General – Champion Baseball League

GENERAL PURPOSE
The major emphasis of the Champion Baseball League is to:

Provide youth an opportunity for fun and enjoyment in a Christian environment in order to encourage Christ-likeness on and off the playing field.
Teach youth baseball skills and techniques.
Practice good sportsmanship and physical fitness.

To help ensure proper behavior of spectators, the Champion Baseball League offers the following guidelines:

Spectators should remain seated in the spectator area during the game.
Spectators should not yell instructions or criticisms to the children.
Spectators should make no derogatory comments to players, parents, fans of the opposing team, officials, or league administrators.
Spectators should not interfere with any coach. Parents must be willing to relinquish the responsibility for their child to the coach for the period of the contest.
Spectators should support the players and encourage them to learn.
Smoking, vaping, or any tobacco products are prohibited at all CBL games.
Please observe all posted rules for each individual field in regards to pets or any other stipulation that field may have.

LIABILITY
The Champion Baseball League Committee, Sponsors, Officials, Faith Baptist Church, Fairview Baptist Church, or any supervisory personnel are not responsible for injuries to person or damage to property. This is entirely the responsibility of players and their parents participating (each team member must fill out a parental consent to be eligible to participate). The league strongly urges parents to have insurance of some type in case of injury to the player during the season.

GENERAL
All age groups of baseball will play official High School Rules and softball will play ASA Rules (rules which supersede these will be included in these by-laws).

CBL will provide a cap and shirt for each player, but baseball pants, socks, batting glove, and rubber-cleats are optional. Steel or metal cleats are only allowed in Senior Division. For all age groups other than Senior Division, no player shall participate in a game while wearing steel or metal cleats for any reason. In divisions other than Seniors, if player(s) are found playing while wearing metal cleats they will be ejected from the game.
CBL requires coaches to play each player a minimum of two innings per game in the field, and teams will bat the full roster of players in attendance. Coaches are encouraged to divide field time as evenly as possible to allow all players to continue to develop.
Once games have been scheduled and schedules have been published, games will only be rescheduled at the discretion of the board. Teams should utilize the website schedule for the most up-to-date information on games.
Game time is forfeit time. Teams must be ready to start play at game time or the umpire must declare a forfeit. The purpose of the league is to play games, but we must maintain an exact start time because of scheduling, heat, and sundown. It is the responsibility of the team coach to get his team on time to a game. If a coach cannot be at the game, then an appointed adult coach must get the team to the game on time by communicating to each player the day, field, and time of the game.
All regular season games, whether six or seven innings long, may not start a new inning after the time limit is up. Extra innings may be played to break a tie, if the time limit permits and both coaches agree to extra innings. No time limit shall apply during tournament games.
A 6-inning game is considered to be an official game after 4 complete innings (or 3 innings if the home team is ahead). A 7-inning game is considered to be an official game after 5 complete innings (or 4 innings if the home team is ahead).
For (6) inning games (Youth, Minors, Softball): A ten (10) run lead rule will be in effect after 5 innings or a twenty (20) run lead rule, after 4 innings. In the case a team has a 10-run lead at the end of 5 innings or a 20-run lead at the end of 4 innings, the game is complete at that point. T-ball games will play the time limit regardless of the score.
For (7) inning games (Majors, Seniors): A ten (10) run lead rule will be in effect after 6 innings or a twenty (20) run lead rule, after 5 innings. In the case a team has a 10-run lead at the end of 6 innings or a 20-run lead at the end of 5 innings, the game is complete at that point.
Game clock (or umpire watch or home team scorer watch) will start once the home team takes the field. If time expires once an inning is started the inning will be completed before the game is considered to be completed. Any inning that is started will be completed.
The home team scorekeeper will be the official score keeper for each game. The home team is the first team listed in the game schedule and sits on the first base side of the field. A batting order should be given to each team prior to a game.
If a late player comes into the game, the player is to be placed at the bottom of the batting order and is not to play until the full completion of the current inning.
If a player must permanently leave the game early (game-ending sickness, game-ending injury, leave for other activity, etc), that player is to be removed from the lineup without penalty. However, if a player is temporarily not available at their time at bat but is remaining in the game (i.e. bathroom break, temporary sickness, temporary injury, etc), that player is called out.
If a player is injured, a pinch runner may be inserted on one occasion per game. On the second occasion where the same player needs a pinch runner during the same game, that player must either be removed from the game (permanent injury), or that player
will be called out (temporary injury but unable to run bases). Since all players are in the lineup during games, pinch runners may be used only for injuries at the discretion of the umpire.
Members of one team shall not heckle or harass members of the opposing team. The penalty for violation, at the discretion of the umpire, shall be removal of the guilty player, players, and/or coach from the game and from the dugout. Cheer for your own team, but do not harass the other.
Base coaches cannot physically assist the runners on base.
A player cannot interfere with a player’s right to play the ball while running to a base. A runner cannot run out of the base line to avoid a tag.
Running into a player in order to knock the ball loose from the other player is an automatic out for the runner. Sliding under the play is not charging.
Running into a player who is fielding a hit ball is not allowed. If this happens, the ball is dead, the base runner is out, and the batter will stop at 1^st base.
Carelessly throwing a bat will be determined by the umpire and given a warning to the coach; further offenders will be called out.
All players are to wear their batting helmets from the bench back to the bench during their turn at bat, including if they are serving as a base coach.
Players cannot wear any type of jewelry during games.
Pre-game warm-up protocol: Home team (listed first on schedule) receives field 30 minutes before scheduled game time for 15 minutes; Visiting team receives field 15 minutes before scheduled game time for 15 minutes. If there are less than 30 minutes before scheduled game time, the amount of time should be evenly divided between the two teams (i.e. if field becomes available 10 minutes before game time, each team gets field for 5 minutes, beginning with the home team).
Standings shall be determined by overall winning percentage. A tie will not count in winning percentage. If there is a tie in the standings at the end of the regular season, head-to-head results will be the first tiebreaker. If teams remained tied, the CBL Committee will determine playoff positions.
After regular season play, a single-elimination tournament will be played to determine Division Champions in all ages except T-ball.
While their team is in the field, coaches and assistant coaches must remain in the dugout unless making a defensive change or attending to an injured player. (T-Ball would not need to follow this rule as coaches and parents are allowed to be in the field with the players)

ROSTERS

Coaches are responsible for making sure Parental Consent/Medical release forms are in order and kept in the possession of the coach at all team activities.
Once a child is assigned to a team, he cannot change teams without the approval of the Champion Baseball Committee. This change may only be granted by the Committee and after both coaches have been contacted.

INCLEMENT WEATHER & RAIN OUT GAMES

Game time may be delayed 30 minutes due to inclement weather.
Whenever lightening approaches, all games/practices must cease. Everyone must go indoors and must wait 20 minutes since the last flash of lightening before returning to the fields.
Excessive rain out games will be made up at the end of the season if they affect the play-offs.
Games called due to weather before being official (General Rules #7) will be declared no game.
Regular season games maybe delayed 30 min before being called.
Playoff games will be suspended and will resume at future date determined by the division representative.
When games are cancelled because the fields are wet, all practices at game fields are also cancelled and all teams and players should remain off of the fields.

OFFICIALS

In the event a team fails to respect the Umpire’s authority or decision, the Umpire has been instructed that he has the authority to forfeit the game to the other team after one (1) warning has been given that such action will be taken.

PLAYING FIELD

AGE GROUP	PITCHING DISTANCES	BASES	Home to 2^nd
T-Ball Baseball	38 feet	50 feet	70ft 8in
Youth (Coach’s Pitch) Baseball	42 feet	60 feet	84ft 10in
Minors Baseball	42 feet	60 feet	84ft 10in
Majors Baseball	54 feet	70 feet	99ft 0in
Senior Baseball	60.5 feet	90 feet	127ft 3in
Youth (13U) Softball	42 feet	60 feet	84ft 10in
Junior Varsity (18U) Softball	43 feet	60 feet	84ft 10in

PLAY-OFFS

Final regular-season standings shall be determined by overall winning percentage. A tie will not count in winning percentage. If there is a tie in the standings at the end of the regular season, head-to-head results will be the first tiebreaker. If teams remained tied, the CBL Committee will determine playoff positions.