This league shall be primarily governed by the “Official Rules of Little League Baseball,” as published by Williamsport, PA. The following exceptions and modifications to the existing rules have been generated and Board approved in the interest of safety, fair play, and more even competition.
I. Pre-game and post game rules:
A. Home team duties and responsibilities (Home team listed first on the schedule.)
1. Uses the 1st base dugout and sets up pitching machine.
2. Has the field for practice from 6:10 pm to 6:25 pm (except Sat.)
3. Furnishes a new game ball
B. Visiting team duties and responsibilities
1. Uses the 3rd base dugout and puts pitching machine away.
2. Has the field for practice from 5:55 pm to 6:10 pm (except Sat.)
3. Furnishes a good back-up ball
C. Dual responsibilities
1. Any available practice time prior to 5:55 pm will be shared equally.
2. All players, managers, coaches and equipment not directly involved in the game must remain in the dugout.
3. Batting orders should be exchanged prior to 6:25 p.m.
4. There will not be any batting practice permitted within 1 hour before any game. There will be no exceptions.
5. There is no on-deck position in Little League. No batter may warm up outside the field of play during the game.
II. General rules and Avon Little League rules:
A. League Standings will not be kept and the scores of the games will not be recorded.
B. Managers will not be allowed to cancel any games. Any cancellations due to school functions or inclement weather will be decided by the Umpire-in-Chief. For a school function, the manager must contact the Umpire-in-Chief, 7 days before the assigned game, to request a change of schedule. In the case of inclement weather, the manager or assigned coach can call the Avon Little League hotline, at 934 – 1197, to find out about the field conditions and if their game has been cancelled. All make-up games must be rescheduled with the Umpire-in-Chief.
C. Managers, make sure your players let you know in advance of absences. If a manager knows in advance that he/she will not have enough players, he/she should bring up a 7-year old from the Coach Pitch League to fill out a 10-man roster. If 11 players show, feel free to play the player called up from the Coach Pitch League. Players can be moved between the competing teams so that the game can still be played.
D. All teams must use a continuous batting order and all eligible players must be included in the batting rotation. If play has started and a player shows up late, he/she will assume the last position in the original batting order; see Rule 4.04 in the Little League Handbook.
E. Each member of the team eligible to play must not sit out for more than 2 defensive innings and must play 1 of the 6 infield positions at least 1 inning per game (the home team must comply with this rule by the end of the 5th inning). No player can play 1 position for more than 3 innings per game.
F. Defensive players may not be moved during an inning except for an injury or other emergency.
G. No more than 3 adults will be allowed to represent the team and both base coaches must be adults. No defensive coaches, on the playing surface, will be permitted.
H. There is a 5 run limit per team per inning.
I. On a ball hit to the outfield, base runners will be frozen as soon as the ball is in the infield and the infielder has control. Please use discretion in advancing your runners and remember that being overly aggressive only gets you to the 5 run limit faster.
J. Teams will have 10 defensive players maximum, including 4 outfielders, and they all must assume normal defensive positions. Outfielders must be midway between the infield and the outfield fence.
K. No inning shall begin after 1 hour and 50 minutes. Since weekday games begin at 6:30, no inning shall begin after 8:20.
L. Feet-first sliding is allowed. The Slide or Give-up Rule is in effect. Base runners must “slide or give up” when approaching home plate. The catcher without the ball must not interfere with the runners’ ability to slide into and reach home plate. If the catcher is up the line without the ball, the umpire may rule that the catcher interfered with the runner and award home.
M. A pitching machine will be used for the entire game for the first half of the season. After the midpoint of the season we will switch to a mixture of machine pitch and player pitch. The pitching machines will be used for the first three (3) innings and players will pitch the last three (3). The umpire will call balls and strikes from the mound and strikeouts will be enforced (swinging AND looking). There will be NO walks if using a pitching machine, however, walks will be allowed if a player is pitching. The umpire will load balls into the pitching machine.
N. The Managers will be responsible for any adjustments made to the pitching machine at the end of a full inning.
O. If a batted ball hits the pitching machine, the ball is dead, the batter is credited with a single, and every runner advances 1 base.
III. Final notes:
1. THIS IS JUST A GAME! DON’T TAKE IT TOO SERIOUSLY! HAVE FUN!
2. Players may not deliberately throw or abuse helmets, bats or other playing Equipment.
3. Profanity or abusive language of any kind will not be permitted from any player, manager, coach, parent, etc. Violators will be banished from the field or ballpark and violating players will be benched and may be suspended if necessary.
4. At the discretion of the manager and the approval of the VP of Baseball, a player, manager, or coach may be suspended for disciplinary reasons for one game. If this occurs a second time, the Board of Directors shall review the player, manager, or coach, for possible expulsion from the league. All league officials can recommend disciplinary action to the Board for all off field violations by players, managers, coaches, etc. while on Little League property at any time!