JUNIOR DIVISION RULES

1. Age Limit
1. Any girl that is at least 12 years old and is not more than 14 years old on the previous December 31st is eligible for participation in the Junior Division. Any exceptions will be made at the discretion of the Softball Board.

The date for Fall Ball will be August 8th of the current year. Players turning 15 years old after August 8th will be permitted to play on a Wallen house team.

1. 12U travel teams will be permitted to play in the Junior Division.
2. Rec teams from outside of Wallen, all-star teams, and school affiliated teams, will be allowed to play in the Junior division provided all players meet the age specifications set in rule (1-a). These teams may only have 5 players who exceed 14 years of age on the roster.

1. Playing Field
1. Bases will be 60 feet apart.
2. The front of the pitcher’s plate to the rear tip of home plate will be 40 feet apart.
3. The radius of the pitcher’s circle will be 8 feet from the center of the pitcher’s plate.

1. Equipment
1. T-shirts or uniforms will be provided by the league and must be worn during all games. No altering of uniforms is permitted, including removing sleeves or adding a player’s name.
2. Catchers must wear full catcher’s equipment. Certified equipment will be provided by the league as needed.
3. Catchers must wear a helmet with a face mask while a pitcher is warming up.
4. A batting helmet with a face mask must be worn by any batter, on-deck batter, base runner, or player in the coach’s box while the ball is live (as per NFHS rule 1-6).
5. 12 inch balls provided by the league will be used.
6. All bats must conform to NFHS rule 1-5.
7. No metal cleats are permitted
8. All pitchers must wear a face mask while pitching.

1. Players and Substitutions
1. All players must appear in the batting lineup at all times
2. The minimum number of players required to begin or continue a game is 8. A grace period of 10 minutes from the scheduled start time will be permitted. A team not able to find 8 eligible players will forfeit the game. Coaches can choose to play by mutual consent, but the forfeit will stand.
3. No player can sit out defensively for more than one consecutive inning, unless the player is injured or has requested to sit out.
4. If a player is injured, gets sick, or has to leave a game due to extenuating circumstances, the player’s absence in the batting order will not be an automatic out. An injured or sick player cannot play offensively or defensively. The opposing coach must be immediately informed of any changes in a player’s participation.
5. Junior Division teams will be permitted to use any Daisy Division player, with parental consent, as a substitute player to field a team of no more than 10 players.
6. A substitute player on a team with more than 9 players will sit out every other inning defensively. If a team has more than 9 players and 2 or more substitutes, the substitutes will alternate with each other defensively and regular roster players will not sit out.
7. Any substitute player(s) will be placed at the bottom of the batting order, and may only play outfield positions.
8. A late arriving regular roster player will be inserted at the bottom of the batting order.
9. A substitute player will be allowed to continue playing after the arrival of a regular roster player.

1. The Game
1. National Federation of The High School Associations (NFHS) rules will apply except as amended herein.
2. A complete game will consist of 6 innings, with the time limit being 90 minutes, No new inning can start after 85 minutes. A new inning is considered to begin immediately after the 3rd out of the home team’s offensive tenure.
3. If a game is interrupted due to weather, a game will be considered complete if 4 innings have been played. If the 4 innings are not complete, the game will continue from the point of interruption. An official rain delay sheet must be filled out and signed by both coaches.
4. Stalling will not be permitted. The umpire will assess a bench warning to any team he/she determines to be stalling. After 1 warning the umpire may assess a penalty of a ball or strike for additional stalling.
5. The maximum number of runs allowed per inning is 10 per team. The last inning will be exempt and the amount of runs allowed will be unlimited for both teams.
6. A game is complete after 3 innings if a team has a 12 run lead, after 4 innings if a team has a 10 run lead or after 5 innings if a team has an 8 run lead.
7. A pitcher can pitch a maximum of 4 innings per game. Any appearance in an inning shall count as 1 inning pitched.  Re-entering in the same inning shall count as 1 inning, not 2 innings.  Travel, all-star, and school affiliated teams may pitch a pitcher no more than 2 innings per game against wallen house teams.  These 2 innings shall not be consecutive.  “Relief pitchers” may re-enter the game to pitch a non-consecutive 2nd inning.
8. At the start of a game, pitchers will be given 5 warm-up pitches. A relief pitcher will initially be given 5 warm-up pitches. A returning pitcher will be given 2 warm-up pitches at the beginning of each half-inning.
9. If a player throws her bat during a game, the player will be called out.

1. Tournament Specific Rules
1. If a non-championship game is tied after 6 innings, the offensive team must place the last player in the previous inning to have had a full at-bat at second base at the beginning of every subsequent half-inning. The same will apply to a championship, or potential championship game, except the rule will come into effect if the game is tied after 7 innings.
2. A championship, or potential championship game, will be 7 innings with no time limit, except in run rule situations (i.e. ahead by 8 after 6 innings, 15 after 5 innings, or 22 after 4 innings).
3. During the championship game or potential championship game, each pitcher will be allowed to appear in a maximum of 5 innings, unless the game goes into extra-innings, in which case each pitcher will be allowed to pitch 1 additional inning for every 2 innings played. For example, if a pitcher pitches in 5 of the first 7 innings she will be allowed to pitch the 7th inning, but not the 6th inning.

Wallen Executive Board and its governing boards of baseball and softball make the decision on positioning of umpires in the division that umpires are needed. Wallen evaluates on a regular basis if positioning needs adjusted, from behind the mound to if more than 1 umpire is needed.

Rules are subject to change due to any extraordinary situation. Any rule changes will be determined and approved by the Executive Board of Wallen.