2020 Northborough Baseball Majors Rules and Guidelines
Rules: General
Follow the 2020 Little League published rules and the specific rules noted below. This document will take precedence. The Little League rules are available at http://www.littleleague.org/learn/rules.htm
Dropped 3rd strike rule for all games
No Curve Balls. Any illegal pitch is added to the pitcher’s pitch count regardless of the outcome.
No Slash Bunting. 1st offense, batter is called out and the ball is dead. 2nd offense, whether by the same player or a different player, batter and head coach are both ejected from the game.
On Deck Cage. Only one player at a time may be in this area. This is the only area, other than at the plate where a player can handle a bat.
No Jewelry Of Any Kind May Be Worn In A Game.
Players must wear Team Uniforms. Each player must wear the 2020 major’s uniform of the team he/she is playing on. The exception to this rule is for AAA players who are called up for a game, they must wear the uniform of their AAA Team.
All Bats Must Be Little League Approved. Effective January 1, 2018, all bats must meet the new USA Baseball Bat Standard and have a “USA Baseball” sticker on the barrel. If a player comes to the plate with an illegal bat, an out is recorded for that at bat.
All Players, male and female must wear a protective cup, regardless of position play.
RULES: PLAYER POSITIONS AND PITCH COUNT
No player may sit consecutive innings
Every player must play at least 1 inning of Infield and 1 inning of Outfield. Player must start and finish the inning. The visiting team must accomplish this by the 5th inning. The only exception to this rule is a starting pitcher that throws into the last defensive inning. (Note – Southboro rules require players to play a minimum of 2 innings in the infield only. There is no requirement for outfield play. Southboro will follow their rules and Northboro will follow their rules for field play regardless of location of game.)
Players may only sit one additional inning more than any other player on the roster for that game. It is acceptable for a player to sit a second inning before all players sit as long as the rule is followed by the end of the game. For the visiting team this must be completed by the 5th inning. This rule takes precedence over the infield/outfield rule. The only exception to this rule is a starting pitcher that throws into the last defensive inning.
Pitch count rule (per Little League guidelines)
If the pitcher is below his days of rest threshold when a new batter steps to the plate, the pitchers may finish the batter even if the pitch count exceeds the limit
10 YOs-75 pitches maximum
11-12 YOs-85 pitches maximum
No catching if a player has already thrown 41 or more pitches in that day.
No pitching if a player has already caught any part of 4 or more innings in that day
Rest Days
1-20: 0 days rest
21-35: 1 calendar day rest
36-50: 2 calendar days rest
51-65: 3 calendar days rest
66-85: 4 calendar days rest
For play-offs only: The Manager or Assistant Coach from each team should confirm pitch counts with the official scorer after each half inning.
Pitching Considerations:
Pitching a partial inning and then sitting for the balance of the inning does not count as an inning sat
If a pitcher will come in later in the game and will possibly finish the game then the player needs to sit and meet the outfield requirement early in the game.
PRE and POST GAME GUIDELINES
Time Limit
For regular season 5:00PM game played on the Casey field, the following time limits apply unless there is no 7:30 game scheduled.
No new inning may start after 6:55pm
Hard stop time of 7:10PM.
If the game is not able to be completed due to the time constraints, the final score will be the score of last completed inning, even if it is a tie.
Lights must be turned off by 10PM. The final score will be the score of last completed inning, even if it is a tie.
Field:
Pre-Game: Both teams are responsible for field prep which includes raking and dragging the infield and putting down foul lines and batter’s box, inserting base pad and bases.
Post-Game: After each game both teams should work together to clean up the field. This includes: Rake the mound and infield dirt, removing bases/pads and inserting plugs and clean off the base plates, cover the mound and home plate with the tarp unless there is another game scheduled, clean up the dugouts and replace the equipment in the shed in an organized manner.
Teams must stop games at the cut-off time and rake the field immediately so the other team can warm up.
Batter’s box dimensions are 3 x 6. The box should be centered on the plate (3 ft forward and 3 ft back from the center of the plate). The longest field rakes are 3 feet so they can be used to measure the batter’s box. Middle of the plate means the back corner before it goes to point.
Please remind your field parents that they should rake the dirt away from the grass to avoid building up a lip along the edge of the grass.
WARM UPS:
Visiting team starts warm ups ½ hour before game time for 15 minutes. Home team warms up 15 minutes before game time. If there is less than ½ hour available, time should be split equally
Batting Cages- If only one cage is available, cage time should be split equally.
CONDUCT
A key portion of developing good players is teaching respect for the coaches, umpires, players, and the game. At times it may be necessary to show your players there are consequences for their actions. The Goal of this policy is not to punish your players but to teach them. The only discipline that is allowed is sitting the player an inning(s) that they could be playing or placing them at the bottom of the batting order (batting order must be done before the start of the game)
Please speak with the parents so it is clear why you have made the decision.
If a player has an issue in practice or at the end of the previous game and there is a consequence that will affect playing time or batting order you must e-mail the President and the Majors Coordinator prior to the game. Please notify the other head coach at the start of the game
If an incident happens during the game, the head coach making the decision must inform the other head coach of his actions as well as e-mailing the President and the Majors Coordinator immediately after the game concludes
Examples Including: Throwing bat or Helmet, inappropriate language, disrespecting umpire or coach/player
President: Mike Flynn 508-397-1964
Majors coordinator: Brian Zeiger 215-651-2133
CANCELLATIONS:
Both coaches are responsible for deciding to cancel a game
The Home team coach is responsible for immediately informing Umpire Manager so he can contact his Umpire.
The Home team coach is responsible for informing the Umpire Coordinator and the Majors Coordinator if a game has been canceled. The Coordinators will schedule the make-up game after consulting with both coaches.
Umpire Manager – Jeff Green 508-271-5778
Majors Coordinator – Brian Zeiger 215-651-2133
Umpire Coordinator – Bill Gerber 774-249-978
OTHER:
Home Team is responsible for providing a responsible person to operate the scoreboard.
Each team will supply two game balls at the start of each game.
Umpire Fees- $60 per game. For 2020 we will only use one patched umpire and no base umpire.
Umpire form must be completed when paying the umpire. Please sign and date how much you paid. The completed form will be turned in after the last regular season game.
Each team is allowed up to 4 coaches on the field during games.
Only the head coaches will meet and discuss with umpires or field officials in a calm and respectful way. Arguing calls by umpires or unacceptable behavior will result in coach suspension.
All Southborough Games will follow the same rules at Home and Southboro rules during Away games.
