WIFFLE BALL LEAGUE RULES
PLAYING FIELD
1. Bases are 45’ apart
2. Pitching rubber to strike zone is 48’ away
3. Right/Left fields will be approximately 100’ from home plate
EQUIPMENT
1. Official Wiffle balls (eight holes on side) are only legal
• SARC will provide some balls, and teams may bring their own
• Pitchers may use sand paper/knife to modify ball to their liking
2. Wiffle bats must be plastic (handles can be wood or taped)
• SARC will provide some bats, and teams may bring their own
• Bats must not exceed 38” in length
• Bats must not exceed 3’ in diameter
• Bats may have tape at any spot
• Bats may be modified, only must meet length/diameter requirements
3. Footwear must be worn
• Cleats can be worn (no metal)
• Any close toed shoe is permissible as long as no metal on shoes
4. Gloves in the field are not allowed
• You may use your hat to catch a ball in the field
• You may use batting gloves when batting
UNIFORMS
1. Uniforms are not provided, but not mandatory. Teams must wear same color shirts if they do not have uniforms, or pinnies will be provided.
TEAMS
1. Teams may have up to 8 people on their roster.
2. Teams can play a minimum of 2 and maximum of 4 in the field.
3. Free and unlimited substituting during the game.
4. Batting lineup must consist of everyone who shows up, and that cannot be altered.
GAMEPLAY
1. Game: will be 7 innings or 1 hour, whichever comes first.
2. Home team pitches first, visiting team hits first.
• Even though run differential determines tie break, home team winning in last inning does not get to bat.
3. Outs: 3 outs per team per inning
4. Count: 4 balls is a walk, 3 strikes is an out, unlimited fouls
5. Strike Zone: A strike zone made out of a solid material that is approximately 31 inches high and 24 inches wide. The bottom of the strike zone will be approximately at the knees.
• Any pitch that hits the strike zone without hitting the ground is a strike
• Any pitch that does not hit the strike zone is a ball
• Any pitch that hits the batter is a ball
• There are no balks
• Pitchers foot must be on the rubber when pitch is released
6. Base running: batters must run the bases to be safe after contact.
• If fielder gets the ball back to the pitcher while he is on his pitching rubber before batter gets to base he is out.
• To get lead runners out, fielder must throw ball to teammate at the advancing base.
• Runners can get hit by wiffle ball to be called out.
• No leading off, no stealing
• No ghost men. If a player is on base when due to be up again, a different player may pinch run
• Tagging up is legal.
7. Infield fly rule: In the event of an infield pop up and base runners on, a ball that hits the ground either on purpose or on accident can only result in 1 out.
8. Bunting: No bunting is allowed
9. Ball in play: Any ball hit in “fair play” is in play.
• Ball caught in the air is an out
• Ball thrown to pitcher or advancing base before runner gets to base is an out
BATTERS
1. Switch-hitting: Batter may switch sides at any time in the count, but must notify the pitcher, and cannot do during the delivery; doing so will result in a strike.
2. Batting stance: Batter must have both feet completely in the batter’s box.
• Lines of batter’s box are part of the batter’s box
• Feet can leave batter’s box during swing
3. Batter’s interference: A legally positioned batter does not have to move out of the path of the pitch, but if batter leans into the pitch to interfere with a strike, then strike will be called anyway.
4. Hit by pitch: A legal hit by pitch is a ball.
5. Batter’s hands: Hands are part of the bat, if swinging bat and ball hits hand, ball is either foul if foul, or in play in fair.
6. Foul balls: Offensive team should not touch foul ball unless completely stopped.
7. Batting gloves: May be worn during batting only.
PITCHERS
1. Pitcher’s must pitch at an agreeable “medium” speed.
2. A pitcher must face 1 complete batter before leaving the mound.
3. A pitcher may not wear white long sleeves under jersey.
4. A pitcher does not have to start his wind-up from the pitching rubber, but must have at least one foot touching it when he releases the ball (violation is a ball).
5. No balks.
6. Warm ups: A pitcher will get 10 warm-up pitches before the 1st inning, and the 7 between innings or upon relief.
7. A mid-count relief pitcher takes over count and base runners as is.
OFFICIATING AND SCORE KEEPING
1. Referee: The players will umpire their own games. Both teams will due their best to keep the integrity of the game by making honest calls.
• Fair/foul calls (batter/defense)
• Base running calls (defense)
• Check swings (batter)
• Batter’s interference (pitcher)
2. Scorekeeping: Players will announce score after each run scored and agree on score after each half inning.
PINCH RUNNING
1. Pinch running is allowed if runner comes back up to bat.
2. If runner comes up to back and no teammates can pinch run, offense loses that base runner to allow runner to go up to bat.
3. Teams can use one pinch runner per game to upgrade the runner.
FORFEIT FEE
1. Any team that forfeits within 4 hours of scheduled game time is to assume a $25 inconvenience fee.
2. 3 forfeits in 1 season are grounds for removal from league