Baseball Intermediate 7 Rules

Intermediate 7 Baseball Rules of Conduct

  1. Teaching and enforcing good sportsmanship and abiding by the motto "FUN, FRIENDSHIP and FUNDAMENTALS" MUST be the primary goal of ALL coaches.
  2. All coaches must take the responsibility for controlling the behavior of his/her players, as well as the parents and fans. This extends to the display of good sportsmanship by coaches and players immediately after the game through post-game handshakes.
  3. Players and coaches are not permitted behind the backstop while the game is in progress.
  4. Derisive comments (i.e. "jockeying" and "heckling" of umpires and opposing players) is NOT permitted.
  5. Umpires may EJECT coaches and players for unsportsmanlike conduct.
  6. After one (1) warning, the umpire may ask a coach to remove an offending fan from the playing area (i.e. field and/or stands) or risk a FORFEIT.
  7. ALL decisions of the umpire are FINAL!! No protests or appeals are permitted.
  8. !!! At any time, a coach is removed from a game due to an ejection, the offending Coach will be suspended the next scheduled game.  If another incident occurs the coach will be removed from Coaching for the Season.  All cases will be reviewed by the Board to determine further actions!!!

Intermediate 7 Baseball Game Rules

  1. All players should be in uniform (consisting of a cap, jersey and pants). Male players MUST wear athletic supporters and cups. The catcher MUST wear a chest protector, mask, and shin guards. Each batter, on-deck batter, and base runner must wear a helmet. NO metal spikes or Jewelry are allowed. For safety reasons no player may wear jewelry of any kind.
  2. Players may be called up on a game-by-game basis only when a shortage of players is expected. The max number of call-ups is to make a roster of 10. A call-up player bats in rotation after all rostered players and may not play more innings on defense than rostered player. Call-up player cannot play defense in any innings in which an available rostered player is on the bench. The only position they are allowed to play is in the outfield and are not subject to the 2 innings max at one position rule. A call-up may only play for a team twice during the season. No call-ups are allowed in the playoffs unless approved by the league commissioner. If a team is unable to field enough players, the coaches must decide within 24 hours to find a mutually agreeable makeup date.  If the coaches cannot agree on a date, one will be set by the commissioner and decisions of the commissioner are final. 
  3. The bases are sixty (60) feet apart. For coach-pitch, the pitcher’s rubber is thirty-five (35) feet from home plate.
  4. Home team will occupy the 3rd base dugout or choose the right to pick dugout of choice. They provide 2 game balls, sets up the field, returns all equipment to the storage box after the game and returns the diamond to a clean condition which includes raking the batter’s box and pitcher’s mound area.
  5. If there is time, each team will have a 15-minute practice period on the field prior to the start of a game. The home team will have the 15 minutes beginning a 1/2 hour before the scheduled start of the game and the visiting team will have the last 15 minutes. These practice times may be reversed, but only if both coaches agree.
  6. If the league fails to provide an umpire for the game each team will provide an umpire. Each inning these umpires will rotate between home plate and the bases.
  7. Each player must sit out one inning on defense before any other player sits out two innings. Player positioning is determined by the coaches who must balance the goals of safety, teaching and winning. No player may play the same position for more than 2 innings TOTAL in any game. The spirit of this rule is to encourage rotation of all players to play all positions except when safety is a concern. This player positioning rule will reset after 6 innings, i.e. if a game enters extra innings, for the next 6 innings any player may be at any position for 2 innings and so on.
  8. Each player is included in the batting order and bats in turn even if he or she did not play the field the previous inning. Late players (arriving after the 1st pitch) are added to the end of the lineup.
  9. The teams are allowed free substitution on defense.
  10. Each team can field a maximum of 10 players. In addition to the 9 traditional positions a short center or mid fielder is allowed. The mid fielder plays 5 feet behind second base.
  11. Coaches are allowed to coach from the field of play by spreading out in the field preferably on each side of the field to work with the players when a play occurs.
  12. The infielders may not shift their defensive positions until the ball is hit. The outfielders must remain in the outfield (on the grass) and the pitcher must remain on the mound. It is the responsibility of both coaches to position their players to avoid collisions, i.e. out of the base paths, unless making a play. No defensive shifts are allowed, i.e. coaches may not shift their right fielder and second basemen to the left of second base in order to gain a defensive edge. It will be the umpire’s discretion when a ‘shift is on’.
  13. At the discretion of the umpire and after one warning the umpire may award the batter first base whenever the defensive team shifts illegally toward home plate.
  14. A minimum of 7 players are required to start a game and to continue the start of each inning. Teams unable to field the minimum number of players within 15 minutes of the scheduled game times are subject to forfeit. Teams with 9 players shall not be required to use a catcher.  

Baserunning Rules

  1. Plays within the infield: Play is stopped with no further advancement from any base runner when the ball crosses either foul line or a legitimate put out attempt is made at any base. If no put out attempt can be made, play will be stopped by the ball being returned to the mound area, with the mound area being a 10ft diameter circle around the pitching rubber. (Umpire's discretion)
  2. Balls returning from the outfield play will be stopped with no further advancement by any base runner when a fly ball is caught by the outfielder (no tag ups are allowed by any base runner) or the ball being returned crosses the infield dirt (i.e., the edge of the dirt infield or grass line), is controlled by an infielder , or an overthrow at 1st or 3rd base occurs with the ball crossing either foul line, or a legitimate put out attempt is made (no advancement on overthrow back into the outfield). Any base runners that are less than halfway to the next base when the ball is controlled, or a put-out attempt is made, shall return to the previous base. Base runners who are more than halfway advance to the next base. Umpires will use the visible edge of the infield dirt (where dirt meets outfield grass) to determine when the ball has 'crossed the infield dirt.' This is at umpire's discretion if field conditions vary.
  3. No leadoffs, stolen bases or advancing on wild pitches or passed balls are allowed. The infield fly rule will not be in effect.

Pitching Rules

  1. Only coaches are allowed to pitch. The coach pitches to his own team only and must stand (not kneeling) on the rubber and pitch with an OVERHEAD motion. No underhanded pitching is permitted.
  2. Coaches who are pitching MUST attempt to move off the field or out of the way so as not to interfere with the play. Coaches who pitch may not have any objects on the mound example being a bucket of balls. If a coach gets hit by a batted ball on pitcher’s mound, it is a no pitch, dead ball. Runners return to bases and batter returns to box with the same count.
  3. Each batter will have 6 pitches thrown to him or her. If the 6th pitch is fouled off, the player will be thrown subsequent pitches until one is either hit, swung and missed or taken without swinging (the latter constituting a strikeout). In other words, all pitches after a fouled 6th pitch must be swung at. Otherwise, the batter is out. Any dad/mom of players on the team can coach pitch.
  4. Kid Pitch Rules- N/A
  5. Three strikes constitute an out. Foul tips and foul balls are counted as first and second strikes but not as the third strike. There are no called balls or strikes.

Batting Rules

  1. For a bat to be legal it must be permanently marked “1.15 BPF” "USSSA” “USA”.  No softball or wooden bats can be used. No Bat Barrell size greater than 2 3/4" is allowed.  Any batter that enters the batter’s box with an illegal bat shall be called out immediately upon discovery (via appeal or umpire’s call). The batter may also be called out after his / her time at bat is complete so long as the illegal bat is discovered prior to the first pitch of the following batter. In this case the defense has the option of taking the penalty (an out) or the result of the play. If the penalty is taken, then all runners shall return to their original bases. 
  2. Bunting is not allowed, and a predetermined arc scribed from the third base line to the first base line approximately 5 feet from home plate will determine whether or not a ball is considered in play. The ball must travel beyond the arc to be considered in play and is a foul ball if it does not travel beyond the arc.
  3. On the first occurrence of a thrown bat the batter will be issued a warning. Each subsequent time that a player who has received a warning throws his or her bat, that player will be ruled out.

Game Length and Postgame

  1. Games are 6 innings long with the visiting team batting first. Extra innings to resolve ties will only be played during the playoffs. A team leading by more than 10 runs at the conclusion of the 5th inning will be declared the winner and the score is official at that point. (A decision can be declared after 4 ½ innings if the home team is winning by more than 10 runs at that time).  
  2. An inning ends with the end of play on the tenth (10th) batter that inning or three outs. The at bat team shall show two (2) outs for the inning when the tenth (10th) batter is announced unless there are already two (2) outs. “End of Play” on the tenth (10th) batter shall be interpreted to be when an out has been made on the tenth (10th) batter or on any base runner on base at the time the tenth (10th) batter bats; or when the umpire declares the play is over. (See Rule #15/#16 for dead ball/end of play) The at bat team must notify the umpire when the tenth (10th) batter comes to bat and the umpire shall notify the defensive team. The exception to this rule is in the last inning where either team may bat an unlimited number of batters until the 3rd out is made if they are losing at the time they’re at bat starts.  There are no maximum runs per inning in the playoffs. NOTE: If team is playing with 9 or less and the entire team has batted then the 10th batter will NOT be the leadoff hitter of that inning. The team will use the batter who made the first out of the inning. Example batter 5 made the first out of the inning then they would be in line to hit in the 10th spot to complete the inning.
  3. During the regular season, no new inning shall begin after 1 hour and 45 minutes from the first pitch of the game. Coaches and the umpire should agree on the exact starting time of the game. Between innings the teams must be prompt getting onto the field and limit the time warming up to maximize game time. Limit warm up pitches to 5, have catchers gear on promptly in order to start play. If a regular season game ends in a tie it stands as a tie.                                                                   If the game is the last game on the field for a given day, the game can be played until darkness or weather conditions do not permit further play, as ruled by the umpire.  There are no time limits on playoff games, they are played until a winner is declared.
  4. All games must be played as scheduled unless weather conditions interfere. Games may be postponed for reasons of weather or field conditions, if both coaches are in agreement. In the event of a disagreement the Commissioner or umpire will have final say. The Commissioner may determine that all games on a particular day will be canceled.  
  5. Lightning rule:  The 30-minute rule will be utilized when lightning is sited, or thunder is heard.   All on field activity shall be automatically suspended for a minimum of 30 minutes and participants shall seek appropriate shelter.  An assessment of conditions is to be made after the 30-minute wait period.  On field activity shall resume when it is determined that additional threatening weather is not imminent.  If lightning is sited or thunder after the 30-minute count, the 30-minute count shall be restarted.  Games are resumed at the point at which play was postponed.  If the game needs to be rescheduled, it will be resumed at the point at which play was postponed.
  6. Games called because of darkness or weather are official after 4 innings or after 3 ½ innings if the visiting team is ahead or the home team is ahead by more than 10 runs. Otherwise, coaches must agree on a makeup date.  Once a game has started, if it is postponed by inclement weather before it is an official game, it will be a suspended game and resumed from the point it stopped.
  7. CONCUSSION PROTOCOL FOR ESAA.  IF A PLAYER IS STRUCK IN THE HEAD IN ANY FASHION WHILE IN THE ACTIONS OF THE GAME OUR UMPIRES RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REMOVE THE AFFECTED PLAYER FOR THE REMAINDER OF THAT CONTEST. IT IS THE PARENTS OF THE AFFECTED PLAYER DECISION TO LET PLAYER RESUME PLAY AT THE NEXT SCHEDULED TEAM EVENT. 
  8. The winning team shall enter the results on the ESAABB.ORG website within 24 hours of completion. If for some reason that is not possible, call the Commissioner with the final score of the game within 24 hours of completion. Any game for which the score is not reported in a timely manner will be considered a tie. The standings during the regular season will be determined by winning percentage. These standings will be used to seed the teams for playoffs. If standings are tied, then tie breaker will be head-to-head wins/losses followed by total runs scored against the head-to-head opponent. If a tie is still present, then the commissioner will decide on solution.
  9. The championship game will be held at the annual picnic at Edgebrook Park, the time is TBD. RAIN DATE WILL BE THE FOLLOWING DAY. This will be a winner-take-all game. The home team will be the team coming out of the winner's bracket.