Clarkton Dixie Youth

                          North Carolina Dixie Youth Baseball

Carey Wrenn, State Director                                                   Ken Britt, National Director

Larry Rudisill, National Director                                                              David Jackson, National Director

                        OFFICIAL 2009 NCDYB AA (COACH PITCH) TOURNAMENT RULES

                                                                Revised:  1/16/2010     

This shall be referred to as AA division play and the maximum league age shall be 8 years old. All rules not specifically covered below will be regular Dixie Youth Baseball and/or National League Baseball rules.

1:00- THE PLAYING FIELD-EQUIPMENT

        1:01- The pitching mound may be flat or up to six (6”) above the level of home plate.

       *1:02- A batting helmet with a face mask is required for the player pitcher while playing the pitching position.  

        1:03- The Catcher must wear all normal protective equipment including a protective cup or padding. The catcher may use a regulation size glove or mitt. The catcher must be in the catcher’s box and in position to catch the pitch while the pitch is being made.

2:00- DEFINITION OF TERMS

        2:01- “Pitching spots” are circles 3’ in diameter each. The center of the pitching spot

is 5 feet from the direct line going from home plate to second base at the point where the direct line is 46’ from the back of home plate.  The player must remain inside the pitching spot until the pitched ball reaches home plate.

        2:02- “Coach-pitcher” is the offensive Coach who pitches to the players on his team.

        2:03- “Player-pitcher” is the defensive player playing the pitching position, except (s)he does not pitch to the batter.

        2:04- A “bunt” is defined as an obvious attempt by the batter to bunt the ball, including but not limited to the normal “squared around” stance.

3:00- THE GAME- GENERAL

     * 3:01- Ten (10) players will be allowed in the defensive lineup. Penalty for too many players: pitch or no pitch at the choice of the offensive team. The defense must use four outfielders who are to play at equal depths (no short-fielders allowed). Players are required to play at least three consecutive defensive outs during the game. Exception: This rule is satisfied if a player plays the entire defensive inning where the offensive team scores 7 runs. Penalty for not meeting this requirement: The manager will not be allowed to participate in the next tournament game. 

   All players on the team are to be listed in the offensive lineup (12 person continuous batting order throughout the game).

       3:02- An inning will consist of 3 outs or 7 runs, whichever comes first. However, all runs scored on an over-the-fence a home run or ground rule double will count. 

Exception: There will not be a limit on the number of runs that can be scored in the 6^th inning prior to 3 outs being made.

Note: runners who could score the 7^th run in an inning cannot be held on third base to allow additional runners to reach base in an effort to score more than one run on a subsequent play. If this attempt is made, the umpire shall force the runner to score in order to end the inning.

         3:03- A third defensive time out during the same inning by a team to talk to players will result in their coach-pitcher being removed from the mound. The removal would become effective when the team goes on offense. A coach-pitcher removed from the mound cannot return to the mound during the same game.        

4:00- STARTING, DURING AND ENDING THE GAME

        4:01- There will be no:

                (A)- “Infield fly rule”,

                (B)- Walks,

                (C)- Base stealing,

                (D)- Called strikes (Exception: see “Bunts” below),

                (E)- Bunts.        Penalty for bunting- if the ball is hit, the batter is out

                                        and the ball is dead. If the ball is not hit, a strike shall be called.

        4:02- A time limit of one and one-half hours will apply to all games: however, a game shall be called only at the end of a complete inning, unless the home team is leading at the end of the 1/2 inning (the team batting in the bottom of the inning is considered the home team).

        4:03- Any time after four (4) complete innings, a fifteen (15) run lead limit will apply and the game will be called at the end of that complete inning (or upon reaching the 15 run lead, if it is the home team leading).

        4:04- Coaches will be limited to the Coach-pitcher, 1 dugout coach, and two (2) base coaches. Base coaches may be either adults or players. One of the dugout coaches may serve as the scorekeeper. A scorekeeper, who is not a coach, can sit in the dugout, but may not enter the playing field or be involved in coaching in any way (penalty: the scorekeeper will be removed from the dugout).   

        4:05- Any protest will be handled by the Protest Committee. If not resolved, the FINAL decision will be made by the Tournament Director (District Director at the district level and State Director or designee at the state tournament level).

5:00- LIVE BALL AND TIME OUT

       5:01- Time shall be called and the ball shall be declared dead immediately by the home plate umpire when the lead runner is stopped or abandons any effort to advance further, if the ball is within the infield area. The base umpire should look at the other runners to determine if they are to advance to the next base or return to the last base touched. If any subsequent runner has not passed the half way mark, the runner must return to the previous base. A play on any other runner will release the lead runner if the ball has not been declared dead. Players will not be allowed to call time out to stop a play. Players may call time out while the coach-pitcher has possession of the ball.

Examples of when to call time out:

1. The ball is hit to the outfield with a runner on 1^st base. The runner advances to 3^rd base and the base coach holds the runner as the ball is thrown back into the infield. Once the plate umpire sees the ball is in the infield area (not necessarily in possession of a player) and runner on 3^rd base is not attempting to advance, then the plate umpire should call time out. The base the batter-runner is given depends on where he is when time is called. The plate umpire is the only one who should call time and the field umpire watches the batter-runner to determine what base he is awarded. The plate umpire should never watch the batter-runner and delay calling time out because the batter-runner is advancing to another base. The lead runner’s action, along with the ball being in the infield area is the determining factor in calling time out.

2. On the same play, say the runner on 3^rd base tries for home, but the ball reaches the catcher and the runner retreats towards 3^rd base. The umpire should not call time out until he sees that the defensive team will not attempt to throw out the runner. If the catcher (or other defensive player) holds the ball while the runner retreats to the base, time should be called when the umpire determines a play is not going to be made on the runner and the runner is retreating to the previous base. The batter-runner can advance until time is called. His position on the base path when time is called determines what base he is awarded.

3. Say on the same play, the ball is thrown towards third base by the outfielder, thus causing the runner to slide into 3^rd base. The ball is overthrown and missed by the 3^rd baseman. The umpire should wait to see if the runner is going to get up and advance to the next base before calling time out. Once the umpire determines that the runner will not try to advance, time should be called. Since there was a play on the runner, the umpire should allow the sliding runner the opportunity to get up and attempt to advance before calling time.

        5:02- When a player is struck by a thrown or batted ball and, in the opinion of the umpire, the impact of the ball striking the player is sufficient enough to injure or incapacitate the player, the game will cease. At that point, immediate attention will be given to the injured player. All runners will advance one base if the umpire feels the runners would have advanced to that base had not an injury occurred, and play will be resumed by the umpire. 

6:00- THE BATTER

        6:01- Each batter will be allowed three (3) strikes or five (5) pitches before being called out. However, a batter will not be called out on a foul ball (even though it is the 5th or subsequent consecutive pitch) unless it is caught by a defensive player before the ball hits the ground.

7:00 THE RUNNER

        7:01- A three feet (3’) chalk line perpendicular to the base path will be drawn halfway between 1st and 2nd bases, and halfway between 2nd and 3rd bases. When the ball is declared dead, runners will be allowed the next base if they are past the halfway point and that base is unoccupied.

8:00- THE PITCHER

        8:01- An offensive coach will pitch to his own team. (S)he must pitch over hand. This person is referred to as the “Coach-pitcher”.  

        8:02- The Coach-pitcher shall pitch along a straight line from the center of the pitching plate to home plate. The Coach-pitcher must keep one foot in contact with the pitcher’s plate.

        8:03- The pitcher’s plate shall be 40’ from the back point of home plate.

        8:04- The Coach-pitcher shall not touch a batted or thrown ball until the ball is declared dead. Interference will be declared at the discretion of the umpire.

         Penalty: Intentional-Batter is out and the ball is dead.                                                                   Unintentional-Ball is dead and pitch is replayed.

       8:05- The Coach-pitcher shall squat down on all batted balls, so as to minimize being a distraction to the defensive team. S(he) shall remain in the pitcher’s area unless required to move to avoid an interference.

       8:06- The Coach-pitcher shall not instruct or do any coaching while on the field. This shall be deemed as unsportsmanlike conduct. The coach pitcher shall not be allowed to call time out to talk to offensive players or other coaches. If the defensive team calls time out to talk to players, the coach-pitcher shall be allowed to talk to players and coaches during the time out. 

9:00- PLAYER ELIGIBILITY

       9:01- All players must be registered on a regular season player registration form submitted to the DYB district director and state director.

       9:02- Only players of league age 8 and under are eligible for AA tournament play.

       9:03- DYB rules concerning playing in other tournaments apply to AA.

       9:04- Local leagues may have a maximum of 7 teams per league. A league having 7 or fewer teams may field more than one tournament team, if they desire to do so. Leagues fielding more than one tournament team shall fairly distribute the players among the teams.

10:00 APPEALS FOR RUNNERS MISSING THE BASE.

     10:01- If a runner fails to touch a base, the manager of the defensive team must make the appeal to the umpires. If an umpire saw the runner miss the base, then the runner shall be called out on the appeal. This must be done before another pitch has been thrown, but the appeal may be made while time is out.

11:00 BATTERS THROWING THE BAT

      11:01 Batters will not be called out for throwing the bat. However, after the first warning of a player for throwing a bat, the chief umpire may remove that player from the batting order if, the batter throws the bat again and, if the umpire deems the batter to be a danger to other players or umpires. Every effort should be made by coaches to teach players to not throw bats, and the umpire should remove the player only when s(he) thinks others are in danger of being hurt. The removal of a player from the batting order will not prevent the player from playing on defense. 

12:00 FUN

      12:01 Everyone is required to have fun and practice good sportsmanship at all times.