RULES FOR THE 2011 SEASON

Know the rules!

Find the links on the right for all Issaquah and National Rules documents. Little League International Rules are copyrighted and available for purchase on their website.

LOCAL RULES

Issaquah Little League Local Rules - In general, Little League rules govern play, except where specifically modified by Issaquah Little League in our local rules.

Read the general section which applies to all divisions, then read the specific modifications to Little League Rules for your division.

See links on the side for Pitch Count Logs, Line up Cards and other information.

A summary of the local rules differences per division can be found here.

PITCHING RULES

Pitch count rules did not change for 2011. Here are some important highlights of the pitch count rules:

• Pitch counts do NOT include warm-up tosses, practice pitches or throws to any base.
• Pitch counts DO include pitches that hit the batter, are fouled off, or hit into field of play.

• Any pitcher with 40 or fewer pitches in the game may play catcher after pitching. With 41 or more pitches, the player may NOT play catcher.
• Any catcher who catches at all in any 4 innings may not pitch the rest of that calendar day.
• Pitch counts must be tracked by each team and verified after each inning. Have a parent track each pitch for all pitchers of both teams and compare with opposing team pitch counter between innings - every inning. Home team is always the official book.
• You can use the Issaquah Local Pitch Count Log to track pitches by player. See links at right.
• Pitch counts by player must be reported to the Division VP by Home team after each game. Contact your Division VP for further information.
• Once the game starts, pitch counts from shortened or delayed games due to weather or darkness must be reported.
• Baseball scorekeeping is a short-hand record for each at bat in the game.
• More questions - see the Pitching Rules FAQ from Little League.

Little League has some clarifications of rules on the web site.

PRE-GAME BATTING POLICY

This rule is in effect for the entire game site which includes the common areas and beyond the outfield fence.

On game days, the only batting practice allowed (unless you are in a batting cage) is with whiffle or pickle balls. A whiffle ball or pickle ball has many holes in it to limit it's flight and momentum. Use of any balls without holes in them (even plastic ones) are not allowed. The use of pop up nets or any other device to hit hard balls, dimple balls, jug balls, etc. are not allowed.

Everyone hitting whiffle or pickle balls must be wearing a helmet. The use of hitting sticks or any other stationary hitting device is allowed but must be supervised by a coach or parent and the player must wear a helmet.

During the game, the only person allowed to hold a bat in their hands is the hitter. There is no on-deck swinging and the on-deck batter cannot hold a bat in their hands until they have become "the batter".