Wesac Rules and Coaching tips

1. Have Fun!!
This is a recreational league. Some kids will know more about the game than others, but no one will know everything. Be a positive role model for the kids and their parents.

2. Teach Baseball Skills
When batting, get the kids to make contact with the ball out in front (towards the pitcher) of their body instead of waiting until the ball is directly in the middle of their body. When throwing, get the kids to step towards where they want the ball to go and point their glove towards the target. Work on picking up ground balls and get a force out if possible. Have your kids practice catching pop ups. Also work on the concept of tagging up (on offense) or looking for the fly ball double play (on defense). Don't worry about anything more advanced that that. A few good habits started here last a lifetime. If certain players are ready for more, please take the time to help them improve their skills.

3. Everybody Plays
The defense is pitcher, catcher, 5 infielders (one right on second base) and four in the outfield, at least 15 steps behind the infielders. If more than 11 players ae present, some must sit out. No player can sit out twice in the same game until everyone has sat out once. Only put players who can defend themselves at first and pitcher, but try to work everyone to that skill level during the season. Each player must play the outfield at least one defensive inning every gameo. No player may play more than 2 innings at any defensive position. Over the course of the season, veryone should sit out approximately the same number of innings. The child who only shows up once every three games may have some catching up to do on sitting out time (use your judgment and make allowances for legitimate excuses like school activities, birthday parties and family events). Make up the defensive positions in advance in order to keep the game moving. Write down who plays what, as kids and parents will complain about lack of time at choice positions.

4. Everybody Bats
An inning is 10 baters or three outs, whichever comes first. Bat the team in uniform number order (or any order, it's up to you), but for some games go backwards or start in the middle so that the same children don't always bat last. Players bat even if they sat out the previous defensive inning.

5. Everybody Hits the Ball
After five (count them, 5!) pitches the batter MUST hit a soft toss or from a batting T. There are two exceptions to the five pitch rule. If the fifth pitch is hit foul, the batter gets another swing. If the fifth pitch is a "bad" pitch, the coach can deliver another pitch. A pitch qualifies as "bad" if one of three things happens: The pitch hits the batter, the pitch hits the backstop on the fly, or the pitch hits the ground in front of the plate. Every other pitch, no matter how unhittable, is a "good" pitch. These two exceptions can be repeated until the player gets a "good" pitch that is not hit foul. Self esteem is very important for our kids. A player repeatedly (i.e. more than 5) missing a machine pitched ball can become very demoralized. Please be sure that you don't make hitting soft toss stigma of some sort. Explain that it is just a WESAC rule intended to make the game go faster with more innings played.

6. Everybody Runs (but not all the time).
Any runner who was left on base at the end of an inning MAY (it's up to the coach) return to that base at the start of the next inning (unless the last batter also made the third out). The runner on first might not return so the chance of a double play, and a resulting potential two batter inning, is reduced (it's up to the coach). There is only one extra base on overthrows at first (batter advances at his/her own risk), even if the first base player retrieves the ball and throws it into left field in the attempt to get the batter at second. The play is over and runners go to the nearest base when the pitcher controls the ball in their normal fielding position.

7. This isn't baseball yet.
No infield fly rule, no lead offs and no bunting. Runners can advance after a fly out. A batted ball caught in the air can be turned into a double (or triple) play if the runners don't get back to their bases.

8. Games
Games are five full innings. Check the schedule for starting times. Games start at the time shown. If your team is short some players but you know they are coming, START ANYWAY. If you know you will be short handed for the entire game you can ask (but can't demand) that either the players on the other team help out on defense or that some players on the other team actually join your team for the evening (this does not apply in the tournament).

9. Tips
Have the on deck batter hit soft toss behind the backstop into the backstop. This keeps the kids ready to play. The quicker you get to the on deck area, the more swings you get before you have to bat. On defense, have the positions determined in advance to avoid kids begging for their favorite spots. Have the positions in advance also keeps the game moving and lets you get more innings in. If a batter has trouble making contact, consider doing soft toss from the side after four or five pitches, or earlier if you know your player needs it. Self esteem is important for kids. Don't make soft toss into a stigma of some sort.
10. Tournament Rules There are four differences during the tournament.

First, score is kept. If the game is tied after five innings, play one extra inning. If the score remains tied, then the team that is younger (by grade level) wins. If that is tied, line up all the kids in left field and have a race to the first base line. The team that has three players cross the foul line before the other team's third player wins. If that is tied, race again.

Second, the soft toss rule does not apply. If the batter does not make fair contact by th fifth pitch, the batter must return to the bench. The player counts towards the player limit for batters in an inning, but does not count as an out. Any "bad" pitch (as defined above) does not count as a pitch when counting to five.

Third, there can be no player swapping if one team is light on participants. A team must have at least four players otherwise it is a forfeit. If a player is on base and his turn comes up to bat, a pinch runner (the most recent to be out) may be used. Fourth, if the home team is already ahead in the bottom of the fifth inning, the game is over.

NOTE that the defensive participation rules regarding that everyone must play in the outfield and the 2 inning limit do apply for the tournament.