Tournament Rules and Format

TEAM CHECK IN

All managers or head coaches are required to check in 1 hour prior to the start of their game. They will need to show their Certificate of Insurance and also team roster.

INSURANCE INFO

Certificate of Insurance for 4Bagger USA

4Bagger USA

17440 Dallas Parkway #116

Dallas, Tx 75287

REFUND POLICY

  • If zero games played, the team will receive  100% credit for a future 4Bagger USA tournament in the same area they signed up for
  • 50% credit if one game played
  • If two games played, there will be no refund and no credit. 
  • All sales are final.  No refunds, future tournament credit only.

4Bagger USA 2022 Rules

Team and Individual Player Eligibility

Age Eligibility: A player’s age before May 1st of the season will dictate his age group for that season. A player can always play up in age divisions.  Players move up to the next age level September 1 of each year.  In fall of each tournament season, an 11u team moves up to 12u.

The team’s manager is responsible for all aspects of the eligibility of the players on his or her team.

A player who is in violation of the age eligibility shall be considered an illegal player.

In each age division, all participating players in 4Bagger USA  2022 events shall have photocopies of their original birth certificates in the possession of their team manager. Electronic copies of ID documents are accepted. Failure to have a copy of a birth certificate upon demand will result in suspension for the remainder of the event until such document can be produced. Driver’s License is permitted.

Ejection Rules

PLAYING RULES OR ILLEGAL EQUIPMENT PROTEST
Protests will be heard and ruled on by the Tournament and Field Director. The team protesting a playing rule must make cash payment
of $250 at the time of the protest to the Field director on–site. If the protest is ruled in the protesting team’s favor the
$250 will be refunded. The ruling made by the committee will be final. Protests must be filed and ruled on immediately. You
cannot protest a play on the field if play has already been resumed. If you are protesting illegal equipment and the ruling is
in your favor, then the equipment in question will be removed immediately and play will continue (any prior game play
leading up to that point remains as it was).
SUSPENSION
Any player or coach that is ejected from a game will be subject to suspension upon review by the Tournament and Field Director. If a
team acts unruly or unsportsmanlike, 4Bagger USA reserves the right to eject that team from the current tournament.                                      Sportsmanship: In the interest of maintaining a quality event, 4Bagger USA reserves the right to eject any person from the site for unruly or unsportsmanlike behavior.
FAN CODE OF CONDUCT
4Bagger USA is committed to serving our fans by providing a secure, comfortable, and enjoyable experience for all fans at
all of our venues. The Fan Code of Conduct has been instituted to make sure that your experience is consistent with our
commitment.
As a supporter of 4Bagger USA baseball tournaments, we ask you to help us maintain a positive game day
experience by adhering to the following:
• Fans will be treated in a consistent, professional and polite way by all staff and team personnel.
• Obscene, abusive, and/or racist language, gestures, signage or behavior directed towards game officials or visiting
team’s fans, players or coaching staff is prohibited. Additionally, obscene or indecent clothing or related material will
not be admitted into any venue.
• Verbal or physical confrontation, including dangerous, abusive or profane behavior is prohibited.
• Disruptive actions or behavior that is unruly, disruptive, or illegal, including but not limited to throwing objects on the
playing surface or unauthorized trespassing on the playing surface or other restricted areas will result in immediate
removal from the event.
• Signs of alcohol impairment in and around any venue that results in irresponsible behavior will lead to denial of entry
or subject persons to arrest or ejection from the event.
• Interfering with or failure to abide by security procedures, emergency procedures or requests from staff concerning
athletic operations will result in immediate removal from the event.
Fans unwilling to abide by the provisions outlined in this Fan Code of Conduct will be subject to ejection and may also be
subject to arrest and prosecution.
AGE ELIGIBILITY PROTEST
Protests will be heard and ruled on by the Tournament and Field Director. The team protesting must have convincing evidence that a
player is not in compliance. If the tournament committee feels there is convincing evidence, then they will proceed to the
team–in–question’s submitted roster. From here three cases can occur:
1. The player’s information on the roster is in compliance with the tournament and therefore play continues.
2. The player’s information is not in compliance to the tournament. If the tournament is still in pool play, the player will
immediately be ejected, all opponents will receive a forfeit win (they have the option to play the game as an exhibition)
and advancement procedures will remain the same. If the tournament is in the playoffs, the current game will become
a forfeit and playoffs will continue as scheduled.
3. The player’s information on the roster is in compliance with the tournament but the protesting team has convincing
evidence that the wrong information was submitted. In this case, the protesting team must provide $250 in cash which
will be needed in order to gather the player–in–question’s appropriate documents. From there, the player–in–question
has until the end of the current game to provide the tournament committee his/her documents. If he/she cannot
provide documents in that amount of time, then the tournament committee will make the fairest possible ruling and
that ruling will be final.


Forfeit Rules

If a team cancels within a week of their scheduled tournament without having paid their registration fee, they are subject to a $200 forfeit fee.  This fee MUST be paid before they can enter another 4Bagger USA tournament and their organization name will be shared with other tournament organizations, including but not limited to:  Big Show, Diamond Nation, In The Net, Perfect Game, and any others as 4Bagger USA deems fit. Your team will also remain in that week’s schedule and teams who show to play against your team will not have an opponent.  Umpire fees will also have to be paid by the offending team and that invoice will be mailed separately to the team contact address on file.

Playing Field and Equipment

  • 9U: 46×60
  • 10U: 46×60
  • 11U-12U: 50×70
  • 13U-18U: 60×90
BAT RESTRICTIONS: 9u–12u: Any bat with USA or 1.15 BPF Certification. 13u–16u: Must be –3 BBCOR.                                                                   18u: Wood bat tournaments can only be played with single–solid wood (NO WOOD COMPOSITES, NO DEMARINIS, NO
BAMBOO, NO BAUM BATS, NO BRETT BROS).

Pool Play


All Pool Play games will be played with a time limit.  The time limit for each weekend will be decided when the schedule is posted and it will depend on number of teams and when sunset is.  Playoff games will have the same time limit.  With the exception of the championship game which will not have a time limit.For tie games in the playoffs:

  • The base runners will be placed as follows:
  • Last hitter from previous inning @ 1st Base
  • Hitter before him in the lineup @ 2nd Base
  • Hitter before that in the lineup @ 3rd Base
  • The hitting team will start the inning with one out.
  • Play continues until one team is ahead at the end of an inning.
  • A team can start a game with 9 players and finish with 8.

In the championship games if darkness is setting in and the game is tied 4Bagger USA Northeast reserves the right to instruct umpires to go to international tie break rules to finish the game and get a winner.  This would be determined by the Field Director.

On weekends with drop dead times the following rules apply:

Once the drop dead time hits if that inning is not completed, the score will revert back to the last completed inning.  If the home team has the tying run on base in the last inning there is no drop dead time and that inning can be completed.  Mound visits with 5 minutes or less on the game clock will stop the clock. 

Awards

If a Championship game ends in a tie due to weather, darkness, OR for any reason…  The higher seeded team will become the Champions.  

Taking Infield: No infield will be allowed during the tournaments.

Mercy Rules

All Ages: 12 runs after 3 innings, 10 runs after 4 innings, 8 runs after 5 innings.

Trips to the mound: The pitcher must be replaced on the 2nd trip to the mound in any inning and each subsequent visit that inning.

Hitting lineup: 9U-18U: Teams are permitted to bat their entire lineup.  They can bat 9 or bat the bus.  The lineup must stay with the same number of batters for the entire game. The 10th and 11th players if used will be designated as an EH and XH on the lineup card. The EH and XH is the same as any position on the field as far as substitutions are concerned. You may also use a DH for your pitcher if you choose.

On Saturday if you bat everyone and a player is injured and cannot play, that player will just be skipped and not counted as an out.  If you drop below 9 either day that player is considered an out.  If on Sunday this happens, that player will be counted as an out.

In case of rain: All rain out games may not be made up depending on time constraints. In case of any scheduling changes it is the team’s responsibility, not the tournament committee, to make sure they are aware of the new schedule or any scheduling changes. This information will be posted on the tournament web site when it becomes available. Note: No special requests will be honored if rescheduling becomes necessary. All coaches should make sure the tournament committee has current contact info. If games are cancelled, pool winners and championship qualification will be determined by the tie breaking procedures (listed below).

Stop in Play: If a game is stopped, the game must start within 1 hour of the stop in play. If games are not resumed, they will become suspended or called official. Games called by umpires that cannot be resumed within 1 hour will be considered an official game, if 4 innings have been completed, or 4 1/2 innings if the home team is ahead. After 5 complete innings, a tie score will be recorded a tie in pool play. The tournament director can extend the 1 hour if there are extenuating circumstances, i.e. lightning detector, working on fields, etc. A suspended game will resume where the game was halted. In the event play is stopped for any reason before or during the Championship round, first place, second place, third place, etc. will be awarded based on 4 Bagger USA Seeding and Tie Breaker Rules.

Protests: Protests will be heard and ruled on by the tournament committee. The team protesting must make cash payment of $100 at the time of the protest. If the protest is ruled in the protesting team’s favor the $100 will be refunded. The ruling made by the committee will be final. Protests must be filed and ruled on before the next pitch if during game, or before umpires leave field if after a game.

Final Score: At the end of every game both coaches will be required to sign a score card.  Once signed and agreed on the final score is considered official and cannt be changed.

Balk Rules:  Ages 9-10u – No Balks.  Ages 11-12u – Balk warning then balks will be called.  13-18u – Balks called from the start. 

9-10u No dropped 3rd strike.

Courtesy runner for pitcher or catcher with 2 out.

Not covered in the Rules: In the event that any item is not covered in the rules, the Field or Tournament Director will make the fairest possible ruling.

Seeding and Tie Breaker Rules.

  • Pool play overall record (winning percentage)
  • If two teams are tied -Head to Head winner
  • If three teams are tied – If one team has defeated both other teams, that team advances.  If not go to next tiebreak.
  • If still tied – total runs allowed in pool play.
  • If still tied – total runs scored in pool play.
  • If still tied – the website will do a coin toss to break the tie.
  • 9u-12u will have 1 umpire on Saturday and Sunday
  • 13u-18u will have 2 umpires on Saturday and Sunday

National High School Baseball Federation Rules apply in all other cases.