Official High School Federation Rules unless otherwise indicated:

AGE REQUIREMENTS

Summer League: Age as of April 30th of the current summer playing year.

Fall League: as of April 30th of next summer playing year (fall league teams are required to move up a year).

Absolutely NO OVER AGE PLAYER EXCEPTIONS of any kind. Use of an over age player will be automatic disqualification and removal from the league. Coaches should have proper age documentation available for league review should such an issue arise.

INSURANCE

All teams must be properly insured and provide additional insured listing Inferno Baseball Inc, 3950 Broadway, Depew, NY 14043 as the governing/organizing body.

TEAM ROSTER

Coaches have free rein to manage their rosters and add/remove players with the following restrictions:

(1) Player must meet the maximum age requirement. There is no minimum age requirement. Coaches take full responsibility for the ability of their players to safely participate.

(2) A Player cannot play for multiple teams in the same age division without league approval. Playing on teams in different age divisions is allowed. A player will be locked into the roster where he first participated in a league game. All other games in the same age division where he participated for others teams will be scored a forfeit.

(3) A player must participate in at least 6 league games to be eligible for participation in the playoffs (summer only). Documented injury situations will be evaluated on a case by case basis.

9U:

60 foot bases - 46 foot pitching.

Bat Requirments - USABat certified only.

Runner may not level base until ball crosses plate. One dead ball team warning for leaving early. Subsiquent call will result in dead ball and runner being out.

Stealing of all bases, including home, is allowed.

Runner may attempt to advance at thier own risk on any pitch delivered or errant return throw from the catcher to the pitcher or any throw from the catcher to any other defensive player not the pitcher. Any runner not advancing (stealing) at the time the ball is returned to the pitcher can only then steal if that return throw is an errant throw that the pitcher does immediately possess. Standing in place or taunting while off the base is not a form of advancing and will result in dead ball and runner being returned to the base previously occupied.

No dropped third strike or infield fly rule in effect.

No metal spikes.

10U:

60 foot bases - 46 foot pitching.

Bat Requirments - USABat certified only.

Runner may not level base until ball crosses plate. One dead ball team warning for leaving early. Subsiquent call will result in dead ball and runner being out.

Stealing of all bases, including home, is allowed.

Runner may attempt to advance at thier own risk on any pitch delivered or errant return throw from the catcher to the pitcher or any throw from the catcher to any other defensive player not the pitcher. Any runner not advancing (stealing) at the time the ball is returned to the pitcher can only then steal if that return throw is an errant throw that the pitcher does immediately possess. Standing in place or taunting while off the base is not a form of advancing and will result in dead ball and runner being returned to the base previously occupied.

Dropped third strike and infield fly rule in effect.

No metal spikes.

11U- 12U:

70 foot bases - 50 foot pitching.

Bat Requirments - BPF 1.15, USABat, BBCOR certified or wood only.

Balks will be called. One dead ball warning per team.

No metal spikes.

13U - 16U:

-3 BBCOR Certified or wood bats only - NO EXCEPTIONS.

Metal spikes are allowed.

ALL DIVISIONS

Lineup Options: (1) bat the bench with 100% free substitutions throughout the game. (2) Choice of batting 9 or 10 batters using an EH. EH is considered a defensive position and can play the field at any time. Use of a DH for any player in the order is optional. DH substitution follows the standard NFHS DH rule. Both DH and EH may be used at the same time. Re-entry rule for starter only.

Use of helmets by adult base coaches is strongly encouraged. Coaches who elect not to use them do so at their own risk. Helmets are required for all base coaches under the age of 18.

Each team will provide one new game ball and have one good used game ball available at each game.

Umpires: Ages 12 and Under - 1 per game. 13 and up - 2 per game. Umpires fees are evenly split by both teams at each game.

Umpires will be scheduled by the league for all Erie and Niagara county locations. For teams outside of those areas, you are responsible to schedule New York State or Ontario Baseball Association certified umpires only.

Catcher Speed Up Rule: Only with 2 outs; for the 9U-12U teams that are batting the bench who choose to use this option, you must replace your catcher of record with the player that made the last batted out. For teams using the regular line up and choose to use this option, you may replace the catcher  with any player not currently in your batting order.

Avoiding Contact Rule: Baserunner must attempt to avoid contact at all times. Sliding is one form of avoiding contact. It is the umpire’s discretion as to whether the contact was avoidable. If it was deemed avoidable, the offending player is out and if deemed excessive, may be ejected from the game.

Catcher Helmet/Mask combination: Per National Federation High School rules - catchers helmet must have dual ear protection. 2-piece skull cap combination is illegal. Penalty - player ejection for use of illegal equipment.

Intentional Walks: Awarded automatically. You are not required to throw the 4 pitches.

Home team as indicated on the schedule only.  Doubleheaders: Doubleheaders will be used where field availability is limited or to miniumize travel. The norm is the team providing the field is the home team. However, there may be instances such as teams who may only be multually available one time or to minimize travel distances and as a result will play a home/away double-header. Consult the schedule to determine home team.

All Games, including double-headers, are 7 innings each. 

The mercy rule will be 10 runs after 5 innings of play.

No pitching restrictions.

A game is official after 4.5 innings if the home team leading or 5 innings if the visiting team is leading. Games called due to darkness are official regardless of innings played.

Whenever possible, extra innings should be played to break a tie game. Darkness or field availability are the only reasons a game should ever end in a tie. Should a game end in a tie under darkness or field availability limitations, it will be considered official and scored a tie.

Games terminated due to weather that do not reach the required minimum innings will be suspended and picked up from that point at a later date.

2 hour time limit on all games. Games that reach the time limit will be considered official regardless of number of innings played. Bottom of the last inning will only be completed if the visiting team is winning.

Injury re-entry:  In the event that a player becomes injured and no eligible substitutes remain on the bench, the opposing coach will select a player to re-enter the game from the group of ineligible but not ejected substitutes.

In the event that a player becomes injured or needs to leave and a team is batting the bench, permanently remove the player from the lineup with no penalty. 

In the event that a player arrives late and a team is batting the bench, add the player to the end of the batting order. 

In the event of a loss of player currently in the batting order for ejection and no available legal subsititues exist (team batting bench or all substitutes have been used), an out will be taken in that batting position.

If a team drops to less than 8 eligible players in the batting order, the game will be considered a forfeit.

Pitching visits:  One pitching visit per pitcher per inning.  A second visit in the same inning or a total of 4 to the same pitcher during the course of the game will disqualify that pitcher from pitching for the remainder of the game.

Use of electronic devices for the purpose of keeping score only will be permitted both on the bench and in the coaches boxes.

Use of electronic bat sensors approved for league play by MLB, Ripken Baseball or the NCAA, for the purpose of player skill development, will be permitted.

Standings will be determined as follows:  (1) Number of wins, (2) Number of ties.  Where two teams have identical records, head to head will be used.  Teams are expected to make up canceled or rained out games as these unplayed games will have significant impact on your final standings.

Winning percentage is calculated by number wins + 1/2 for each tie divided by 16 - regardless of the number of games actually played. Teams must have a record greater than .500 (i.e. 9 wins or 8 wins/1 tie minimum) and must be available to play Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of the playoff week to be eligible.

Division of 10 teams or less - Maximum 4 teams for playoffs. Less if all do not meet the .500 record requirement.

Division of 11 to 16 teams - Maximum 6 teams for playoffs. Less if all do not meet the .500 record requirement.

Division of 17 or more teams - Maximum 8 teams for playoffs. Less if all do not meet the .500 record requirement.

Teams who do not meet the playoff availability requirements due to other non-league commitments are excused without penalty.

Where teams have identical records Tie Breaker is as follows: (1) Head to Head, (2) Head to Head Run Differential (max 10 per game), (3) Strength of Schedule, (4) Coin Toss

Teams who have been charged with more than 2 forfeits via our game cancelation policy below are not playoff eligible regardless of record.

FIELD SAFETY AND USE

Team providing the field is responsible for insuring they have proper permission to use the field and have met all the requirements of the field owner for its use.

Team providing the field is responsible for determining safety and playability of the field for each game and notifying the opponent and umpire association of any rainout or cancelation as a result. League provided umpire associations require a 2-hour notice for rain outs. If the umpires show up, the team providing the field is required to pay per umpire association policy. Communicate with your opponent and give appropriate consideration for distances being traveled when making field playability decisions.

GAME CANCELATIONS

Games canceled for other than weather/field playability issues require 72-hour minimum notice. Where notice is less than 72 hours, a forfeit will be declared. Where notice is greater than 72 hours, responsibility falls on the canceling team to find an acceptable reschedule date. If one cannot be found, a forfeit will be declared. Where a game needs to be canceled, responsibility falls on the team providing the field to insure umpires are also canceled.

A team no-show who fails to make every resonable attempt to contact their opponent will result in removal from the league.

As this is a league of committed teams, we except all teams to make every reasonable effort to play every game. Team who have issues committing to their schedule based on the availability they originally provided will be re-evaluated for participation going forward. There will be a $75 administrative fee charged to all refunds prior to March 1st. There will be no refunds issued once the scheduling has started on March 1st.

EJECTION POLICY

Any player, coach, fan or parent ejected will receive a one game suspension and may not be in sight of the field during that suspension. If the suspension is violated, the person will be removed from the league.

A second ejection of the same person will result in removal from the league.

Any challenges to the ejection must be made in writing within 24 hours. As ejections are judgement calls, we will not overrule an umpires judgement. If warned and it didn’t stop, there is no ground for appeal.