Rec rules for the varios age groups by regions

[Strike2]

I have been trying to get the league to change rules to start pitching in 8u and take away coach pitch in 10u. They basically said I was crazy. Said that they games will last to long and at 10u it will be a walk fest and fielders will not get any action. So we send 10u pitchers that just started to 12u the next season and have a walk fest there.......I am trying but its hard when the main focus is baseball and softball is thought of being non-competitive until the 12 bracket. They wonder why all the talent in the area leave rec ball and goes to travel and would rather go to travel World Series instead of Regionals and on with the league.

I've coached 10U rec with and without the "no walk" rule, and full kid pitch at that age and class absolutely sucks. It is often a "walk fest" on at least one side, and NOBODY gets anything from that.

There are a couple of very nice features to kid pitch "no walk" at both 8U and 10U:

1. Giving a developing pitcher game time doesn't screw the rest of the team. Even if the pitcher can't throw strikes, a decent ball game for everyone can be had.

2. Absent getting hit by the kid pitcher, the hitter MUST put the ball into play to get on base. Unless the hitters are all terrible, the fielders will get a reasonable amount of action.

The downside is that you need a competent coach-pitcher, and it's more challenging than some might think. I suck at it, but fortunately, I had at least one assistant who could put it anywhere he wanted.

Yes, it is very possible that you'll have a "walk fest" at 12U, but the kids have had time to develop some skills and develop some attachment to the game. It is also easier to train a 12yo pitcher who is an otherwise solid player. If the rec league can't keep or develop 12U pitching talent, then the 12U rec league will die. However, if you discourage and bore kids as 8-10 year olds, you won't have ANY shot at maintaining a 12U division.

 

[BobInMadison]

I've seen 12u rec ball games that have turned into walk fests. BORING! At times I look away to watch the grass grow, for more excitement. That is why the local LL has a 5-run per inning rule for 12u. After 8 walks (to load the bases and walk in 5 runs), the mercy rule comes in. By mercy, I mean mercy for the parents as well as the kids.

 

[quincy]

Pitching is always an Issue, some of our pitching rules are:

8U – Player pitch, machine backup
10U up – pitchers are on their own

If you can figure out pitching so many of the other Issues fall into place. IMO the League needs to take control of pitching and not leave it to the individual teams. One of the downsides is the players you do a good job helping are going to leave your League, upside to this is ALL the players are going to better.

I like slow pitch and I would rather DD play slow pitch then with your current rules.

I think even bringing All-Stars into the pitcure does not make sense, make your Leaque better and it will start to take care of itself.

 

[Dabears17]

6u- coaches pitches 4 balls. Ball not put in play, Tee comes out. No new inning after 55min. Entire line-up bats each inning.

8u- No new inning after 80 minutes, or max 4 innings. No walks, steals, or leads. Bunting allowed off player pitch. 3 run limit per inning. Girl can't pitch and/or catch more than 2 innings a game.
first half season, girl throws 3 pitches, Ball not put in play, coach comes in and pitches 4- number of strikes pitches.
2nd half season- no walks- girl pitches until 4 balls, strike out, or ball put into play. Coach comes in, balls reset to 0. Coach pitches until strike out, ball put in play, or 4 balls reached.

10u No new innings after 90 min, max 6 innings. Steal when ball reaches plate, no stealing home. No walks with bases loaded. 3 run limit per inning. Not DTS. Pitcher can't pitch more than 6 outs in first 4 innings, more than 18 outs in a week (2 games per week).
A walk with bases loaded is 2nd half 8u pitching rules.

12u Pretty much straight softball, 3 run per inning limit. No new innings after 100 minutes.

 

[canyonjoe]

It's just me, but I wish 10U allowed for more of a hybrid season. I would love to see 1/3 or 1/2 the games be coach pitch and 1/2 kid pitch. With coach pitch you can get in a 6 inning game real quick. We used to scrimmage at practice and we'd play 6 innings in an hour easily. The kids hit, but more important they got to learn to field with runners on base. Once you move to stealing, it's pretty hard for many 10U catchers to throw people out especially when pitcher is throwing 20 mph. This would be especially great on weekends where you could play DH's and play one of each. Kids get a lot of AB's make some plays while still getting pitchers work.

 

[dbronstein]

I've coached 10U rec with and without the "no walk" rule, and full kid pitch at that age and class absolutely sucks. It is often a "walk fest" on at least one side, and NOBODY gets anything from that.

There are a couple of very nice features to kid pitch "no walk" at both 8U and 10U:

1. Giving a developing pitcher game time doesn't screw the rest of the team. Even if the pitcher can't throw strikes, a decent ball game for everyone can be had.

2. Absent getting hit by the kid pitcher, the hitter MUST put the ball into play to get on base. Unless the hitters are all terrible, the fielders will get a reasonable amount of action.

The downside is that you need a competent coach-pitcher, and it's more challenging than some might think. I suck at it, but fortunately, I had at least one assistant who could put it anywhere he wanted.

Yes, it is very possible that you'll have a "walk fest" at 12U, but the kids have had time to develop some skills and develop some attachment to the game. It is also easier to train a 12yo pitcher who is an otherwise solid player. If the rec league can't keep or develop 12U pitching talent, then the 12U rec league will die. However, if you discourage and bore kids as 8-10 year olds, you won't have ANY shot at maintaining a 12U division.

I totally agree. In our leagues, there are not nearly enough pitchers at 10U rec to be able to go without the coach pitch. This gives the pitchers a chance to gain experience without turning the games into walkfests. And if you do have some good pitchers, then the coach doesn't come in to pitch anyway.

 

[dbronstein]

It's just me, but I wish 10U allowed for more of a hybrid season. I would love to see 1/3 or 1/2 the games be coach pitch and 1/2 kid pitch. With coach pitch you can get in a 6 inning game real quick. We used to scrimmage at practice and we'd play 6 innings in an hour easily. The kids hit, but more important they got to learn to field with runners on base. Once you move to stealing, it's pretty hard for many 10U catchers to throw people out especially when pitcher is throwing 20 mph. This would be especially great on weekends where you could play DH's and play one of each. Kids get a lot of AB's make some plays while still getting pitchers work.

I hate the stealing in 10U. There are way too many passed balls and wild pitches, and few catchers who can make the throws. When a runner gets on first, you might as well just put her on third automatically since she will usually end up there after 2 or 3 pitches. You spend all this time working on situational fielding and baserunning and then you never do it in the games because of all the stealing.

Again this is in rec, not comp or tball obviously.

 

[canyonjoe]

That's why if I started over I would implement the hybrid games. I urge coaches to try it in practice at young levels (I'm sure a lot do). It allows you to actually have a runner on 1st when a grounder is hit.

I agree on stealing at 10U. Our league when we played years ago someone got into the mode of only going on wild pitches (which there were a lot of). With the addition of the D3 it just opened up stealing so you could clear first base.

 

[Rocketech1]

SoCal ASA (modified with local rec rules).

Most of the leagues around here follow something similar to the below:

6U - coach pitch, after three strikes "T' comes out. Mostly 1 base rule (with a well hit ball to the grass can be a double maximum). 10inch ball.

8U - 1st 5 games of season, kid pitch until 4 balls and then coach finishes the count. The rest of the season, all kid pitch with walks and hit batters. Can steal 2nd and 3rd base (home plate cold). 11inch ball. Pitch limit 2 innings (per pitcher).

10U - all kid pitch with dropped third strikes and infield fly rule. Pitch limit 3 innings.

12U - same as above. Pitch limit 4 innings.

IMO, pitching machines should be kept in the batting cages only and never used in game situations. 8U should be the time where pitchers learn how to pitch so they are ready for all-stars and upper divisions. Host pitching clinics and allow your batters to face live pitching. It works with a little effort, good coaching, and training. One of the reasons why certain areas of the country always field competitive all-star and travel ball teams. No reason to dumb down the game just because these are girls. Challenge them and they will respond...

 

[CPEM]

So I find it interesting that even within the same sanctioning bodies, regional rules differ. We play Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth where I am from.

So, here are some of the basics that I would like to see how they compare with the rest of the country.

8u - Machine pitch, 6 pitches, foul of pitch 6 and stay in. Doesn't matter how many times the player swings, they get 6 pitches. One base per hit, no stealing, no lead, no umps, no keeping score, no bunting

10u- Kid pitch, after 4 balls coach pitch, leading when ball releases hand, stealing allowed when kid pitch, bunting allowed for kid pitch, no dropped 3rd strike, no infield fly, no stealing home, no walks

12u- regular rules, nothing fancy

My league has a problem with being able to form a 10u all star team that is competitive at Regionals. I think we have the talent, but with the current rules, it is causing a big deficit between us and the rest of the region. I also believe that 10u is not properly preparing kids to move up to 12u with the current rules. Just want to see how we compare to others.

Your 8u rules are our 6u rules, except it is coach pitch, and they can hit off a tee if they can't hit off the coach. If a girl gets one into the outfield, it's however many bases she can get. If the ball stays in the infield, it's one base.

Your 10u rules are our 8u rules, but for only half the season. At the midway point, it becomes completely kid-pitch. Yes, there are walk-fests, but that's what a 5-run limit per inning is for.

At 10u we open it up, no fancy rules except a five-run limit with one open inning. This is when you see some really fun stuff. A girl can have 10 Ks and give up 10 runs in 2 innings via U3K.