THE RULES

The Field

  • The size of the playing field is approximately 90 feet from home plate to each foul pole.
  • Distance from foul pole to foul pole will be approximately 100 feet.
  • The single line and pitcher’s plate are 40 feet from back of home plate.
  • The foul line will be 6 feet from back of home plate.
  • Strike Zone will be 22 inches wide * 33 inches tall and will be placed 10 inches off ground and 5 feet from back of home plate.

The Players

  • Up to 4 players on field at a time (1 pitcher & 3 fielders). Up to 6 players per team.
  • Entire team (Minimum of 4) may be in batting order, but you must finish game with # you start with. Inability of any player to bat will result in an out, unless player leaves due to injury.

Pitching

  • Pitcher must start pitching motion and remain in contact with pitching rubber at time of delivery.
  • Pitches must be thrown at reasonable speeds… No Whipping!! A “whipped” pitch will be a “do-over”.    If you choose to “whip” the ball while pitching, expect the other team to do the same.
  • Pitchers may not throw in back to back innings. 
 


Tournament Structure

  • 20 teams on 5 fields
  • Each field will have 4 teams playing a round-robin format.
  • Top teams from pool play will advance to “1 Ball” Championship Bracket

Playoffs

  • Single-elimination within each bracket
  • Teams will be seeded in each bracket based on pool play.
  • Seeding & tie-breaker criteria as follows:

  • Record (including head-to-head if applicable)
  • Run differential
  • Least runs allowed
  • Coin flip, or blind draw (more than 2 teams) if needed

Outs

  • Strike out. It will be considered a strike when batter swings and misses, or pitched ball hits the “strike zone”. It will be a strike 3/foul tip if batter swings and foul tips ball into “strike zone”
  • Fly balls caught in fair or foul territory
  • Ground balls fielded by pitcher while the ball is in motion, in fair territory, in front of the single line. If a ground ball spins backwards into foul territory, or stops before 1st foul line, it is a foul ball.
  • Double Play – if a pitcher fields a ground ball cleanly before the single line (with a force play situation), they can immediately throw ball at strike zone and “turn” a double play.

Scoring

  • No Baserunning. 
  • Batter will be awarded bases relative to where they hit ball. 
  • “Ghost runners” will be awarded equal number of bases as batter.
  • A ball hit in the single area and not caught, is a single
  • If the pitcher fields a ball in front of single line and drops it on the ground, it is a single
  • If the pitcher fields a ball in front of single line and bobbles the ball, but catches it without it hitting the ground, it is an out
  • Only the pitcher can field a ground ball for outs
  • A ball that lands in front of single line and rolls beyond it is a single
  • A ball that lands beyond single line (on the fly) is a double
  • A ball hit off the fence (on the fly) is a triple
  • A ball hit over the fence is a home run
  • 4 balls is a walk. Being hit by a pitch is a ball

Miscellaneous

  • Field Rep will “help” keep score and settle disputes on any controversial calls.
  • Please do your best to track balls, strikes, outs, runners, score, etc yourselves, and remember that the Field Reps are volunteers… so don’t give them a hard time!!
  • Clean up after yourselves. 
  • Use the garbage cans for garbage, and the blue recycle barrels for cans and bottles.
  • All proceeds from can/bottle returns go toward One Ball Foundation, Inc.