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Recreation Rules

Coaches and Parents, below are the rules for Bowie Boys and Girls Club Recreation baseball League.  Our rules follow the rules used by the Chesapeake Baseball Association (CBA) mainly with slight differences since that is the league where most of our travel teams participate.  The CBA, in turn, follows the National Federation of State High Schools. NOTE: ALL PLAYERS MUST GET IN THE GAME A MINIMUM OF 2 INNINGS EACH GAME AND HIT IN THE LINEUP. REC IS ABOUT PLAYING BASEBALL NOT WINNING.

NO METAL CLEATS IN BOWIE REC BASEBALL!

Our “whitesheet” rules are:

T-BALL 4/5 (no CBA equivalent)

  1. Sixty (60) foot base paths
  2. Forty (40) foot mound distance
  3. Six (6) inning games.
  4. All players bat each inning. Coaches record outs to determine the “winner”, but players stay on base.
  5. No new innings after an hour and a half.  Drop dead at 1 hour.
  6. No in-field fly rule.
  7. No strikeouts.
  8. Base runners are discouraged from leaving/lead off base until ball is hit.
  9. Stealing is not allowed.
  10. If the ball is hit into the outfield runners may continue to advance until the ball comes into the infield.  It can be run in or thrown in. The ball does not have to be in any players possession.  The effect is the same – base runners stop advancing.
  11. Maximum of 6 players in the in-field.  All other players in the outfield. No bench!

COACH-PITCH 6-8 (equivalent to CBA 8U coach pitch rules)

  1. Sixty (60) feet base paths
  2. Forty (40) foot mound distance. Coach MUST throw overhand. No pitching machines are to be used. (Reasoning – it slows the game down trememdously and doesn’t allow the kids to continue to game. Either a coach or parent on the team throw the ball to the team.
  3. Six (6) inning games.
  4. Maximum of five (5) runs per inning until the 6th inning. The 6th and extra innings are unlimited.
  5. No new innings after an hour and a half.  Drop dead at 1 hour and 30 minutes and the score of the last completed inning is used.
    No in-field fly rule.
  6. No strikeouts.  After 3 strikes or 5 pitches ball is placed on the batting tee.
  7. Base runners shall not leave/lead off base until ball has crossed home plate. Leaving early will result in runner called out.
  8. Stealing is not allowed.
  9. If the ball is hit into the outfield runners may continue to advance until the ball comes into the in-field in the possession of a defender.  It can be run in or thrown in.  The effect is the same – base runners may not advance past the base they are heading towards if a defender is now in possession of the ball in the infield.
  10. 4 outfielders will be used / no short fielders allowed.  10 players in the field. 4 players in the outfield grass. 
    Commissioners rule –> If a team has 11 players, use 5 outfielders. No player sits on the bench alone! Let’s make friends.     ( By this commissioner rule does not mean that kids are not supposed to be on the bench. This is baseball and rotating kids from bench to field is supposed to happen.

MINOR 9/10 (equivalent to CBA 10U rules)

  1. Sixty (60) feet base paths
  2. Forty (46) foot mound distance.
  3. Six (6) inning games.
  4. Maximum of five (5) runs per inning until the 6th inning. The 6th and extra innings are unlimited.
  5. No new innings after an 1 hour and 45 minutes.  Drop dead at 2 hours and the score of the last completed inning is used.
  6. No in-field fly rule.
  7. No dropped 3rd strike rule, but ball is alive for base runners.
  8. Base runners shall not leave/lead off base until ball has crossed home plate. Leaving early will result in runner called out.
    Commissioner’s note –>  This means you CAN steal, but you have to wait until the ball crosses the plate to leave the base.
  9. Stealing home on a passed ball is allowed.  Catcher may not block (meaning stand or squat in front of) the plate.  Runner must slide if there is a play at the plate or the runner is out.
    Commissioner’s note –> This is a safety issue and is followed in travel and tournament baseball.  We will follow it as well.

MAJOR 11/12 (equivalent to CBA 12U rules)

  1. Seventy (70) foot base paths
  2. Fifty (50) foot mound.
  3. Six (6) inning games.
  4. Maximum of six (6) runs per inning until the 6th inning. The 6th and extra innings are unlimited.
  5. No new innings after an 1 hour and 45 minutes.  Drop dead at 2 hours and the score of the last completed inning is used.
  6. In-field fly rule is in effect.
    Rule: An Infield Fly is a fair fly ball (not a line drive or bunt) that, in the judgment of the umpire, can be caught by an infielder, pitcher, or catcher with ordinary effort when there are runners on first and second or first, second, and third and less than two outs.  In this situation, the batter is out.
  7. Dropped 3rd strike rule is in effect. 
    Rule: If the catcher fails to catch the 3rd strike and 1st base is not occupied or there are 2 outs, the batter may attempt to advance.
  8. Leading off is allowed.
  9. Stealing, including stealing home is allowed.  Catcher may not block (meaning stand or squat in front of) the plate.  Runner must slide if there is a play at the plate or the runner is out.Commissioner’s note –> This is a safety issue and is followed in travel and tournament baseball.  We will follow it as well.

SENIORS 13/14 (equivalent to CBA 12U rules)

  1. Seventy (70) foot base paths
  2. Fifty (50) foot mound.
  3. Six (6) inning games.
  4. Maximum of six (6) runs per inning until the 6th inning. The 6th and extra innings are unlimited.
  5. No new innings after an 1 hour and 45 minutes.  Drop dead at 2 hours and the score of the last completed inning is used.
  6. In-field fly rule is in effect.
    Rule: An Infield Fly is a fair fly ball (not a line drive or bunt) that, in the judgment of the umpire, can be caught by an infielder, pitcher, or catcher with ordinary effort when there are runners on first and second or first, second, and third and less than two outs.  In this situation, the batter is out.
  7. Dropped 3rd strike rule is in effect. 
    Rule: If the catcher fails to catch the 3rd strike and 1st base is not occupied or there are 2 outs, the batter may attempt to advance.
  8. Leading off is allowed.
  9. Stealing, including stealing home is allowed.  Catcher may not block (meaning stand or squat in front of) the plate.  Runner must slide if there is a play at the plate or the runner is out.Commissioner’s note –> This is a safety issue and is followed in travel and tournament baseball.  We will follow it as well.