Former Major Leaguers Cal and Billy Ripken continue to demonstrate their love for baseball by running youth tournaments in Aberdeen, Maryland, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The Ripken Tournaments feature age groups for kids from 9 to 18, with all teams competing on Major-League-quality fields. Ripken Tournaments follow standard American League playing rules to further replicate the Big League experience, although there are a few notable exceptions.
Ages
Ripken Tournaments use April 30 of the same calendar year as the cut-off date to determine age eligibility for spring and summer tournaments. Fall tournaments starting after August 27 use April 30 of the following calendar year to determine age eligibility. In other words, players would move up to the next highest age group for fall tournaments.
Fields
Ripken Tournaments feature multiple fields, with the exact dimensions appropriate for each age group. All teams in the 9-and-under and 10-and-under age groups compete on diamonds with 60 feet between the bases and 46 feet from the plate to the pitcher's mound. Kids in the 11-and-under and 12-and-under age groups play with 70 feet between bases and 50 feet from the plate to the mound. All kids 13 and over use regulation baseball diamonds with 90 feet between bases and 60 feet from the plate to the mound.
Lineups
All Ripken Tournament teams in the 9-to-14 age groups use a 10-bat format for hitting, meaning that all nine position players plus one extra hitter make up the batting order. The extra hitter acts the same as a defensive position in terms of substitutions. Age groups 15 and over use a nine-bat format with the option of a designated hitter. One or both teams may opt to use the designated hitter in any game. For substitution purposes, the designated hitter is always tied to the position player for whom he's batting. All starters are eligible for re-entry following substitutions. Pitchers may be replaced for a hitter on offense and then re-enter the game to pitch. However, if a pitcher shifts to a different defensive position and another pitcher throws at least one pitch, the first pitcher may not return to the mound for the rest of the game.
Time Limit
All Ripken Tournament games adhere to a two-hour time limit from the game's first pitch to the last out of the inning. The time between innings doesn't count toward the time limit, but tournament officials expect no more than two minutes between innings. No innings will start after the time limit has been reached. If the time expires during an inning, the inning will be completed as long as the home team is losing, and even then the game will end as soon as the home team takes the lead or makes its final out.
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