General Rules

*THESE RULES ARE OUT OF DATE AND ONLY BEING KEPT FOR ARCHIVE PURPOSES. PLEASE VISIT THE HOUSE LEAGUE RULES PAGE FOR CURRENT RULES *

The following rules apply to all Divisions except where noted. Please refer to individual Division rule pages for additional rules which apply to each Division.

1. All players are to be at park no later than 1/2 hour prior to game. If you are unable to attend ANY game or practice you MUST notify your coach 24 hours in advance. 10 minutes will be allowed for a team to get the required number of players to the park.  If unable to do this, the game will be forfeited BUT will be played.  Split teams in two and play for fun.
2. All players MUST wear team shirts to all games along with either rubber cleats or running shoes. Players can wear either pants or shorts but we recommend that pants be worn for safety reasons. NO jewellery may be worn except for medical bracelets or necklaces. Anyone wearing a baseball style cap must wear it properly.
3. In Squirt and above, all players must play at least 3 innings of a 5 inning game, or 4 innings of a 7 inning game. A player must play both infield and outfield within 4 innings of play. All players are encouraged to attempt to play all positions except pitcher and catcher. All players FULL NAMES and POSITIONS are to be recorded on score sheet. (This is needed for game results to be submitted to local newspapers.)
4. Only players, coaches & scorekeepers may be on team bench and all players are to remain in bench area during the game. Failure to do so may result in an immediate ejection.
5. No smoking by any player or coach in the vicinity of the bench. One warning will be issued. 2nd offence results in ejection.
6. Players, coaches and spectators MUST NOT harass or direct discourteous remarks towards any person at the park. Failure to adhere to this will result in ejection from game or forfeiture of game. IT IS COACHES RESPONSIBILITY TO CONTROL THEIR FANS. If an event occurs after ejection or at end of game guilty parties will be suspended for at least one game.
7. ANY BATTER WHO THROWS HELMET OR BAT IN ANGER WILL BE EJECTED FROM GAME. IF ANY DAMAGE IS DONE TO HELMET OR EQUIPMENT OWNED BY JLMSA, PLAYER WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO PLAY AGAIN UNTIL THEY PURCHASE A REPLACEMENT.
8. If a player or coach is ejected from a game by the umpire, they must vacate the ballpark within 2 minutes or it will result in a forfeit of the game.
9. Games may be cancelled by President, Convener, or Umpire-in-Chief. If games are cancelled for any reason the coaches will be notified by a member of the executive.
10. Minimum player amounts required for an official game can be found in the Divisional Rules.  Please make every attempt for call-ups to fill the field as this gives kids experience and fun in an older division.
11. Player Call-Ups Rule:
    • 5-Pitch to call up T-Ball players first.  If you still require player(s), you may call a player from another 5-Pitch team not playing.
    • Squirt to call up from 5-Pitch players first.  If you still require player(s), you may call a player from another Squirt team not playing.
    • Pee Wee to only call up from Squirt.
    • Jr. Bantam to only call up from Pee Wee.
    • Sr. Bantam to only call up from Jr. Bantam.
12. Additional Call-Up Rules:
    1. All call ups are to wear their own team game jersey.  
    2. Call ups may not pitch.  
    3. Individual players are allowed to be called up 3 times in the regular season and 2 times in the playoffs. Additional amounts have to be approved by the Divisional Convenor.
13. All players must wear a helmet with chin strap when batting and running the bases. It must remain on until home plate is crossed. Each player is responsible for providing their own helmet. 
14. All catchers must wear chest protector, shin guards, and a mask/helmet with throat protector. In all divisions pitchers must wear a helmet with a face mask. Catcher equpment and pitcher helmets will be provided by JLMSA.
15. In all divisions there is a 5 run mercy rule per inning except in the last inning where 3 outs are to be recorded.
16. Please see individual Divisional Rules for Pitching Rules.
17. No intentional walks are permitted.
18. The following rules apply to the safety bag at first base:
    • a batted ball hitting white portion is fair and hitting only the orange portion is foul
    • any runner going only to first on either a hit or a dropped third strike (peewee and above) MUST ONLY TOUCH ORANGE BAG. Touching white bag will result in an immediate out.
    • defensive player MUST ONLY USE WHITE BAG. Touching orange safety bag will result in runner being called safe.
19. No lead-offs are allowed. Foot must remain in contact with the bag until the ball leaves the pitchers hand.
20. No player is allowed to block a base including home plate. Intentional blocking will result in the runner being called safe and/or the player blocking being warned or ejected at the discretion of the umpire.
21. A substitute runner may be allowed due to injury once a batter/runner has reached first base. Last runner of the same sex acts as substitute.
22. A game may be delayed to allow a player who is bleeding the time needed to treat and cover their wound if that player is needed for play in field or to bat.
23. Infield fly rule applies to all divisions except T-Ball and 5 pitch. An infield fly, as judged by umpires, occurs with less than 2 out and runners on 1st and 2nd, or 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.
24. Batting out of order is an appeal play which must be made by coach, player, or scorekeeper of defensive team.
    • IF ERROR IS DISCOVERED WHILE WRONG BATTER IS UP the correct batter comes to the plate and assumes the count of the wrong batter.
    • IF ERROR IS DISCOVERED AFTER WRONG BATTER HAS HIT BUT BEFORE 1st PITCH TO NEXT BATTER the batter who hit out of order is called out. All base runners must return to the base they were at before batter hit
    • IF ERROR IS DISCOVERED AFTER WRONG BATTER HAS HIT BUT AFTER 1st PITCH there is no penalty and batting team just continues on with proper batting order
25. Last inning will be called by umpires 80 minutes after time was scheduled to start. Coaches should encourage players to hustle on and off field to get as many innings in each game as possible.
26. Last Inning Flip Flop Rule: If the visiting team is winning by 7 or more runs, the home team will bat first for the final inning. If necessary, the visiting team will bat second.
27. No protests will be allowed. All umpires decisions are final.
28. In the event of all teams not playing an equal number of games at the end of the season, the team with lowest amount of games will become the standard for that division. All teams in that division will then have only their top games equal to the determining number of games count. Other games will not count in standings.
    1. Example:
       • Team A 15 games
       • Team B 16 games
       • Team C 15 games
       • Team D 14 games
    2. Team D has only played 14 games, so this becomes the standard. Therefore only Teams A, B, & C top 14 game results will count.
29. In the event of ties at the end of the season, the following will be used to break the ties:
    1. Results of games between the tied teams
    2. Runs against between the tied teams (lowest wins)
    3. Runs for between the tied teams (highest wins)
    4. Run differential for the season
    5. Coin toss