2025 Coordinator:
Brian Pernice

Rules:

BATTING:

All players in attendance must be in the batting order

If a player has to leave the game early, their spot in the order may be skipped without penalty. Late players will be added to the end of the batting order.

A team can start the game with as few as seven players. If a team plays with less than 9, it will NOT be penalized with automatic out(s).

All bats must be USA Baseball certified. USSSA bats of any kind are not permitted. Making sure bats are compliant is the responsibility of the coach. If a player steps into the box with an illegal bat, he will be automatically called out.

Base runners are free to steal bases at will once the ball crosses the plate, except for Home. There is no stealing of home allowed. Base runners CANNOT score on wild pitches/passed balls. 

All bases must be earned, no advancing on overthrows on steals/catcher pickoffs.

Mercy rule is 12 after four AND the leading team has met their age-related pitching requirements

PITCHING:

Pitchers are limited to 60 pitches or three innings (whichever comes first). If a pitcher reaches the 60-pitch mark during a batter, they can exceed 60 pitches to finish that batter

A pitcher can only pitch once per week. The lone exception to this is Championship Saturday. However, pitchers must meet the rest requirements to be eligible to throw in the title game

• Combine to record three outs, OR

• Combine to face nine batters

For each Majors game, 12-year-old pitchers must either:

• Combine to record three outs, OR

• Combine to face nine batters

These requirements MUST be met within the first four innings of the game.

If these minimums are not met, the team not meeting the requirements will lose the game, regardless of the on-field result. 

Track pitch counts and submit them to your division coordinator after each game. These reports are mandatory. Failure to submit a report will result in forfeiture of the game.

Travel coaches must report pitch counts to the appropriate division coordinator. These workloads will count toward in-house eligibility. If a player does not meet the rest requirement after his travel outing, he is not eligible to pitch in an in-house game, regardless of when his last in-house pitching appearance was.

Rest requirements:

DEFENSE:

9 fielders

No more than four infielders can be positioned on the infield (excluding the pitcher). 

No shifts. Two infielders will have to be positioned on either side of second base.

No player shall sit two consecutive innings, unless injured

A player can not exceed four innings at the catcher’s position per game

A player that plays three innings at the catcher’s position cannot pitch in the same game

No dropped third strike rule.

No coaches on the field

PLAYOFFS:

All teams make the playoffs

Playoffs will be seeded according to regular season standings

3 points are awarded for a win, 2 points for a tie, and 1 for a loss

First tiebreaker for playoff seeding is games played, then wins, ties, losses. If still tied, a coin flip will be done by a neutral party from those teams.

Regular season pitching rules are in effect. SJSLL will provide coaches with their players’ Little League ages prior to the season AND once again prior to the playoffs to ensure pitching-age requirements are met

Teams MUST play the minimum number of games determined by the Board of Directors.

If a team does not play a minimum games, it will receive the worst seeding in the playoff bracket. If multiple teams do not meet the requirement, games played will be the first tiebreaker, then points, wins, ties, losses. If still tied, a coin flip will be done by a neutral party from those teams.

In the event of a six-team or 10-team playoff, the bottom three seeds will play two "mini" three-inning games to determine the final seed in the tournament. 

For example: 10-team playoff

10 plays 9 in a three-inning game.
The winner plays 8 immediately after the 10/9 game in another three inning game.
The winner will be awarded the 8 seed.