Rec rules for the varios age groups by regions

[CoachHarley]

So I find it interesting that even within the same sanctioning bodies, regional rules differ. We play Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth where I am from.

So, here are some of the basics that I would like to see how they compare with the rest of the country.

8u - Machine pitch, 6 pitches, foul of pitch 6 and stay in. Doesn't matter how many times the player swings, they get 6 pitches. One base per hit, no stealing, no lead, no umps, no keeping score, no bunting

10u- Kid pitch, after 4 balls coach pitch, leading when ball releases hand, stealing allowed when kid pitch, bunting allowed for kid pitch, no dropped 3rd strike, no infield fly, no stealing home, no walks

12u- regular rules, nothing fancy

My league has a problem with being able to form a 10u all star team that is competitive at Regionals. I think we have the talent, but with the current rules, it is causing a big deficit between us and the rest of the region. I also believe that 10u is not properly preparing kids to move up to 12u with the current rules. Just want to see how we compare to others.

 

[Mocoso]

8u - Girl pitches up to two walks, after 2 walks in inning coach pitch with # of pitches matching the number of strikes left.. HBP counts as a walk, as many bases per hit as you are willing to risk, only one base on overthrow on steal, cold plate. Umps, score, bunting etc - 10 players on field

10U - Regular ASA rules (drop 3, hot plate, nothing fancy) except for max 4 runs per inning first 3 innings and 10 players on field - No DP/Flex - Round Robin only

12U - Regular ASA rules except max 6 runs per inning first 3 innings - 9 players on field - No DP/Flex (Round robin only)

....
My league has a problem with being able to form a 10u all star team that is competitive at Regionals. I think we have the talent, but with the current rules, it is causing a big deficit between us and the rest of the region. I also believe that 10u is not properly preparing kids to move up to 12u with the current rules. Just want to see how we compare to others.

Agree with you that your rules are making it hard for girls to be competitive but it starts with the 8U not 10U - you have to develop the pitching early if you want to have the rules be closer to regionals etc... machine pitch at 8U will hinder your 10U and 12U... then again I dont know how big your rec league is ... so yes it hinders competitiveness but it may be needed due to lack of pitchers and/or numbers

 

[Jojo]

8u, most leagues, coach pitch-Some leagues moving into 1/2 season kid pitch, coach finishes the batter, no walks

10u, most league regular rules, some have coach finish the batter no walks.

12u, regular rules

 

[CoachHarley]

Should have added that there is a 6 run per inning limit for 10 and 12u.
10 in the field for 10u, 9 in the field for 12u. Everybody bats.

I have been trying to get the league to change rules to start pitching in 8u and take away coach pitch in 10u. They basically said I was crazy. Said that they games will last to long and at 10u it will be a walk fest and fielders will not get any action. So we send 10u pitchers that just started to 12u the next season and have a walk fest there.......I am trying but its hard when the main focus is baseball and softball is thought of being non-competitive until the 12 bracket. They wonder why all the talent in the area leave rec ball and goes to travel and would rather go to travel World Series instead of Regionals and on with the league.

I have 7 of my 11 10u TB players playing up in 12u. During the draft they were all drafted early, but numerous coaches complained because of their age. Out of the 7, 1 is 9, the others are 10. The first 3 picks of the draft were out of this 7.


Our league usually has about 5 teams of 12-14 kids in each age division.

 

[Orange Socks]

So I find it interesting that even within the same sanctioning bodies, regional rules differ. We play Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth where I am from.

So, here are some of the basics that I would like to see how they compare with the rest of the country.

8u - Machine pitch, 6 pitches, foul of pitch 6 and stay in. Doesn't matter how many times the player swings, they get 6 pitches. One base per hit, no stealing, no lead, no umps, no keeping score, no bunting

10u- Kid pitch, after 4 balls coach pitch, leading when ball releases hand, stealing allowed when kid pitch, bunting allowed for kid pitch, no dropped 3rd strike, no infield fly, no stealing home, no walks

12u- regular rules, nothing fancy

My league has a problem with being able to form a 10u all star team that is competitive at Regionals. I think we have the talent, but with the current rules, it is causing a big deficit between us and the rest of the region. I also believe that 10u is not properly preparing kids to move up to 12u with the current rules. Just want to see how we compare to others.

8U-You need to become more competitive than you currently allow. Even our 6U league keeps score and has a year end playoffs. We added 6U about 5 years ago and went from 3 teams the first year to 9 teams this year. 15-8U teams this year!

10U-We have been tweaking our rules to become more like straight ASA rules in the past 4 years to get the girls geared up for All-Star season. If you give the girls the rules, they will learn to play within that rule set. In the past we did not allow stealing of home. How fun is it to load the bases, and the girls just sit there stranded on 3rd base? How can you develop catchers, which I think everyone can agree is one of the more important positions on the field? When we got to 12U, we looked around to discover that we had no REAL catchers since we were not developing them in 10u. As far as pitching goes. We allow 2 natural walks and on the 3rd one, the coach pitch comes out and assumes the count. 4-0 gets 3 pitches, 4-1 gets 2 pitches, 4-2 gets 1 pitch...with a maximum of 3 pitches including fouls with all scenarios. This actually sped up the game with less coach pitching. Opening day last weekend, in the first 3 10u games only 3 pitching coach visits to the circle! This year we got rid of the one base per overthrow rule, which is so confusing and frustrating to the players, coaches and parents. Let them play and force the defense to play too!

Pitcher/Catcher Clinics: With 13 teams in our 10u division not every team will have a real pitcher or catcher. So we began hosting pitcher/catcher clinics throughout the year inviting 8U kids to participate.

We now have actual catchers in 10U and 12U. Because of this scenario, my daughter was forced to become a catcher during All-
Star season. I figured she would touch the ball more often than she would at SS.

12U-Straight ASA

If your rules are so dumbed down the more competitive girls will go find a tourney team to play with. Rec leagues already have a hard enough time keeping those girls in the league. You will lose those girls at some point, but don't let the league's rules be the reason.

Start these conversations with your board now, so that you can begin making changes for next year. It's a pain, but it's worth it!!

Good Luck

 

[Mocoso]

Our games last 1 hr 20 no new , 1 hr 40 drop dead and even with the walk fests at 10U when the 2nd pitcher comes up we still manage to get 4 to 5 innings in. These "#2s" usually end up being the #1s the next year and some teams are lucky to have 2 strong pitchers...

Sounds to me like your board is the crazy one to think coach pitch at 10U is a good idea... specially if you are fielding 70+ kids per division... Do they machine pitch for boys at 8U and coach pitch boys at 10U? if the answer is no then your argument should be why do they feel the rules for boys should be different then girls...

I feel for you and Im surprised girls stick in that league all the way up to 12U - good luck convincing them

 

[ICoachbecauseImasucker]

We pretty much follow the ASA rules...
6U and 8U are coach pitch, they get 6 pitches, game is scored, no walks, no bunts. The girls can take as many bases as possible on an overthrow. Games are 55 mins.
10U - Kid pitch. Dropped 3rd strike rule in effect, can steal bases, can steal home. Games are 1 hr... The only difference 10U has with 12U and 14U is the distance of the pitcher and games are longer.

The problem we have is that once you get to state, 10U is NOT allowed to steal home on a passed ball, and I think they are allowed only 1 base on an overthrow.

 

[CoachHarley]

Our games last 1 hr 20 no new , 1 hr 40 drop dead and even with the walk fests at 10U when the 2nd pitcher comes up we still manage to get 4 to 5 innings in. These "#2s" usually end up being the #1s the next year and some teams are lucky to have 2 strong pitchers...

Sounds to me like your board is the crazy one to think coach pitch at 10U is a good idea... specially if you are fielding 70+ kids per division... Do they machine pitch for boys at 8U and coach pitch boys at 10U? if the answer is no then your argument should be why do they feel the rules for boys should be different then girls...

I feel for you and Im surprised girls stick in that league all the way up to 12U - good luck convincing them

We actually have up to 16u. The 14u/16u ages get combined so basically you go from 12u to 16u. Most of the girls that play this age are the 8th graders that cant play high school ball yet and we don't have middle school sports. The older ones are the girls that just want something to do after the high school season ends, didn't make the team, or want extra playing time to get better for next year.

Yes, the 10u boys are kid pitch. That is one of my main points with this whole thing. This year we are starting to having pitching clinic's, free, every weekend for all inexperienced pitchers 12u down. Least I won that battle.

Our pitching distances are

10u -35 ft
12u -40 ft
14u+ - 43 ft

 

[DefiantGray]

Babe Ruth in North Florida. Largest District with 13 associations playing rec ball. .

6u is coach pitch...only 3 teams in our district

8u is machine pitch (hate it, hate it, hate it) 5 pitched balls, if 5th pitch fouled, player can continue to hit or stirke out. 6 runs per inning; bunting is allowed, no bunting after the 2nd strike, no slapping; no stealing and no walks.
***compared to 8u Travel....8u travel ball is coach pitched, 5 balls, no stealing, no walks, 5 runs per inning, bunting-Yes, Slapping-oh Yeah!***

10u - Player pitched. no drop 3rd strike, no slapping, 10 fielders during regular season, 9 players during rec tournament play. 6 runs per inning....imo, a walk fest if you dont have pitching.

12u and up....everything is legit

 

[BobInMadison]

West Madison Little League: Never played younger than 10u

10u: Coach pitch for part of the season, player pitch for the rest. (Machine pitch in the fall). No walks. With player pitch, coach comes in after 4 balls. No base stealing. HOWEVER, if they are playing away at another LL, they use the other LL rules. DD #3 once got to steal a base in a 10u game played in another town. Use 4 OF. Use a squishy ball. 5-run limit per inning. No run rules for total score. 2 inning limit for P

12u: Regular rules EXCEPT use 4 outfielders, 5-run limit per inning. No run rules for total score. 3 inning limit for P.

14u: Mostly played against teams from other LL. In the past, WMLL used to have 3 14u teams, now only one. 4 inning limit for P. -Use the home rules of whatever club is the host. Local home rules are 7-run limit per inning.