AGES 4 & 5

Fall Season – Beginning 4- & 5-year-old players may elect to play T-ball or MCP.
Spring Season – Beginning 5-year-old players may elect to play T-ball or MCP.

 

North Wake T-ball is for beginning 4- & 5-year-old players focused on fun and fundamentals! T-ball aims to introduce players to the basics of baseball in an environment where activity is the goal and enjoyment is the result.

Each team will be scheduled for one activity per week beginning at either 5:15 pm or 6:00 pm. Each event will last approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.  

The weekly events will consist of practice sessions that introduce catching, throwing, batting, base running, and game fundamentals followed by playing a game against another team.

T-ball teams will be organized with neighborhood and school considerations.

Registration for Fall 2024 T-ball opens on June 20 and will close on July 26. T-ball activities are scheduled to begin on August 26.

Players will purchase a t-shirt jersey and hat. 

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.

1. Official Game – a minimum of six (6) players will be required to start and continue a game.  If one team has less than 6 players, the coaches can shift players between teams. 

GAME TIME LIMITS

Minimum of 2 innings with 30 mins drop-dead limit.

2. Length of Game – a game will consist of a minimum of two (2) innings or (30) minutes, whichever comes first.  

3. Baseballs – each team is to provide at least one new game ball per game.

4. Baselines – no player may be positioned on a baseline. Defensive infield players shall not stay on a base nor stand in the path of runners.  Defensive infield players shall play in front of or behind the base so as not to cause a collision between offensive and defensive players.

5. Baseline Collisions – all base runners must attempt to avoid a collision with defensive players.  If a defensive player is standing in the baseline, the offensive player must go around.  Base runners may not intentionally collide with defensive players, when taking a base.  Runners must avoid contact and slide into a base to do so.  Base runners that intentionally collide with a defensive player will be called out. 

6. Throwing the Bat – any batter who throws the bat will be issued one warning. If the same batter throws the bat a second time, they shall be called out for the second.

7. Closed Bases – runners cannot leave the base until the batter has hit the ball.  Any runner leaving the base before the ball is hit will be called “out”.  

8. Ball Hitting Coach – if a ball comes into contact with the coach, the ball is dead, and replayed.  All runners will return to their bases.  A coach is responsible for getting out of the defensive players' way.

9. Base Coaches – each team should have a base coach at first and third base.  The coaches shall not physically touch the base runners (push or direct to the next base) while the ball is in play.  Base coaches should not allow runners to advance after play is complete.

10. Continuous Batting Order – a continuous batting order will be used and all players attending a game must take their regular turn at bat during the game. The batting order will remain fixed during the game with defensive fielding assignments having no effect on the batting order. Late arrivals will enter the batting order at the bottom of the lineup card. Should a player leave the game (e.g., due to injury), all players below that player in the batting order will move up one slot and maintain their same batting order. If the player who left the game returns and is re-inserted into the game, he/she must enter the same batting position as he/she originally occupied, with the players below him/her in the batting order moving down one slot into their original positions in the batting order. 

11.  Defense –  Each team is to make defensive substitutions and changes each inning.  The other team does not need to be notified of these changes.

12. Catchers – No catchers will be utilized in T-Ball. 

13. Pitchers – the pitcher should stand within the white circle near the pitching rubber or adjacent to the coach/pitcher inside the circle.  Pitchers may leave the white circle, to make a play on a hit ball.  The pitcher should be placed near the back of the circle when a stronger hitter is at the plate.

14. Infielders – infielders should play in the standard positions for their infield spot.  No infielder may stand directly in the baseline.  Teach your infielders to stand in front of or behind the baseline.  All infielders should be taught to not block the base runner’s path, either at the base, or in the baseline, when not in the action of receiving the ball.  Intentionally interfering with a base runner, will result in the umpire awarding the runner the base.

15. Outfielders – outfields should be evenly spaced across the outfield. 

16. Playing Time – each player must play in the Infield and Outfield in a game. All players will play the entire game.

17. 5-Run Rule – each team’s turn at-bat will end at the earliest of three (3) defensive putouts or five (5) offensive runs scored.

18. Tee – A coach will set the Tee height according to the player. The at bat will end when the ball is put in play. 

19. 12-Foot Arc – the field shall include a 12-foot arc in front of home plate.  Any ball hit into fair territory is in play as long as it is hit out of the initial 12-foot arc.  Any ball that does not get out of the 12-foot arc area will be considered a dead ball and replayed at no penalty to the batter.

20. No Walks

21. No Strikeouts

22. No Infield Fly Rule

23. Equal Opportunity – Coaches are encouraged to provide each player equal time at each defensive position and as an equal number of at-bats as possible.

24. Additional Field Coaches – two (2) fielding/defensive coaches can stand in the field to help keep players focused.  Coach cannot touch his players and shall not interfere with any live ball. If a live ball comes in contact with the fielding coach, the ball is considered dead. The batter will be given second base.

25. Overthrows – No Advancing on Overthrows. 

26. Base Running – On Balls hit to the outfield runners can move up bases until the ball is in the infield dirt.  

27. Stopping Play – when no additional defensive play is being attempted, the play will cease.  If the runner is more than halfway to the next base, he/she shall be awarded that base. If the runner is less than halfway to the next base, he/she shall return to the base he/she came from.   

 

T-BALL PLAYERS NEED:

• Baseball Glove
• Rubber Cleats 
• Gray Baseball Pants
• Mouth guard - optional, but suggested

T-ball Players will purchase a t-shirt type jersey and hat.