GENERAL RULES FOR NORTH WAKE BASEBALL

1. Learning the Fundamentals/Competition – while every athlete needs to learn how to compete, our league was established primarily to provide children with a wholesome learning experience by teaching them to play as part of a team, to build character, and to learn baseball fundamentals. The pressures of competition should not be stressed over the learning experience. Winning or losing a game, or the score of a game, should be secondary to providing your team a positive learning experience.

2. Sportsmanship – All coaches, players, parents, and spectators are expected to exhibit the highest level of sportsmanship at all times. Poor sportsmanship may result in the coach, player, parent, or spectator being removed from the game, the field, or permanently barred from participation in the league. Ultimately, the head coach of each team will be held accountable for the sportsmanship exhibited or not exhibited by himself, his assistants, his players, his player's parents, and his team's spectators. If one of the above crosses the line, it will be expected that the head coach will take the necessary action to stop the behavior at the time, and in the future.

3. Chatter – all chatter is to be directed towards each team's own players and not to any opposing player. Each team may receive one warning; subsequent violations will result in the ejection of all offending players, coaches, or parents/fans.

4. Safety –

• All players must wear a hard, protective cup for their safety. No soft cups are permitted.
• Protective headgear must be worn by all players while at bat, while a base runner, while standing in the on-deck circle, or retrieving foul balls during games. Any player removing his/her helmet before reaching the dugout may, at discretion of the home plate umpire, be called out. Batboys/batgirls must always wear protective headgear.
• Mouthpieces are to be recommended to all parents. Any player warming up a pitcher at home plate or anywhere else on the field shall wear a mask, including a throat protector. Pitchers may not warm up on the field mound prior to game time.

5. Sliding – all players must slide “feet first” on any play at any base involving potential contact by a base runner with a defensive player. Failure to slide in these situations constitutes a put out of the runner.

6. Footwear – rubber cleats only in all leagues, except Junior League, where metal cleats are permissible. No metal cleats shall be worn on portable pitching mounds.

7. Uniforms – all players are required to wear their team hats and jerseys provided to them by the league. Players are required to wear gray pants for games.

8. Umpires – regardless of result of a call, personality or otherwise, umpires should always be treated with respect. This principle is of upmost importance and should be engrained in the young player’s head from the very first game.

9. Smoking and Alcohol prohibited

• No smoking is permitted by anyone, including head coaches, assistant coaches, umpires, or parents on the field, in the bench areas, or anywhere in the area immediately around the field. All Wake County School fields and the North Wake Baseball Complex at The Factory prohibit smoking on the premises.
• No Alcohol is permitted. Alcohol may not be consumed on the field, in the bench area, anywhere near the field, or in the parking lot; prior to, during or after a game or practice. No one may be in any of the above areas under the influence of alcohol or drugs that was consumed prior to their arrival at the facility.

10. Field Responsibilities -

• Each day the fields are prepped and ready for scheduled practices/games that are first listed on the schedule. It is the responsibility of the coaches to adjust the bases and mounds for the events to follow. Feel free to use the available rakes to prep fields in between events if needed.
• Field usage conduct of all players should be monitored at all times throughout your practice and game times.
  • 1. Please make sure all players do not soft toss or hit into any of the fencing in and around the fields. The batting cages are used for this purpose.
  • 2. During events, please make sure your players do not play in the dirt in the infield or dig holes in the outfield. The amount of work to fix the fields requires a ton of effort. Please stay on top of this best you can.
• Usage of L-Screens: If you move an L-Screen to another field or cage, it is your responsibility to put it back to the correct cage or field. All L-Screens are marked with the appropriate field and cage number.
• Each team is responsible for cleanup of their dugout at all fields.

TEAM PRACTICES: All teams are permitted on their scheduled fields ONLY. Please be sure to keep your players on YOUR field/cage. Fields that are empty have been prepared for upcoming games or practices. Please be respectful of the prep that is involved to get those ready. If you notice a conflict in the schedule, or are directly impacted with a double-booked event, please contact your league admin ASAP via text or phone immediately.

11. Official Scorebook – the home team is responsible for keeping the official Game Changer Score.  The visiting team is responsible for keeping a paper scorebook to compare against Game Changer throughout the game to manage any discrepancies.

12. Scoreboards – Where available, the scoreboard can be managed by either team; whoever is willing to do it (arrange for a parent to operate the scoreboard).

13. Ground Rule Double – a batted ball that bounces over the outfield fence or lands in an outfield area declared out of bounds is a ground rule double. Base runners may advance two (2) bases.

14. Dead Balls – a ball caught in the screen behind home plate is a dead ball and the runners are entitled to the base to which they are advancing (in leagues where advancing is permitted). Any ball that goes through the fence in an area where the fence is in need of repair is a dead ball and the runners may advance one (1) base. Other out-of-bounds areas shall be discussed and agreed upon by the opposing coaches and the home plate umpire prior to the game.

15. Weather – the home team, after talking with the umpire (in Rookie, Minor, and Major Leagues), decides whether to start a game if rain is threatening. If the game is interrupted by rain, a fifteen (15) minute delay will be allowed, except by mutual agreement of the coaches to postpone or end the game. Following the delay, the game may be resumed or terminated in the discretion of the umpire (or by agreement of both coaches in MCP League). If the game is terminated in the middle of an inning by rain and it has become a regulation game, the final score will be the score that existed at the end of the last completed inning of play. If the game fails to become a regulation game (i.e., 4 innings or 3 ½ innings if the home team is ahead), it must be replayed as a new game. Warning: coaches in Minor and Major Leagues should protect their pitchers! The pitch count by a player will count in those leagues, even if the game is called for weather.

16. Dugout Assignment - Home team will have the third base dugout. Away team will have the first base dugout.

17. Pitching Machine – Home team is responsible for setting up the pitching machine if being used during a game.