2021 AA Rules, Field Setup, Safety
Rules listed below are rules for season, including end of season tournament.
No player, Manager, Coach or fan may talk to umpire about calls. All calls are final, no conferences on field, no objection to calls, no yelling from dugout or stands. Any breach will be ejection from the game and one game suspension. Two instances in the season, violator will be suspended for the remainder of season.
Maximum numbers of defensive players are 1 pitcher, 1 catcher, 4 infielders, 4 outfielders.
Full Roster Batting order. Order is set for game, no changing of order after the first pitch of game. If a player is removed from the order because of illness or injury he may return to same position in order.
5 Coach Pitches per batter, 3 swinging strikes is an out, bunt on third strike foul or offered at is a strike out, foul on 5th pitch continues at bat, not umpires job to notify batter of last pitch, team scorekeeper or coach should notify their batter.
If a batted ball hits the pitching coach it is declared dead and considered a “no pitch”. The pitching coach should walk outside the baselines after a ball is put in play to avoid obstruction. If it is determined by the Volunteer Umpire that the pitching coach caused obstruction to the defensive team once the ball has been put into play, it will be ruled obstruction, the batter declared “Out” and all base runners must return to their occupied base prior to the obstructed play.
3 out per inning
5 run limit per inning in 1st thru 6th innings. 6th inning is not unlimited runs for both teams (note : this will change for the tournament). 3 Outs need to be made to end the inning. Score keeper of batting team notifies umpire to stop the inning after entire play concludes. Play is only stopped by making an out or ball is controlled to stop play as in rule #10. Even if more than 5 runs score in final play only 5 runs count in the inning towards final score. Each team must have a scorebook. Exchange line ups before game, compare score books after each inning.
No inning can start after 75 minutes and game stops at 90 minutes
Play is stopped when; player has control of ball inside the outside edge of bases with hands up. No halfway rule, runner goes back to last base crossed when play is stopped by fielder. The fielder still has the option to continue play and attempt a play on any runner before he/she has stopped play.
Any ball thrown out of play on the 1st or 3rd base line that makes contact with the fence will be considered a dead ball and runners will advance one base
Coaches can pitch from any location they feel comfortable throwing strikes to batters
Any contact between runner and fielder, runner is out. Runner must avoid any contact. There is no out of baseline call unless during a rundown when tag is being attempted.
Outfielders must play behind white arc designating beginning of outfield
Cones are placed at 160 feet on white dots painted on turf
Ball hit over the cones is a homerun. Ball hit on ground past cones is ground rule double. Ball touched by fielder that roles past cones is live ball
Swinging bunts are allowed. Note : this rule is intended for the players who are hitting challenged, not for capable hitters to bunt for hits
No Infield Fly Rule
Feet First sliding is allowed
Home Team sets up field, Visitors take down and are responsible for all equipment, (bases, home plate, cones, machine, cord, benches, ball bags) being locked in Equipment Boxes.
Home team 1st base dugout, Visitors 3rd base dugout
Runners must stay in contact with the base until the ball crosses home plate, no leading or stealing
Ball thrown out of play past fence line or into dugout opening is dead, runners advance one base
No On Deck Batters. No swinging of bats in dugout area
Each team may have one defensive coach on the field that stands beyond the outfielders.
Base coaches must be in designated coaching box at first and third base only.
The pitching adult may not coach runners on the base paths during the inning, they may coach the batter in the batters box.
All other rules are as found in Little League Green Rule Book
Being the head coach or manager for any team is not easy. As a coach of high school
baseball for nearly twenty seasons, I have had many disgruntled parents and then the other 99%
who were incredibly happy that I instilled a work ethic in their children. While at M-A, I
followed two simple rules: “Be on time” and “Do things right”. These two simple mottos led to
many successful seasons and at the same time, kept it simple for the players I coached. Below
are just a few ideas for you going into the season to encourage you to develop your own
philosophy on and off the diamond.
Sports are supposed to be fun. We’re going to have fun.
I expect everyone to positively cheer on his or her teammates throughout the season.
Our sportsmanship will be exemplary. We will make sure we show respect for the rules,our opponents, the umpires, our teammates and ourselves.
I want every player on the team to strive for some type of improvement. We will focus onwhere each player comes in on Day 1, and make sure that on the last day of the season there was growth.
I expect your best effort on every play. We’ll focus on effort and energy, which will lead to the results we want to see.
Mastering skills and understanding the game are what we will work on this year.
Winning will take care of itself as skills, sportsmanship, and teamwork improve.
When evaluating yourself as a coach, it should start with your coaching philosophy. Do
you have a clear philosophy, did you share it with your players and team parents, and did you
hold yourself accountable to your philosophy? Lastly, remember you are making memories for
players of the league, not memories for your personal benefit. Be prepared for every practice and
give the players your best effort during practice and games.
Sincerely,
Mike Amoroso
RWC LL President
Coaching Culture
RWCLL President Emeritus, Coach Mike Amoroso
Being...
- Dragging the dirt infield (starting from the outfield grass, and working inward to the pitchers mound)
- Chalking the 1st and 3rd baselines, and foul ball area
- Placing 1st, 2nd, 3rd bases and home plate as well as the Batting Tee
- Pre-game watering of the field (Majors & AAA Fields)
Visitor team is responsible for:
- putting bases and batting tee away
- locking the equipment boxes
- locking the dugout gate (at Kiwanis, Mitchell & Henry Ford)
- locking the outhouse
- dragging the field
- Post-game watering of the field (Majors & AAA Fields)
Dragging the dirt infields:
Batter's Boxes:
Each field will have batters box template. Some fields will have a full template, some will have 1/2 of a template.
The template should be aligned, so their is more batter's box to the rear of home plate, than in front of home plate.
Bases / Baseline:
- Use the orange string reels found in the equipment to mark a straight line from the back of home plate, down the baseline to the outfield grass. Nail the string line into the dirt, directly behind the tip of home plate.
- The blue chalk machines should only be filled up 1/3 - 1/2 with chalk. Overfilling will cause the wheels not to turn.
- The outside of the base should align with the chalked baseline, as seen below
- There is not a chalked baseline from 1st to 2nd, or 2nd to 3rd.
Baselines DO NOT go through the batter's box.
Specific to Tee Ball:
Base placement:
At Henry Ford Elementary: 1st and 3rd base placement is a function of where 2nd base is placed. 2nd base should be placed so it is 5-8 feet behind the pitchers mound. 1st and 3rd base should then be aligned to this distance.
At Roosevelt Elementary: 1st and 3rd place should be placed between the last and second to last fence dugout fence post. Align 2nd base based on 1st and 3rd base.
Foul Ball Area
- Using the blue chalk machine, draw an arc from 3rd baseline to 1st baseline, approximatley 8 feet (4-5 paces) from home plate
- Any balls hit into this area are a foul ball (keeps the fielders from running in towards a player with a bat)
D52 Fall Ball shall be governed by the current Little League Official Regulations and Playing Rules unless superseded by these local rules. Play is provided in the following divisions. As players are encouraged to play in the division they will play in the following spring, the following uses next spring's age chart. Leagues may approve playing up or down as they see fit.
Divisions
Name
Age
Field Size
Juniors
13-14
54/80
Majors
11-12
46/60
Minors - Kid Pitch
9-10
46/60
Minors - Coach Pitch
7-8
46/60
Supplemental Rules
Time Limit: Majors/Minors: No new inning after 1:45 from scheduled start time. Juniors: No new inning after 2:15. All games have a hard stop when the time slot ends, which is usually 2 hours for Majors/Minors and 2:30 for Juniors so the next game can get on. Please discuss at each plate meeting.
Continuous Batting Order: CBO (or roster batting) is used in all divisions (Rule 4.04)
Courtesy Runner: A courtesy runner will be allowed for the pitcher or catcher at any time. It will be the last batted out. If no batted out has been recorded, it will be the last player in the line-up. (Rule 3.04)
Third Strike Not Caught (Majors/Juniors): The batter becomes a runner when the third strike is not caught, providing (1) first base is unoccupied or (2) first base is occupied with two out. (Rule 6.09(b))
Five Run Limit (Minors): A 5 run rule per inning limit will be enforced for all but the last declared inning. (Rule 5.07)
Mercy Rule: There is no mercy rule in the fall for Majors/Minors, as we're all here for development and want to play. Teams up by more than 10 runs are expected to switch to developing pitchers and run station-to-station. For Juniors, games will end if a team is up by 10 or more runs after the 5th inning.
Pitching: In addition to Little League rules outlined below, players who pitches in another league/tournament game that day are not permitted to pitch in a game.
Mandatory Play: All players will play 3 innings of defense.
Baseballs: The home team should be prepared to provide the umpire with two new baseballs, and four gently used game balls.
Bats: Minors/Majors must use USABats or solid wood bats only. Juniors may in addition use BBCOR bats. See below for more.
Scorekeepers: The home team is responsible for providing an official scorekeeper.
Coaches: One coach must be in the dugout at all times when a player is in the dugout. Additional coaches will be allowed outside against the fence of the dugout for coaching and developmental purposes.
Protest: There will be no protests in fall ball games. Umpires judgment will be final.
Umpires: Leagues will provide umpires for all Majors and Minors games. D52 will provide umpires for Juniors. Umpires will normally go behind the plate, but may take any position on the field necessary to do their job effectively. There are no umpires for coach pitch. The base coaches will call outs at first and third. The coach pitcher will count pitches and call outs at second and home.
League Equipment and Dugouts: Managers of teams playing the last game of the day are responsible for securing all league equipment and removal of trash from the dugouts. Have all post game team meetings outside of the dugout and off the field. Please respect the team playing prior to you – allow them to clear the dugout prior to your team entering.
Coach Pitch Rules
Due to coach pitching, we need a few extra rules for this division.
Pitcher’s Circle: A 10’ diameter Pitcher’s Circle will be drawn around the pitcher’s mound. If a pitcher’s circle is not available on the field, then best judgement should be used to determine the approximate area during game play. Play is stopped when the ball is returned to the kid pitcher who must have control of the ball with both feet inside the Pitcher’s Circle.
Coach Pitchers: All pitches thrown by a coach are strikes. Players get 5 pitches to put the ball in play. Foul balls on the 5th pitch will extend the at-bat. There are no walks. A batted ball that hits the coach pitcher is a live ball.
Defense: Ten players will play on defense, with four outfielders. Outfielders must play at least 10 feet back off the edge of the infield.
No stealing: Baserunners can only run on contact made by the batter.
Halfway Line: A halfway line will be drawn between 1st and 2nd, 2nd and 3rd, and 3rd and Home Plate. Coaches will make an assessment at the time that the ball is caught by the kid pitcher if runner fully crossed the halfway line. The defensive team is free to make plays on runners but once the ball reaches the kid pitcher who has both feet inside the Pitcher’s Circle and control of the ball, the play is dead. In the event a kid pitcher fields a batted ball inside the Pitcher’s Circle and shows intent to make a play on a runner, the ball will not be considered dead.
A Summary of Important Little League rules
Since we may have some non-LL teams participate, the following is a summary of Little League rules which will likely come up. Please consult the LL rule book or app for more.
Pitchers (Regulation VI)
This is a summary of the pitching regulations:
A pitcher once removed from the mound cannot return as a pitcher.
Any player who has played the position of catcher in any part of four (4) or more innings in a game is not eligible to pitch on that calendar day.
The manager must remove the pitcher when said pitcher reaches the limit for his/her age group as noted below, but the pitcher may remain in the game at another position:
Age
Max Pitches Per Day
8 and under
50
9-10
75
11-12
85
13+
95
If a pitcher reaches the limit imposed above while facing a batter, the pitcher may continue to pitch until that batter reaches base, is put out, or the inning ends.
A pitcher who delivers 41 or more pitches in a game cannot play the position of catcher for the remainder of that day.
Pitchers must follow the below days of rest requirements based on the number of pitches thrown. (This generally doesn't come into play in the fall as we play once each week.)
Pitch Count
Days of Rest
66 or more
4 days
51 - 65
3 days
36 - 50
2 days
21 - 35
1 day
0 - 20
no rest needed
Under no circumstance shall a player pitch in three consecutive days.
If a pitcher reaches a day(s) of rest threshold while facing a batter, the pitcher may continue to pitch until that batter reaches base, is put out, the inning ends. The pitcher will only be required to observe the calendar day(s) of rest for the threshold he/she reached during that at-bat, provided that pitcher is removed or the game is completed before delivering a pitch to another batter.
Catcher’s Equipment (Rule 1.17)
Rule 1.17 outlines catchers equipment rules. Please note, all catchers must wear a one piece mask with dangling throat guard extension.
Sliding (Rule 7.08(a)(3-4))
Any runner is out when the runner does not slide or attempt to get around a fielder who has the ball and is waiting to make the tag; or the runner slides head first while advancing. The is no “must slide” rule.
Interference (Rule 7.08(b))
Any runner is out when the runner intentionally interferes with a thrown ball; or hinders a fielder attempting to make a play on a batted ball. (NOTE: A runner who is adjudged to have hindered a fielder who is attempting to make a play on a batted ball is out whether it was intentional or not.)
Definition of a legal bat (Little League Rule 1.10)
Non-wood and laminated wood (bamboo) bats must meets the USA Baseball Bat standard (USABat) and bear the USA Baseball logo. Solid one-piece wood barrel bats do not require a USA Baseball logo.
Juniors players may also use BBCOR bats.
Penalties for use of an illegal bat (Little League Rule 6.06(d)):
A batter is out for illegal action when the batter enters the batter’s box with one or both feet entirely on the ground with an illegal bat (see bat specifications rule 1.10) or is discovered having used an illegal bat prior to the next player entering the batter’s box. The ball is dead. Runners must return if they advanced on the play.
NOTE: If the infraction is discovered before the next player enters the batter’s box following the turn at bat of the player who used an illegal bat:
The manager of the defense may advise the plate umpire of a decision to decline the penalty and accept the play. Such election shall be made immediately at the end of the play.
For the first violation, the offensive team will lose one eligible adult base coach for the duration of the game. (Any of the three adults in the dugout may be used as the one adult base coach at any time during the duration of the game.)
For the second violation, the manager of the team will be ejected from the game. Any subsequent violation will result in the newly designated manager being ejected.
When an illegal bat is discovered, it MUST be removed from the game at that point.
Managers and Coaches, the information provided below should make it easier for you to find the base pegs at these fields. Each measurement is from the indicator mark on the fence and/or the outfield grass. Measuring tapes are available in all the equipment boxes. Please let me know if you have any questions.
John Brownfield
415-518-0463 M
Kiwanis
1st Base - 18.1' from the fence
2nd Base - 12' from edge of grass
3rd Base - 17.8" from the fence
Mitchell
1st Base - 18.9' from the fence
2nd Base - 20.10' from edge of grass
3rd Base - 20.1' from the fence
Roosevelt
1st Base - 14.4' from the fence
2nd Base - 11.3' from edge of grass
3rd Base - 14.4' from the fence
Kennedy
1st Base - 21.2' from the fence
2nd Base - 11.5' from edge of grass
3rd Base - 21.1' from the fence
McKinley
1st Base - 20.3' from the fence
2nd Base - 11.9' from edge of grass
3rd Base - 19.8' from the fence
Pac Shores 60
60' Bases
1st Base - 16.4' from orange marking on fence
2nd Base - 30.9' from edge of grass
3rd Base - 17.1' from the orange marking fence
70' Bases
1st Base - 13.6' from orange marking on fence
2nd Base - 20.3' from edge of grass
3rd Base - 13.4' from the orange marking fence
Roy Cloud
1st Base - 21.5' from the fence
2nd Base - 12.0' from edge of grass
3rd Base - 13.0' from the fence
Selby Lane
1st Base - 22.9' from the fence
2nd Base - 11.4' from edge of grass
3rd Base - 22.9' from the fence
Garfield - TBD
Henry Ford
1st Base - 20.10' from the fence
2nd Base - 25.3' from edge of grass
3rd Base - 19.10' from the fence
Home Plate - 12.6' from the backstop
Pac Shores 90 - TBD
Taft on 8th St.
1st Base - 17.5' from dot painted on backstop
2nd Base - 12.3" from the edge of grass
3rd Base - 17.10' from dot painted on backstop
Taft on Bay Road
70' Bases
1st Base - 23.4' from the fence
2nd Base - 2.10' from edge of grass
3rd Base - 23.0' from the fence
Home Plate - 21.10' from the backstop
60' Bases
1st Base - 25.3' from the fence
2nd Base - 13.4' from edge of grass
3rd Base - 25.3' from the fence
Home Plate - 25.9' from the backstop
Little League provided us with a few coaches manuals/practice plans that are very informative and will help you all in preparing and running practices. The manuals gives you weeks of practice plans that you can implement today.
Members of the Redwood City Little League get exclusive access to over 200 great baseball training videos featuring top coaches and players. These award-winning videos are ideal for beginner and more advanced players and are the perfect complement to the great-on-the-field training you get in Redwood City, CA!
password can be found in the "Coaches Manual" folder, in the "Coaches Video login info" file in the "League Documents" section of the website (link below)
Daisy Chain Locks: Roy Cloud, Henry Ford, Selby Lane
Hi Coaches,
At some fields such as Roy Cloud, Henry Ford and sometimes at Selby Lane, Coaches are required to "Daisy Chain" the gold combination RWCLL lock, to the silver Redwood City School District keyed lock.
This allows for RWCLL to unlock and use the field, as well as the RWCSD.
If RWCLL Coaches lock the gold RWCLL lock to a chain link, this essentially locks the School District out, and they will cut off the RWCLL lock, and and lock the gate with the RWCSD lock.
Please follow the pictures below when locking up these fields.
Proper Example (lock to lock with a chain link off each lock)
RWCLL uses a Replacement Player Pool in order to avoid forfeits when a team cannot field nine players. The Replacement Pool is most often used while players are away for Spring Break or school trips such as Outdoor Ed, but can be used anytime throughout the season. Managers and/or coaches may only request a replacement when a team has eight or fewer players, and may request enough players to roster up to ten players for a game. The Replacement Player pool shall operate as follows:
RWCLL’s Player Agent(s) will create and run the Replacement Player Pool by asking for player volunteers.
The Replacement Pool shall consist of volunteers from the same division or age appropriate players from a lower division, regardless of east/west sub-division. AA players are not allowed in the Replacement Pool for safety reasons.
Managers and/or coaches request Replacement Pool Players from the appropriate Player Agent.
The Player Agent(s) will use the pool of volunteers to assign players to teams that are short of players on a rotating basis.
Managers and/or coaches do not have the right to pick from the Replacement Pool. Managers and/or coaches may not recruit replacement players.
Replacement Pool players are not allowed to pitch.
Replacement Pool players must play nine consecutive defensive outs and bat at least once.
Players may not be “borrowed from an opponent. They must be assigned by the player agent.
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