2024 RALLY CAP 9U RULES
1) All games are 5 innings long.
2) There is a 5-run limit per inning, with the last inning being an open inning (3 outs required, no 5-run limit for either team). If the home team are trailing in the bottom of the 5th, they will bat until 3 outs are achieved or the home Team leads by one run.
3) There are no forfeits, so if one team does not have enough players please even up the teams and play a scrub game.
4) You may call a player from another 9U team when short or from an 8U team.
5) Teams may have 4 outfielders. This encourages more individual play.
5) Outfielders must remain on the outfield grass during the pitch. However, they can move forward onto the dirt after the ball is hit. On ballfields with distinct infield-outfield line, coaches will keep the outfielders 10 feet behind the base-path until the ball is hit.
6) Players are advised to wear a protective cup.
7) All batters and runners must wear helmets when on deck, at bat and on base.
8) To keep the flow of the game going, coaches are encouraged to have their catchers ready and wearing their gear at the end of inning, and the umpire or a coach should retrieve passed balls, not the catchers.
9) All players on the team will bat in the order they appear on the score sheet, regardless of whether they were in the field the previous inning. Once the batting order has been established at the start of the game, it may not be changed.
10) Each batter may receive up to 5 pitches from the pitching machine, regardless of the number of strikes. If a player hits a foul on pitch number 5, he or she continues to hit until one of the following happens: they strike out, a foul ball is caught, or they get a hit. Teams can set the speed for what works best for their hitters. Some may have practiced with faster or slower. Goal is for batters to put the ball into play)
11) Pitching machines may get erratic over the course of a game. If a player does not swing at a pitch that the umpire deems not hittable, the pitch does not count as one of the batter’s 5 pitches. It is a no-pitch.
12) If a batted ball hits the pitching machine, the batter and runners advance one base.
13) There is no advancing bases on an overthrow, The runner is to stay at that base.
14) If the ball is hit into the outfield, runners can only run to the base they are advancing too. Once the ball has been returned to the infield they must stop running.
For example: A runner has passed first and is on their way to second as the outfielder throws the ball into the infield. The runner can advance to second only if they are already more than halfway to the base and must stop when he or she gets to second base. Even if the ball is not actually caught by the infielder, the play stops when the ball returns to the infield, and the runner cannot advance to third. If the runner is less than halfway to the next base, they must return to the previous base. (Commitment lines will be chalked between all bases to determine halfway)
15) If a player crosses the plate on a play where the 3rd out is made in the field, whether on a force play or not, any runs do not count.
16) No leadoffs are permitted.
17) A chalk line be drawn between the foul lines about 12 feet in front of home plate. Any ball hit in in fair territory that stops before that line will be called foul. Use of this rule is at the umpire’s discretion.
18) Runners are not to touch home – but cross the commitment line drawn from home plate to the fence. Once they have crossed the other commitment line between home and 3rd base – they must continue home and cannot Return to 3rd.
19) Follow the handed-out player rotation sheets – this allows players to be in the infield and outfield evenly.