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Farm Division Rules and Regulations

All managers and coaches must be Certified via Borough of Oakland requirements, and wear their Lanyard whenever they’re on the field in a coaching capacity.

Farm Division Goals

  1. Foster a safe environment.
  2. Allow children to have fun and enjoy themselves.
  3. Encourage teamwork and good sportsmanship. 
  4. Play is for instructional – not competitive – purposes only.
  5. Teach the basics of baseball.

Eligibility

  1. All children must reside in the borough of Oakland.
  2. Player must attain their 7th or 8th birthday by July 31st or must be currently enrolled in First or Second Grade.
  3. Players are placed on teams based on their schools and parents requests

Teams

  1. The goal is for teams to have equal number of kids based on the sign-ups.
  2. It is up to the discretion of the league coordinator to balance teams that may be too top heavy (2nd graders) or too bottom heavy (1st graders) prior to the season.

Conduct 

  1. All players, managers, coaches, and parents must display good sportsmanship and conduct.
  2. Players must be in full team uniform (caps worn with bill in front, shirt tucked into baseball pants). Athletic cups must be worn or else the child cannot play.
  3. Players not immediately participating in the game must remain in the bench area behind protective screen.
  4. Players may not eat any food (including candy) while the game is in progress.
  5. Players may drink only water during the game. Sports drinks and/or juices are allowed at the discretion of the manager. No soda is allowed while the game is in progress.
  6. Smoking by managers, coaches, and parents at the Recreation Complex is forbidden.

Playing Rules 

  1. There will the following player positions Pitcher, 1st base, 2nd base, 3rd base, short stop, and 4 outfielders. Catcher is optional. There is a maximum of 10 players on the field. If a team is short players then you should borrow players from the other team in order to play.
  2. There will be a maximum of 3 defensive coaches (from fielding team) allowed on the field and one hitting coach (from hitting team) on the field (see diagram). Coaches are on the field to position and instruct players. Once the ball is in play, coaches can only give verbal instructions. Coaches are not permitted to interfere with play. Hitting coach is to help batter with batter's box positioning, encouragement and hitting instruction. Hitting coach is not to swing the bat or interfere with child's at bat. The team batting will supply the coach pitcher.
  3. Child safety is a top priority. Helmet must be worn by all batters (including on deck), runners and as designated for certain positions. Helmets with face guards must also be worn by the child in the pitchers position. Full catcher's equipment must be worn if using a catcher. It is not necessary to use a catcher.
  4. Players may swing bats ONLY in the on deck fenced in area. This area must be supervised at all times by an adult.
  5. The games are for instructional purposes only. No score keeping is permitted.
  6. Games consist of a maximum of 6 innings. Game time should not exceed 1 hour and 30 minutes. No new inning may start after 1 hour & 15 minutes has lapsed.
  7. The coach pitcher should stand at 40 feet from the plate. Distance between bases is 50 feet.
  8. The batting roster must be a continuous batting order. All players must be in the batting order. You should bat half the payers them switch with opposing team. This will help the flow of the game. If you only have the kids than the opposing team then bat everybody.
  9. All players should be given the opportunity to play every position. If, however, it is deemed for the safety of a child not to play a particular position then that’s at the discretion of the manager.
  10. No child is allowed to play the same position for more than two innings in any game.
  11. No player may sit for 2 innings unless all other players have sat for at least 1 inning.
  12. All infielders must be within two feet of their positions; outfielders must be at least 10 feet onto the outfield grass, to avoid the ball flying up off the start of the outfield grass.
  13. The batter must hit the ball into fair territory with a full swing. No bunting is permitted.
  14. No touching or pushing of the runner is permitted.
  15. Stealing is not permitted. Runners may advance on a batted ball only.
  16. Base runners must be in contact with the base until the ball is hit.
  17. Play stops once a player attempts to return the ball to the pitching coach. Players may achieve as many bases as they can while ball is in play. Do not just run around the bases, thereby taking advantage of other players' skill. Player deemed out at a base must leave playing field. This includes the last batter of the inning. Do not allow the last hitter to "hit a home run" and run around the bases unnecessarily. This is dangerous since the opposing team will throw the ball unnecessarily at a high velocity and increase risk of kids getting hit with the hard baseball.
  18. Only one base is given on an overthrow off the playing field.
  19. Players must be taught never to throw the bat or other equipment.
  20. Sliding is not permitted. Players sliding for a second time during a game should be called out. This is to ensure the safety of the other kids. Runners must avoid contact with players on the field.
  21. Catchers must wear full gear: helmet, face guard, chest protector, shin guards, and protective cup. 
  22. Each manager should maintain a lineup card for the purpose of keeping track of player substitutions and at bats.

Pitching

  1. Children will be given up to 12 pitches from the coach pitcher. If the ball is not put into play then the batting tee must be used. This needs to be followed in order to allow the other boys to get at bats and to also keep the flow of the game. Kids get bored when just standing around when a better get 30 pitches. (Please be sensitive as to not embarrass a child with the hitting tee).
  2. The batting team will supply the coach pitcher.
  3. Children will never to pitch to each other. 

Miscellaneous 

  1. During inclement weather, team managers must confer with the league coordinator and make decision regarding play that is in the best interest of the players. Exception is if the fields are closed by the commissioner or if there is lightning in the area. If somebody sees one bolt of lightning the game is off and the children should leave immediately. This must take place at least 60 minutes prior to the scheduled game time. Games may not be canceled without the approval of the coordinator or his designated assistant.
  2. In the event that it begins to rain once the game has started, it is the discretion of the mangers whether to stop and/or cancel the game.  In the event that this happens, the league coordinator must be notified of the occurrence. These games may not be made-up.
  3. All players MUST wear protective cups. It is highly recommend that coaches catching during practice observe this safety measure. 

1 - Pitcher

2 - Catcher

3 - 1st Baseman

4 - 2nd Baseman

5 - 3rd Baseman

6 - Shortstop

7 - Left Field

8 - Left Center Field

9 - Right Center Field

10 - Right Field

C1 - Coach 1 (Fielding team's coach)

C2 - Coaches (Fielding team coaches – 2 Allowed)

HC - Hitting Coach (Hitting team's coach) 

***INFIELD MUST HAVE THE CORRECT NUMBER OF FIELDERS. THE OUTFIELD IS ALLOWED 4 FIELDERS ONLY ***