MOSQUITO INTERLOCKING PLAY RULES

GAMES

1. SIX INNINGS - no extra innings during the regular season
2. Until August 15th, weekday Games begin at 6:00 PM sharp! After August 15th, weekday games start at 5:45, due to the shorter daylight hours. Players should not assume coaches and/or umpires will wait for them. Players should be present at least 20 minutes before the 6:00 PM game time in order for the coach to set the lineup and have a warm up. No infield warm ups will be permitted after 6:00PM.
3. FIVE RUN MERCY RULE AFTER EACH INNING - LAST INNING OPEN
4. TEN RUN MERCY RULE AFTER FIVE INNINGS (four and a half if home team leading)
5. Wins/losses/ties will be recorded in the standings
6. Rainouts are considered ties if not made up
7. WINS will result in two points and TIES will result in one point
8. Forfeit Games will be scored as a 5-0 loss with 2 points awarded to the opposing team.
9. Final standings will determine the teams that playoff
10. Teams tied at the end of the regular season will be determined by:
• Total wins
• if still tied: total games won against each other
• if still tied: total runs scored
• if still tied: total runs against

**** IMPORTANT **** If HRM declares that the field(s) is not playable then all coaches must adhere to their decision. Coaches who decide to play and/or practice after HRM has declared the fields unplayable will result in the coach be given an immediate suspension.

MOSQUITO PLAYING RULES

The following rules are those that govern Mosquito play in the Halifax Minor Baseball House League.

RULES:

1. No lead-offs. Base Runners shall not leave their bases until the pitched ball has reached the batter. The most common situation occurs when the runner leaves early and the batter does not hit the ball. In this situation if play is made on the runner and he is tagged out… the OUT will stand. If he reaches a base safely, ‘TIME” is called and he is returned to the base he occupied before the pitch was made…and NO OUT shall result. See Baseball Canada Rule 7:00 for other situations such as when the batter hits the ball.
2. No bunting
3. Third Strike: Batters may not advance to first base if on the third strike the catcher misses the ball. The batter is AUTOMATICALLY retired…however, the ball is alive and in play.
4. Contact Rule: Runners are instructed to slide or attempt to avoid making contact with a fielder. A player who maliciously (intentional excessive force) runs into another player is to be declared out and automatically ejected. The player may be subject to additional penalties as determined by the League President.
5. Catchers cannot block home plate unless they are attempting to field the ball thrown directly to home plate. When there is a play at the plate the runners are instructed to slide or attempt to avoid making contact with the catcher or another fielder covering home plate. A runner who fails to slide or fails to attempt to avoid making contact with the catcher or another fielder at home plate will be declared out.
6. Fielders must not block the path of a runner(s) – called for interference
7. Runner must not interfere with the fielders attempt at fielding the ball – called for interference
8. A runner at third may not advance home on a passed ball or wild pitch and may not steal home. They may however advance home on a throw from the catcher back to the pitcher. In this instance the runner must return to the base after the catcher receives the pitch. The runner may then only leave the base once the catcher releases the ball on their throw back to the pitcher. As well, a runner at third may advance home if there is a play made at third base, ie a throw by the catcher or pitcher to third base.
9. A runner may advance from home to second on a walk. The catcher must move quickly to retrieve a passed ball or a wild pitch ball in order to prevent this.
10. Pitchers must be in contact with the rubber when pitching
11. A pitcher who is removed from the game shall not be permitted to return to pitch in the same game, even if the pitcher is retained in the game at another position
12. The pitching week starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday.
13. A player may pitch no more than 2 innings in a game, 3 in a day (2 innings of one doubleheader game and 1 of the other) and 6 in a week or championship weekend. Even one pitch in an inning constitutes an inning pitched. If a pitcher throws three innings in a day they require one days rest. A days rest is defined at midnight the day that they pitch to midnight the next day.
14. A second trip to the mound by a coach in any inning the pitcher must be removed and replaced by another pitcher.
15. A pitcher who hits two (2) batters in a game must be removed from the mound, even if the pitch hits the ground prior to hitting the batter
16. There shall be a maximum of five (5) warm-up pitches for a pitcher starting an inning, except in inning 1. There shall be a maximum of ten (10) warm-up pitches for a pitcher entering the game mid-inning
17. Coaches must coach from the bench or the coaches’ boxes.
18. All players in full uniform during games, shirts must be tucked into pants, hats must be worn and on straight (players not in full uniform will not be permitted to play)
19. All players must have a number on their shirt (no two numbers are to be the same).
20. Batting helmets and chin straps are mandatory while at bat, in the on-deck circle and on the base-paths
21. All players must wear a protector cup (or Jill straps for females).
22. Shoes with metal cleats or “spikes” are prohibited. Rubber molded cleats on running shoes are permitted
23. The only players who will be allowed to hold a bat are the batter and the player on-deck. For safety reasons they may only swing the bat while on the playing field.
24. When the catcher is on base with two outs, he/she must come out of the game to put on his/her gear in order to be ready for the next half inning. The catcher is to be replaced on base by the player who made the second out in the inning.
25. Line ups cards may be required by the umpires and must be provided if requested
26. All players play a minimum of 3 innings in a game during the regular season and playoffs
27. All players bat in order. Once the batting order is set, the batting order cannot be changed Note: batting out of order will result in an out.
28. Teams not fielding a minimum of eight players forfeit the game
29. Coaches cannot “borrow” players from other mosquito teams but may “call up” second year players from the Rookie division. Players who are called up from Rookie are not eligible to pitch or catch in Mosquito. The same players are not to be called up each time players are required.
30. Bats that are use for Mosquito play must meet Baseball Canada’s rules governing bat size. The bat shall not exceed 32 inches in length and not more 2 ¼ inches in diameter at its thickest part. VIOLATION OF THE BAT SIZE - The batter will be called out and the player and coach may be subject to additional penalties as determined by his League President.
31. The Mosquito playing field shall be sixty (60) feet between all bases and the distance between the point of home base and the front side of the pitchers plate shall be forty-four (44) feet.
32. The winning coach is responsible for calling in or emailing the scores and highlights to the Halifax Chronicle Herald/Mail Star Sports Dept. and the league statistician within 24 hours of the game.
33. Coaches are required to co-operate and give their team’s highlights to the winning coach after the game.

FAIR PLAY POLICY

Coaches are required to have all players play a minimum of three innings each game.

The overall intent is:

• THROUGHOUT THE SEASON/YEAR ALL PLAYERS PLAY AN EQUAL AMOUNT OF TIME as all players have paid the same amount to play baseball
• To prevent some players from playing every inning of every game while other players are splitting games.
• Coaches will rotate the batting order during the regular season so that the same players are not hitting at the bottom of the order all year. However, once a batting order is set for a game it must remain unchanged for that game.