Baseball Tournament Rules

TOURNAMENT SAFETY RULES:

Coaches/Players Responsibilities

Coaches are responsible for the actions and safety of their own team which includes spectators.
UMPIRE JUDGEMENT CALLS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE ARGUED FOR ANY REASON
- Judgement calls include: fair/foul, balls/strikes, out/safe
- Rules may be challenged or contested in a professional manner such as: Balks, appeals, etc..
Coach/Umpire interactions are a part of the game. These interactions should be calm and respectful at all times.
- Any Player ejected from a game will be ineligible for the remainder of the game and at least one additional game.
- Any Coach ejected from a game will be ineligible for the remainder of the game and at least one additional game
  - Ejections will be reviewed by the tournament director and are subject to additional game suspensions or being banned from the tournament
(3) Coaches permitted within the dugout. Scorekeeper allowed in the dugouts.
All dugouts must be cleaned out and all garbage removed after your game.
No seeds or gum will be permitted as that encourages spitting. (There is a zero tolerance policy for seeds at turf facilities, teams will be charged a $250 cleaning fee if in violation of this rule)
NO ALCOHOL BROUGHT INTO ANY LOCATION. No communal water coolers will be permitted.
All teams waiting for the next game will be permitted near the field with coaches in an open space zone.
- INTENTIONALLY THROWING OR HITTING INTO FENCES DURING WARM UPS IS NOT PERMITTED
All open space will be utilized for warm up areas so teams can spread out far and wide.
- INTENTIONALLY THROWING OR HITTING INTO FENCES DURING WARM UPS IS NOT PERMITTED

TOURNAMENT RULES

TEAM MANAGERS-HEAD COACHES
Be sure you are aware of all rules and rule changes. Salt City Sports reserves the right to amend these rules at any time for specific tournament play. (Managers/team contact will be notified prior to the commencement of the first game)

11u-12u: Cooperstown Dreams Park Rules enforced with the following exceptions:

13u-18u: National High School Federation Baseball Rules (NFHS) enforced with the following exceptions:

ROSTERS
Teams are required to provide an Official Team Roster prior to teams first game in the tournament. Teams will not receive game schedules until rosters are in the team account, online, 30 days prior to tournament. Rosters must contain Email addresses and birth dates for all players. Roster size can be unlimited for the number of players on the team. There can be no more than 3 coaches (1 manager, 2 coaches, and a scorekeeper). 1 allowed in the Dugout at any time. A team can add to the roster prior to the first game. Rosters are frozen at Check-In. COACHES ARE NOT PERMITTED INSIDE THE FENCE LINES DURING DEFENSIVE INNINGS. TWO COACHES ALLOWED DURING OFFENSE INNINGS.

TIME LIMIT: 9U-10U-11U-12U: 6 innings or 1 hour thirty minutes| 13U and older : 7 innings or 1 hour 45 minutes. No new inning can start after the time limit has been reached. (Umpires official time is the time of record, spectator and coaches time will not be honored) If the home team is up to bat and is winning the game when the time limit expires the game will end at the point of time expiration. If you start an inning before the time limit, you must finish it. Time starts at the completion of Ground Rules. The umpire and/or Tournament Official is the only one that keeps the official clock. Coaches; synchronize your clocks. As soon as the 3rd out is recorded in the bottom half of the inning, the next inning officially starts. If there is still time left when the third out is recorded, the next inning will be played. Defensive timeouts limited to 1 minute. Excessive attempts to slow down or make time expire (umpires discretion) can result in a forfeit.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES:
No time limit for Championship Game. Run rules are still in effect. Any championship game still tied after regulation (6 innings 12u and lower; 7 innings 13u and above) Each inning after will begin International Tie Break Rules (Last out from previous inning begins on second base with no outs, both top half and bottom half of inning must be played.

DETERMINING HOME & AWAY:
A coin flip will determine the home and away teams. The higher seed will have a choice during playoffs. Time starts at completion of ground rules and will be announced by the umpire. Please be prepared to start 30 minutes before starting time. The SITE DIRECTOR OR PLATE UMPIRE HAS FINAL SAY OF STARTING TIME.

SALT CITY SPORTS TIE BREAKER:

Pool Play games that are tied after the time limit expires will end in a tie.

Playoff Games tied after time limit expires the “Salt City Sports Tie Breaker” will go into effect. After time limit expires and there is a tie, a plate meeting will occur with one coach from each team. The Home Team's coach will be able to select to either play offense (batting) or defense (fielding). Once the home team has made a decision, the offensive team will place one runner on first base (last recorded out) on first base and one half inning will be played to determine the winner.

All Lineups/substitutions and pitching eligibility remains the same and does not reset
- If a player has been removed from the game and is no longer eligible to reenter the contest, he/she is not eligible to be used for the tie breaker.
- A teams place in the batting order continues from the previous inning and cannot be changed from the official lineup
- The defensive teams pitcher for the tie breaker must face at least 2 batters (injury is the only exception to this rule)PLAYOFFS –

Playoff Format:

Playoff Format will depend on number of teams (1:30 or 1:45 finish inning depending on age) Championship games will be played to its entirety unless a mercy rule comes into effect.

SLIDING:
No restrictions on sliding at Salt City Sports Tournaments. Shoulder roll or coming up high, would be the only time a runner is called out. Runners must slide or avoid contact at all plays at home plate or be called out. Umpires discretion when a runner makes contact with a defensive player at home plate. In addition to avoiding contact, players must slide directly into all bases, players may not intentionally alter their running path in order to break up or disrupt a play.

DROPPED THIRD STRIKE:
Dropped third strike rule will be enforced in all age divisions except 10U. The batter may advance to 1st if first base is not occupied and there is less than 2 outs. A runner may attempt to steal first base on a dropped third strike when first base is occupied with 2 outs.

LEADING/STEALING:
Baseball: 10U (46x60) runners may advance once baseball crosses the plate.
11U and 12U (50x70) leading and stealing allowed.
INTENTIONAL WALKS ALL Age Groups- Inform the umpire of your desire to walk the batter. No pitches must be thrown.

MERCY RULE – ENFORCED IN ALL ROUNDS
6 Inning Game: 12 runs after 3 innings. 10 runs after 4 innings. 8 runs after 5 innings.
7 Inning Game: 12 runs after 4 innings, 10 runs after 5 innings.

TRIPS TO THE MOUND:
The pitcher must be replaced on the 2nd trip to the mound in any inning. Each pitcher allowed a total of 3 mound visits.

BALKS:
9U+10U: NO balks.
11U-12U: 1 Player Warning per game. No warnings in Championship games.
13U-17U: 0 Warnings.

PITCHING RESTRICTIONS:

There are no pitching restrictions at Salt City Sports Tournaments. Coaches/parents know the players better than we do and we ask that coaches use the MLB Pitch Smart recommendations to ensure player’s safety. The MLB Pitch Smart guidelines can be found here: http://m.mlb.com/pitchsmart/ Coaches, we advise strongly that you use caution with your players, we believe in Pitch Counts NOT Innings. Relief Pitchers: warm-ups permitted in foul territory against the outfield fence line with a catcher wearing a mask and an adult coach. Clock will stop for a pitching change if the player is in the game at the time of the change. (Time given is the plate Umpire discretion). METAL SPIKES ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE WORN ON THE PORTABLE MOUNDS.

INFIELD WARM-UPS:
All teams are encouraged to warm-up as much as possible before game time. NO PREGAME INFIELD. You may use the outfield to hit ground balls and fly balls.

INTENTIONALLY THROWING OR HITTING INTO FENCES DURING WARM UPS IS NOT PERMITTED

LINE UPS:

All Teams can choose to bat the entire Roster. Teams can choose to use an Extra Hitter (EH) and or a Designated Hitter (DH). 9U-12U can have both an EH and DH in the line-up at the same time. 13U-15U EH or DH: declare at Home Plate.

If a team chooses to bat an entire lineup and a player becomes injured that team may compress their lineup or remove that player from the lineup. The removed injured player is deemed ineligible for the remainder of the contest and cannot reenter the game in any way (no pinch running, hitting, fielding, pitching)

PLAYING WITH 8/ INJURIES:
All games must be started with at least 9 players. A game can be finished with 8 players. Once a team establishes it has 8 players it must finish the game with 8 players. A team cannot play with less than 8 players. Injured Playersremoved from lineup shrinks the batting order if there are no subs on the roster and teams will not take an out. If a player is ejected a team is forced to take an out each time that player position steps to the plate.

RE-ENTRY RULE:
Starters may be replaced by a legal sub and re-enter at any time during the game if they re-enter into the same slot in the original batting line up. Subs leaving the game may not return to play. Pitchers cannot re-enter as a Pitcher.

Pitchers may only return to the mound if they move to a position on the field (Extra hitter position does not apply)

COURTESY RUNNER:
Courtesy runners allowed for Catcher and Pitcher only. This can be used at any time during the game. The last batted out must run for the catcher or pitcher. If the player is the pitcher or catcher, the next batted out in the line-up they will be the runner.

Courtesy runner rule is mandatory with the catcher of record on base with two recorded outs.

BAT REQUIREMENTS:

9u-10u: USA or USSSA stamped bats only

11u-12u: Cooperstown Dreams Park Bat Rules (Metal, no size or weight restrictions)

13u-18u: -3 BBCOR or Wood Bats

If a Composite or Bamboo bat is BBCOR certified it is allowed

TIE BREAKER RULES:
1.Head To Head matchup

2. Overall record (winning percentage).
3. Total runs allowed in regulation games.
4. Total runs scored in regulation games.

5. Run Differential
5. Coin flip

Refund Policy:

No refunds issued 14 days prior to tournament. Game Refund Policy by number of games not played: -1 = $50 future tournament credit, -2 = $100 future tournament credit, -3 = $200 future tournament credit. No games played all money refundable excluding $50 registration fee which can be applied toward future tournament.

Appeals:

Teams can appeal a contest due to rule discrepancies. In order to file an appeal a team must pay a $200 appeal fee to Salt City Sports in order for the tournament or site director to review the appeal. (checks payable to: Salt City Sports) Once the fee is received the tournament director will review the appeal and make an appeal decision within 48 hours. If an appeal is lost the appeal fee is forfeited to the tournament, fees are refundable on appeals that are won.