The rules that come up mid-game.
Short, sourced answers to the questions someone in your dugout asks every season. Each one names the sanctioning body it comes from, because the honest answer to most youth baseball rules questions is that it depends on who you play under.
- Topics
- 5 rules
- Sourced
- Named rulebooks
- Written for
- A phone, mid-inning
Pitch count limits by age
Under Little League Regulation VI, the daily maximum is 50 pitches for league age 7-8, 75 for ages 9-10, 85 for ages 11-12, 95 for ages 13-16, and 105 for ages 17-18. Rest days are then required based on how many pitches were thrown that day.
Courtesy runner
A courtesy runner is a substitute who runs for the pitcher or catcher already on base, so that player can get their gear on for the next half inning. NFHS high school rules allow it with two outs. Little League does not use courtesy runners at all.
Run rule and mercy rule
A run rule, also called a mercy rule, ends a game early once a lead is large enough that the outcome is settled. Little League ends a regulation six-inning game when a team leads by 15 after three innings or by 10 after four.
Dropped third strike
If the catcher fails to catch a third strike cleanly, the batter may try for first base when first base is unoccupied, or when there are two outs regardless of who is on base. The pitcher is still credited with the strikeout even if the batter reaches safely.
Continuous batting order
A continuous batting order, sometimes called round-robin or bat-the-roster, puts every rostered player in the batting order whether or not they are playing the field. Defensive substitution then becomes free, because taking a player off the field does not remove their at-bats.
Looking for scorekeeping notation and stat definitions instead? Those live in the scoring glossary. For how the app turns a spoken play into a scored one, see how scoring works.
The rules are built in.
Pick your league's ruleset and the scorebook applies it: pitch counts, dropped third strike, courtesy runners, run rule.