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Divisions & Recommended Grade Levels
Triple A Division - Wood Bat (Recommended for 11th and 12th grades)
- Pitching rubber 60 feet, 6 inches; bases 90 feet
- All sessions will be 2 1/2 hours in length starting at 1:00 or 3:30.
- Approximately 30 minutes of pre-game and 2 hours of game.
- Wood bat only. Composite wood bats will be provided or you may use your own.
- Pre-Game to include: Arm Care, throwing, whiffle ball hitting and, if time permits, infield/outfield.
- Situational play will occur for the first 2 innings of each game
- See scripted situation description below.
Double A Division (recommended for 9th and 10th grades)
- Pitching rubber 60 feet, 6 inches; bases 90 feet
- All sessions will be 2 1/2 hours in length starting at 1:00 or 3:30.
- Approximately 30 minutes of pre-game and 2 hours of game.
- Pre-Game to include: Arm Care, throwing, whiffle ball hitting and, if time permits, infield/outfield.
- Situational play will occur for the first 2 innings of each game.
- See scripted situation description below.
14U Division
- Pitching rubber at 54 feet; bases at 80 feet.
- All sessions will be 2 1/2 hours in length starting at 1:00 or 3:30.
- Approximately 30 minutes of pre-game and 2 hours of game.
- Earn 100 USSSA points for 2012 season. Relaxed rosters.
- Pre-Game to include: Arm Care, throwing, whiffle ball hitting and, if time permits, infield/outfield.
- Situational play will occur for the first 2 innings of each game.
- See scripted situation description below.
12U Division
- Pitching rubber at 50 feet; bases at 70 feet.
- All sessions will be 2 1/2 hours in length starting at 1:00 or 3:30.
- Approximately 30 minutes of pre-game and 2 hours of game.
- Earn 100 USSSA points for 2012 season. Relaxed rosters.
- Pre-Game to include: Arm Care, throwing, whiffle ball hitting and, if time permits, infield/outfield.
- Games at this level will be played straight up - NO scripted situations.
10U Division
- Pitching rubber at 46 feet; bases at 65 feet.
- All sessions will be 2 hours in length starting at 1:00 or 3:30.
- Approximately 30 minutes of pre-game and 1 1/2 hours of game.
- Earn 100 USSSA points for 2012 season. Relaxed rosters.
- Pre-Game to include: Arm Care, throwing, whiffle ball hitting and, if time permits, infield/outfield.
- Games at this level will be played straight up - NO scripted situations.
8U Division - Coach Pitch
- Pitching rubber at 40 feet; bases at 60 feet
- All sessions will be 2 hours in length starting at 1:00 or 3:30.
- Approximately 30 minutes of pre-game and 1 1/2 hours of game.
- Coach Pitch to conserve young pitching arms and to increase repititions for batters and fielders. This is a fantastic way to train!
- Earn 100 USSSA points for 2012 season. Relaxed rosters.
- Pre-Game to include: Arm Care, throwing, whiffle ball hitting and, if time permits, infield/outfield.
- Games at this level will be played straight up - NO scripted situations.
- Coach Pitch Rules:
- 5 run rule per inning, ten run rule in the 6th and beyond.
- No base runners may advance once the pitcher has control of the ball in the circle around the pitcher’s mound. Once control in the circle is established, play is stopped.
- If base runner is past the mid-line, runner is awarded base going to; if not past the mid-line, runner must return to the base he or she came from.
- The defensive team may have 2 coaches on the field in foul territory down each line no closer than the outfield/infield line. The offensive team may have 1 third base coach and 1 first base coach along with the pitcher. The coach/pitcher is not allowed to coach the runners but can help the hitter when he is pitching.
- No stealing, bunting, or leading off.
- If pitcher/coach is hit by the ball, ball is dead and it counts as a pitch.
- Six (6) pitches to a batter; after 6 pitches the batter is out (foul balls and hit batters count as a pitch thrown).Coach/pitcher must have one foot in the dirt pitchers mound. Coaches must pitch overhand.
- Teams must field 10 players: P, C, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, SS, and 4 outfielders.
- Outfielders must be behind the dirt infield until ball is hit.
- Runners cannot leave base until ball is hit. One team warning issued per game and runner returns to base. After that, runner removed from base but no out recorded. – Umpire’s Call
- Runners may continue to advance until ball returns to pitcher and pitcher is in the circle. Ball is dead when pitcher returns to circle.
- Fielders, including pitcher not in circle, can make a play on all runners regardless of base runners positions on the base paths. It is the runner’s responsibility to advance safely or return safely to the base when between bases
***Scripted Situational Play. In order to better develop game awareness, each Triple A, Double A and 14U games will involve 2 innings of a single scripted situation. Every player will have the opportunity to bat in the situation of the day! 
Traditional baseball games include several different scenarios, each coming up possibly only once a game. Our format will allow players to work these situations more extensively. Batters, pitchers, baserunners and defense will all have to make necessary adjustments for the situation presented. Many professional teams utilize this concept in spring training and rookie leagues. Several colleges also incorporate scripted innings during intersquad games, Mount Mercy included. This is an excellent way to train situational play!
How it works. TEAM A is on offense, TEAM B is on defense. Inning 1 will consist of 6 batters for each team. Play starts with batter 1 from TEAM A with the designated situation of the day in place (see examples below). At the conclusion of batter 1's at-bat appropriate points are awarded. Batter 2 then comes to the plate with the same designated situation of the day in place. This is repeated for 6 batters when TEAM B then becomes the offensive team and goes through the same routine. There may be six outs in one half inning!
Run totals will be kept for each game but there will also be points awarded during scripted play. At the conclusion of the league we'll see who is the overall situational play champion. Below are some examples.
- Example #1: Runner on 2B, nobody out & 1-1 count.
- Objective: Advance the runner to 3B with less than 2 outs (allows the opportunity for run to score with out a base hit [sacrifice fly, infield groundball with infield back, passed ball, etc]).
- How to:
- Groundball behnid the runner (basically from SS to RF line).
- Sacrifice fly to deep gaps or RF.
- Right Handed Hitter Adjustments for groundball behind the runner:
- Widen stance and choke up slightly.
- Use late timing and take knob of the bat towards the ball (this produces a bat angle towards the right side).
- Seek pitches located middle away.
- Points:
- 3 points - score runner from 2B without producing an out.
- 2 points - advancing runner to 3B without producing an out.
- 1 point - advancing runner to 3B while producing an out or not advancing runner but not producing an out (walk, HBP, error, etc.).
- 0 points - not advancing runner and producing an out.
- Example #2: Runner on 3B, 1 out, 1-1 count & infield playing in.
- Objective: Score the runner from 3B.
- How to:
- Hard groundball through the larger infield holes created by the infield playing in.
- Squeeze bunt.
- Hitter Adjustments for sacrifice fly:
- Seek pitches up in the zone.
- Move up in the batters box. Allows batter to hit any pitch at a higher location as it descends to the catcher’s mitt
- Points:
- 3 points - score runner from 3B without producing an out.
- 2 points - score runner from 3B while producing an out.
- 1 point - not scoring runner, but not producing an out.
- 0 points - not scoring runner and producing an out.
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