T-ball is for players in kindergarten and 1st grade. This level is co-ed. Team jerseys and hats will be provided by the league. Parents will need to provide gray pants, socks, glove, helmet and bat.
Practices will be held twice a week (Mon-Fri) for two weeks prior to the start of games. Once games begin, they will play twice per week at Spring Mountain Elementary. All games will be held weekdays at 6pm and will last no longer than 75 minutes.
2022 CLACKAMAS JUNIOR BASEBALL T-BALL RULES
The T-Ball league will consist of Kindergarten and 1st grade players.
First grade players may assess for the Transitional level at the beginning of the season.
Only “softie” type baseballs may be used in games and practice. Hard baseballs SHALL NEVER make it onto the playing field.
Field dimensions shall be based on a 40’ mound and 60’ bases.
There shall be no keeping of score or league standings kept.
Batters and runners must wear helmets at ALL times. There shall not be an on deck batter at this level for the safety of everyone. Only one player may hold a bat at any given time during games.
Batting off a tee is optional. Coaches may give up to four pitches prior to bringing the Tee out. Please assign a coach to place the tee to speed up the game.
Coaches shall attempt to take a knee or sit on a bucket and pitch in a dart toss type fashion as opposed to an underhand fashion. To speed the game up a coach or parent shall catch balls unless a child in catcher gear is able to sufficiently catch the ball.
Batted balls that do not travel a reasonable distance (approximately 10’ and less), may be called foul by the batters coach.
The entire team shall take the field. Additional players shall play the outfield. It is fine to have a left pitcher and a right pitcher in the infield. Players should not be sitting on the bench at this level.
There shall be no strikeouts, leading off or stealing of bases.
Although kids can make outs I would encourage all coaches to leave kids on base. If you intend to play otherwise please arrange with the other coach prior to the start of the game and only make this modification after half of the games have been played. Defensive players should still be recognized for making outs. There are no strikeouts. If a batted ball is hit into the air and caught or a play is made at a given base the defensive player should be recognized but the runner shall be allowed to stay on the field. This shall include tags and force outs that are made by the infield players. Outs will not be kept track of and the entire line-up will still bat. Let the close calls go to the runner.
Game length will be drop dead at 75 minutes. No new innings after 1hr. Coaches are encouraged to not begin a new inning that will result in one team not completing their final at bat. Coaches shall notify each other when they believe they are in the top of their last inning. Typically a game will consist of 3 full innings.
Entire rosters shall bat. Coaches are encouraged to rotate line-ups so that the same player does not bat first or last in consecutive innings. An easy way to do this is to make the next child in the order a leadoff batter each consecutive inning.
All runners on base shall run the bases when the final batter bats and eventually runs through home.
Either the Home or Visiting coach may call a game due to inclement weather. This call shall be made by 4pm when at all possible. Make-up games may be arranged with your level coordinator.
Coaches and assistants are encouraged to be on the playing field to assist in explaining the game and proper positioning of players. As the year progresses coach involvement should decrease.
Players shall rotate positions each inning. If there is a safety concern about a child considerations can be made to not play at first base if they are unable to protect themselves. Players must rotate into the infield every game
Outfielders should not be encouraged to make an out by tagging a runner or stepping on a base.
The pitcher must be in line to the left or right of the pitching rubber when the ball is put in play.
The ball is live after it is hit into fair territory and shall remain live until it is returned to the infield. The ball shall be considered dead when it reaches the first to second or second to third base line. Once the ball is dead play shall stop. Runners shall generally not attempt to advance more than one base at a time. Runners half way or more when the play is dead may advance if not they shall return to their prior base.
Runners may advance only one base on a true overthrow into foul territory. Runners should not advance on dropped balls or missed throws that do not go into foul territory.
There are no forfeits in T-Ball. Please borrow each other’s players if you need additional players.
As always these are general rules so that you as coaches can facilitate the game the best you can. When in doubt please do what is best for the players involved. They are only beginning to learn the game so please don’t get bogged down in the details.