ALL RULES WILL BE GOVERNED BY THE 2025 LITTLE LEAGUE RULEBOOK WITH THE FOLLOWING CLARIFICATIONS AND LOCAL LEAGUE RULES.
Rules Common to ALL DIVISIONS:
Each player must play at least six (6) consecutive outs and each player must bat at least one time per game.
There will be NO ON DECK BATTERS per Little League Rules.
1.01, 4.04, 4.16, 4.17, and 6.05 (n) Permits a local league to start and play games with 8 players on each team. McMinn County Little League will skip over the 9th position in the batting order without penalty.
4/5/6 Year Old Division
Game
By LL Rule 1.02, NO score will be kept.
By rule 1.10, the bat shall not be more than 33 inches in length; nor more than 2⅝ inches in diameter, and if wood, not less than fifteen-sixteenths (15/16) inches in diameter (7/8 inch for bats less than 30") at its smallest part. Wood bats taped or fitted with a sleeve may not exceed sixteen (16) inches from the small end. The bat shall bear the USA Baseball logo signifying that the bat meets the USABat Standard.
By rule, an inning is that portion of a game within which the teams alternate on offense and defense and in which there are three putouts for each team. Each team’s time at bat is a half-inning. It will be held that an inning starts the moment the third out is made completing the preceding inning. Minor Leagues Only (4/5/6, 6/7/8, 8/9/10) – a half inning in said to be over when 3 outs are made, or 5 runs scored.
The time limit of play for each game is one (1) hour and fifteen (15) minutes. No inning can be started after this time with the exception of a tie game.
The batters arc is the distance of ten (10) feet from the back of home plate extending towards the pitcher’s mound.
Playing Defense
All players play defense on the field with all extra players being placed in the outfield. All players will be listed in the batting order.
The team playing the field will have a coach behind home plate returning the pitches to the coach pitching. Coaches are allowed to be in the outfield to coach the children during defense, but they are not allowed to assist in defense.
Once a ball is hit, if a defensive player touches the ball inside the 10 foot batter’s arc, the ball is considered a dead ball and the pitch must be replayed.
Playing Offense
All batters will start by having three swing attempts from balls pitched by a coach. Please note these are swings and not pitches. If, at the conclusion of the three swings the batter has not put a ball in play, a tee will be placed on home plate and the batter will now have two swings to hit the ball and put it in play. If the batter swings two times while the ball is on the tee and does not put the ball in play, then and only then is the batter out on strikes. By rule the thrown pitches are disregarded once the batter starts to hit from the tee.
However, if a player has two strikes counted and hits the ball within the arc, the player is automatically out.
Runners may only advance one (1) base on anything other than a hit ball i.e. over throw, etc.
The Coach Pitcher pitching line (hash mark) will be drawn 20 feet from the back of home plate toward the pitching mound. This mark indicates the closest distance the coach pitcher can get to home plate to deliver a pitch.