Current Rules at a Glance.xlsx

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I
1	Rules at a Glance 2025 Spring Season

2	For 12U and 14U please refer to Interleague Council Local Rules
3	General Rules
4	Division	Age	Diamond	Pitching Distance		Ball		Players on Field
5	6U	6 and under	50 Feet	N/A (fair distance)		10" Incrediball		Full Team
6	8U	8 and Under	55 Feet*	30 Feet		10" Low Compression		10 Players (4 Outfield)
7	10U	10 and Under	60 Feet	35 Feet		Games - 11" High Seam		10 Players (4 Outfield)
8	* 8U games on upper-division fields (e.g. AG, DG, GR, CR, CA, SP) will play on 60-foot base paths
9	A minimum of 8 girls must play on the offense and defense to start or continue game for all divisions except 6U & 8U; ok to lend/add/remove players without penalty. For 6U & 8U, a minimum of 6 players are needed to start or continue the game
10	For 8U & 10U - Outfielders must be minimum of ~10' behind infielders, but do not have to be on the grass.
11	• Free defensive substitutions, courtesy runners (deepest in lineup), and continuous hitting for all divisions; rules to be current year USA Softball rules except as modified here.
12	Pitching Rules of Interest
13	Division	Starting Pitcher?	Coach Pitch?	Primary Pitching Rules
14	6U	Coach	Always	No strike outs and no walks.The Staff-Pitcher will pitch up to 4 balls to the batter. If the Batter fails to hit the ball fair after 4 tries, a tee will be positioned on home plate and the Batter will bat from the tee until she hits a fair ball.
15	8U - First Half Rules (before 4/13/25)	Player	Likely	No player pitcher strike outs and no walks. Player pitcher gets three pitches per hitter. Umpire calls strikes as normal. After three pitches that have not been put into play, the Staff-Pitcher from the batter’s team comes in to pitch. Staff-Pitcher gets to pitch four minus the number of inherited strikes (unless hitter strikes out or hits foul with two strikes).
16	8U - 2nd Half Rules (after 4/13/25)	Player	Likely	Batters may strike out, but batters may not walk. Pitcher pitches to batter until: 1) ball is put into play by the batter, 2) the batter strikes out, or 3) Pitcher pitches four balls, in which case the Staff-Pitcher comes in to pitch inheriting the strikes but no balls. Staff-Pitcher pitches to batter until: 1) ball is put into play, 2) batter reaches ball four (in which case, the batter is out), or 3) batter strikes out.
17	10U	Player	Rarely	After a player-pitcher issues a combined two walks or HBP in a single inning, (unless declined by defense team) the Staff-Pitcher will pitch from within the circle whenever the pitcher subsequently throws four balls to a batter. When the Staff-Pitcher enters the game, the batter will retain her strike count, and the Staff-Pitcher has three pitches from within the circle. The batter is out on third swinging strike or if ball not put in play by the third pitch, unless the batter hits foul. (player cannot walk on coach pitch, either puts ball in play or strikes out swinging). Ump will not "call" strikes.
18	Special Rules of Interest
19	Division	Dropped Third Strike	Sliding		Stealing‡		Take 2nd on Walk?	Infield Fly Rule?	Composite Bats Ok?
20	6U	N/A	No		None		No	No	Yes
21	8U	No	Yes, never head first		None		No	No	Yes
22	10U***	Yes	Safe sliding encouraged		Yes, but not Home first 1/2		No	No	Yes
23	6U Batter gets 1 base for infield hits, up to 2 bases for outfield hits (except last hitter who gets homerun). 8U play stops when ball in control of pitcher in the infield (within lines between bases). 8U & 10U Batters may not advance to 2nd on overthrow; other runners may advance one base past the one they are running to at time of any other overthrow with liability of being put out.
24	‡ Runner may leave the base when ball leaves pitcher's hand with liability of being put out.
25	***10U - may not steal home until after 2nd Saturday in April. Dive back headfirst is permitted. Coach up players not sliding, sliding safely, or obstructing.
26	Regulation Game
27	Division	No New Inning After:	Innings	Mercy Rule		Runs Per Inning Limits		Game Can End in Tie?	Complete Game
28	6U	60 minutes	Time Limited	N/A		Roster Batting		N/A	At Time Limit
29	8U	80 minutes	4	10 runs		4		Yes	3-4 Innings
30	10U	90/100 mins‡	6	10 runs		4		Yes	4-6 Innings
31	‡Time Limit: for 10U 90min no new inning at MVLAGS fields, 100 min no new inning at PAYS fields; The Hosting Team may dictate a 2 hour drop-dead, which will follow Rule 5.6.A. This must be declared at the pregame meeting at the plate.
32	• Mercy Rule: When a team is up by 10 runs and four innings have been completed (3-1/2 if the home team is ahead) that team wins regardless of remaining time. The home team must always have their last ups if they are behind or the score is tied.
33	• Runs Per Inning: Limits the first 3 innings to 3 outs or # of runs listed, whichever comes first. Runs scored in addition to 4 are not counted.
34	• Tie Game: A tie will happen only when the time limit has expired and the home team has made their last out and the score is even. Each team will receive 1/2 win and 1/2 loss in the standings. You can have extra innings up until the time limit is reached. The International Tie-breaker is not in effect.
35	• Complete Game: After 4 innings (3 innings in 8U) or 3-1/2 (2-1/2 in 8U) if the home team is ahead the game can be ended for the Time Limit Rule, the Mercy Rule, or called by the Umpire for weather, darkness, or other reasons. A game must be continued at a later date if stopped before the 4th inning (3rd inning in 8U). Upper limit is maximum game length. See Rule 5, Sec 6.
36	• NOTE 1: Some rule variations apply during end-of-season tournament play for 10U. Check tournament rules for details. • NOTE 2: These rules maintained and owned by MVLAGS, shared with PAYS for Spring 2025 Interleague games.
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