game at the position of catcher. G. No limitations will be placed on catchers who are eligible to pitch. XI. Batting A. Teams will bat their entire line-up (continuous batting order/cbo). B. If, for some reason, a player is unable to bat, the player will be removed from the line-up for the remainder of the game and may not play until the next scheduled game. The vacancy spot will not be counted as an out. C. Slug bunts are not allowed. The batter shall be called out if he turns to bunt and then proceeds to take a full swing. The batter may show bunt and not swing. D. A player judged by the umpire as throwing the bat in an unsafe manner will be warned. Repeat offenders maybe removed from the game at the judgment of the umpire. Throwing the bat is not an automatic out. E. If a player is injured while at bat and is to remain at the plate, but cannot continue; the at bat will be completed by the player who was last put out. 1. The count will be continued. 2. All activities that occurred during the at bat will be counted. 5

6 F. Advancing on dropped 3 rd strike (according to Little League Inc. rules) will be permitted in all divisions. XII. XIII. Base Running A. Lead-offs are not permitted. B. Head-first slides into a base are not allowed and the runner will be called OUT without warning. C. Runners may dive head-first when returning to base. D. If at any time a runner leaves his feet to avoid a tag, it is an automatic out. E. If a runner attempting to reach any base intentionally, violently or maliciously runs into a defensive player, or in the judgment of the umpire does not try to avoid contact with the defensive player, in the area of the base, he will be called out and ejected from the game. Other base runners will return to the base last touched at the time of the collision. This is a judgment call by the umpire and the umpire s call is FINAL! F. Runners attempting to reach first base must use the orange half of the safety base on a play at the base. If the runner rounds first base or continues to second, the runner may hit the white portion of first base. G. When a pitcher is on the mound in contact with the pitching rubber, and in possession of the ball, and the catcher is behind the plate and in the position to receive the pitch, base runners are not allowed to leave the base until the ball has been delivered and is across the plate. H. At any time the pitcher is not on the rubber and the catcher is not down and ready to receive the pitch and time has not been called by the umpire, players may run at their own risk. I. An intentional walk may be executed by announcement from the manager or catcher. Four pitches are not required to advance the batter. Umpires A. The umpires will settle all disputes on the field. B. Protests will be allowed for pitching and line-up violations only. C. Protests must be declared and settled by the Umpire-in-Chief before the next pitch is delivered. D. No protests will be allowed following the game. E. The Tournament Director(s) and Umpire-in-Chief will rule on all protests and their decisions are final! F. Game results, pitching records and umpire evaluation are required to be turned in after each game at the concession stand. Failure to turn these in may result in forfeit of the game. 6

7 G. We request your support by asking both teams to complete the Umpire Evaluation on the Game Record prior to signing and submitting the Game Record. XIV. XV. Sportsmanship A. All players, coaches and fans will be expected to conduct themselves in a sportsmanlike manner at all times. B. Razzing, heckling, taunting and making disparaging remarks to the opposing team, opposing fans, your own team or fans, or umpires will not be tolerated. C. Any player, coach or fan whose conduct is unbecoming or abusive will, at a minimum, be removed from the premises at the discretion of the Tournament Director(s), Tournament Officials, Umpire-in-Chief or Umpires of the game in question. D. Any individual ejected from a game will not be allowed to return to vicinity of the game he/she was ejected. The individual may return to the next scheduled game. E. If the same individual is ejected a second time, the individual will be suspended from the property for the remainder of the tournament. F. If the individual does not willingly comply with the ejection process, the team will forfeit the game and possibly be asked to leave the tournament. Equipment A. Bats: 1. Bat must be round (no flat spots) and 2 ¼ inch diameter. 2. Bats must be 33 inches or less in length. 3. Non-wood bats must be stamped with BPF All composite barrel bats must be listed on the following website to be permitted in the tournament: m 5. It is the responsibility of the team using the bat to show that it is a legal bat according to Little League Inc. rules. 6. If the batter enters the batter s box with one or both feet entirely on the ground with an illegal bat or is discovered having used an illegal bat prior to the next player entering the batter s box the batter will be declared out. B. No metal spikes are allowed. Cleats must be molded rubber or plastic. C. Helmets: 1. A full use batting helmet that covers the top and back of the head and the side of the face must be worn while at bat and while on bases. 7

8 2. Players may not intentionally remove their helmet at any time. D. Catcher s Gear: 1. The catcher must wear all appropriate protective gear, which includes a protective helmet/mask that fully covers both ears; chest protector, shin guards, protective cup and throat guard attached to helmet/mask for all helmets. E. Equipment may not be thrown at any time. If at any time the umpire feels a player or coach intentionally throws equipment or endangers other players or coaches the player or coach may be ejected from the game. F. Each team is required to provide ten baseballs for the tournament. At the start of each game, each team will contribute one ball for that game. XVI. XVII. Tournament Divisions A. Tournament divisions are 8U, 9U, 10U, 11U and 12U. Divisions will be set by the date of birth as of April 30 th of the current year. B. Players wishing to play up an age division are allowed, but players may not play down in a younger age division. C. Birth Certificates must be made available upon request. D. A team roster shall be submitted to the Tournament Director prior to the team s first game. E. No player may be added to a team s roster after your roster has been submitted without permission from the Tournament Director(s). 12U Division 50/70 Rules A. Lead offs are permitted. B. Players must play at least 6 consecutive outs and one at bat per game. C. Tournament game may consist of seven (7) innings. D. Field 3 (located on the Northeast corner of complex) is set up for 50 foot pitching and 70 foot base paths. E. Pitch counts will follow the Official Little League Rules. 8