Baseball, Softball & Basketball in Brentwood Tennessee

Updated 02/12/25

SPRING RULES – 9YO & 10YO Rec Divisions
In case of rain, see our Rain out Policy link for how games are completed.

See our Required Behavior for requirements for all participants.

Equipment
1. Our club provides game balls and catcher's gear. Any use of non-league provided catcher's gear must follow what we supply - one piece catcher's helmet, chest protector and shin guards.
2. ALL bats must have the "USA Baseball" factory stamp to be used. Use of any other bat results in an out called. This is treated as a dead ball where runners return to the base prior to the struck ball.

Before the Game
1. Games and practices will be cancelled due to weather on the decision of the league. We will provide 48-hour notice on rescheduled games.
2. Unless playing on turf, teams cannot warm up on the infield prior to the game in foul or fair territory. They must warm up in the outfield.
3. Teams are to be in the dugout area ready to start the game 5 minutes prior to the scheduled game start.
4. The coach that attends the plate meeting prior to the game will be the only coach that communicates with the umpire throughout the game concerning rule interpretations. Judgement calls may not be disputed.

Field & Game Limits
1. Base paths are 65' for 9/10YO. On turf fields, this is the second nearest to home plate base anchor slot as the nearest is 60', followed by 65' and 70'.
2.  Pitcher rubber to home plate is 46' for 9/10YO.
3.  Music is not allowed to be played once the game starts.
4.  The infield fly rule applies.
5.  The dropped third strike rule does not apply.
6. Fake bunting and swinging for a pitch is not allowed and the batter will be called out.
7. There are no bunting limits.
8. There are 3 outfielders, 4 infielders, a pitcher and a catcher on defense. Players must be in their position as shifting is not allowed.
9.  A team receives a warning for any player slinging the bat and any slinging of a bat after the warning results in an out for anyone on the team receiving the warning.

Player Participation
1. All players must be in the batting order to bat.
2. Players are not to sit consecutive innings in the field meaning a player can play 1B in the 1st, sit in the 2nd, play 1B in the 3rd but cannot sit the 1st and 2nd.
3. Players arriving after game time are to be placed at the bottom of the order.
4. Courtesy runners are encouraged to be used for catchers. Use the last batted out as the courtesy runner. The 'catcher of record' is the only player that can have a courtesy runner used. The 'catcher of record' would be the player in the catcher position when the team was last in the field, not the planned catcher for the next inning.

Scorekeeping
1. The home team keeps the official book; the visiting team maintains the scoreboard.
2. An inning is complete when a team scores 5 runs or 3 outs are recorded, whichever occurs first.
3. No new inning starts after 85 minutes. There is a 6-inning limit. Games will stop at 90 minutes if the losing team cannot score enough remaining runs to tie the game. Regular season league games excluding the tournament may end in a tie.

Stoppage of Play
1. This is a stop the runner format.

Coach Participation & Positioning
1.   No more than 4 coaches can participate to coach during a game.
2. When on offense, teams can have a 1st base coach, a 3rd base coach and one coach in front of the dugout. All other coaches must be in the dugout.
3. When on defense, teams are limited to one coach being in front of the dugout. All other coaches must be in the dugout. The one coach standing in front of the dugout must remain in front of the dugout and not towards home plate or a base or the outfield.

Pitchers
1. New pitchers to an inning are allowed EIGHT warm-up tosses that include any in front, behind or on the mound. In case a pitcher is replaced due to injury or illness, the new pitcher will be given additional pitches to properly warm up.
2. Existing pitchers are allowed FIVE pitches after their second and following innings.
3. If three batters are hit during the game by a pitcher, that pitcher must be pulled from pitching and cannot return to pitch later in the same game.
4. The pitcher must be pulled on the 2nd trip to the mound in the same inning.
5. The starting pitcher may re-enter the same game unless he was pulled due to 2nd trip in same inning.
6. A pitcher is limited to 75 pitches in a game. If they reach that count in the middle of an at bat, they are allowed to complete the batter.
- If a pitcher reaches the max in a game, they must have four calendar days of rest before they can pitch again. If a player reaches the max on Saturday, they are not allowed to pitch again until Thursday.
7. A pitcher reaching 50 pitches, but less than the max, must have two calendar days of rest. If a pitcher reaches 50 on a Saturday, they could not pitch again until Tuesday.
8. A pitcher not exceeding 49 pitches can pitch the next day. The pitcher must be pulled, to include during an at bat, once reaching 49.

Player Shortage & Sub Rules
1. Only players registered in our league may serve as a sub and those subs must be registered in the current age division or younger. What division the player is registered to is what division they are classified from.
2. Teams using a player outside of our league results in a forfeit and head coach suspension for next two games.
3. A sub may play any position except pitcher and catcher and a sub must bat in the lineup as 5th or later. Subs must wear their team's uniform and not the uniform of the team they are subbing for.
4. Subs cannot be added to the lineup card once the game starts.
5. Teams may start a game with no less than 8 players. There is no grace period to wait for players. The game is stopped if there are less than 8 players at any point and recorded as a forfeit. If a team has 8 players in the batting lineup in the regular season, the 9th spot is not recorded as an out. During the tournament, it would be an out.
6. Teams may start a game on time with no less than 8 players. If a team starts a game and during the game gets to only 7 players, the game will be halted and called a forfeit.
7. If a player starts the game and leaves for any reason, they will be skipped in the order.

Base running
1.  Lead offs are not allowed 9/10YO play. The runner cannot advance off the base until a thrown pitch passes home plate. If a player leaves early, a team gets one player warning, and then each player thereafter is called out. This is a judgement call by the umpire and not a call that can be challenged.
2.  Any base can be stolen. Once the pitcher is on the mound, the play is considered stopped until the next pitch.
3.  Players must attempt to avoid contact. A Player can be called out if contact is not avoided; this is a judgment call by the umpire.
4. On any play at home plate, players must slide feet first, if sliding and avoid a collision with the catcher. If not sliding, they must also avoid a collision. The catcher may block the plate only if he has the ball. A head-first slide at home is recorded as an out.
5.  A base runner is required to do whatever is needed to avoid a fielder who is fielding a batted ball. A runner is out for running out of the baseline, only when attempting to avoid a tag.

End of Season Tournament Seeding (for spring season)
1. The seeding for the tournament will occur in the following order:
a. Win percentage
b. Head-to-Head
c. Runs Allowed (per game average across all games)
d. Runs Scored (per game average across all games)