In the United States and other parts of the world, students up to 18 years of age play Little League Baseball. The rules of Little League are generally the same as other levels of the sport, but there are some notable exceptions. Some of the exceptions include the length of the game, specifics of the playing field and player substitutions.
Basic Rules
A team consists of nine starting players. The players who are not starters are available as pinch hitters, pinch runners, relief pitchers or injury replacements. An inning consists of a top half and a bottom half, each with three outs. The visiting team bats in the top half on the inning while the home team bats in the bottom half. Batting rules are the same as in professional ball. A batter is called out after three strikes. If the batter receives four balls, he is awarded first base.
The Field
Little League baseball plays on a field where the bases are 60 feet apart from one another. The pitcher's mound stands 46 feet from the batters box. The overall field dimensions vary from ballpark to ballpark. Generally, home run fences are approximately 200 feet from home plate.
Innings
In the lower levels of Little League, a regulation baseball game consists of six innings. Once a player reaches 13 years of age, the game moves to seven innings. From time to time, a game can be called off due to weather or other circumstances which compromises the safety of the players. In these situations, the leagues have rules to determine if the game should be counted as a complete game. For a game to count as completed, a minimum number of innings have to be played. For players under 13 years old, the game is counted as official once four full innings have been played. For the 13 years and older teams, five completed innings counts as a completed game. If the minimum number of innings have not been played, the game is canceled and is replayed at a later tim
Outs and Runs
An out is recorded when a player either strikes out, hits a ball that is caught in the air or is tagged out at the bases. A run is scored when a player either hits a home run or advances around the base path and crosses home plate. In order for a run to be valid, the player must touch each base in order.
Base Running
Base runners are not permitted to leave the base that they are occupying until the pitch has crossed home plate. When running, a player cannot slide head-first into any base. The only exception to this rule is if the player is sliding into a base that they were on previously.
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