• 9U-12U: 20 eligible players
• 13U-14U: 25 eligible players
• 15U-17U: 30 eligible players

2.02  Age Eligibility: A player’s age on May 1st of the season will dictate his age group for that season. A player can play up in age divisions. For ages 14U-17U, graduation year can also be used.

2.03  The team’s manager is responsible for all aspects of the eligibility of the players on his team and that they meet the requirements as set forth in Rule 2.02.

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

2.05  If anytime during a tournament game, a player is discovered illegal due to an age violation or participating on more than one team in the same tournament, the team is subject to forfeit. The first team a player participates for is their official team. 
2.06  Photocopies of player’s original birth certificates must be 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.

2.07  All teams must be in compliance with tournament lodging policy or jeopardize not be bracketed into the tournament. Policy can be found on the main tournament webpage.

Rule 3.00 Playing Field and Equipment

3.01 The playing field should be laid out according to the following age specific dimensions.

• 9U-10U: 46x65; Some Tournaments may offer 9u, 46x60 Closed Bases.
• 11U-12U: 50x70
• 13U-17U: 60x90
  
  

3.02 Metal Bat Tournaments

• 9U-12U: Metal bat. All bats must have a branding, label, or stamp proving BPF 1.15. NO WOOD BATS
• 13U: Metal bat. All bats must have a branding, label, or stamp proving BPF 1.15 or BBCOR on it. There is length to weight ratio maximum of -5 (5 ounces). NO WOOD BATS
• 14U-18U: Metal bat. All teams must use BBCOR -3 bats that are legal according to the National High School Federation. Wood bats are also allowed.

3.03  Blank number is considered number 0. Only customary baseball shoes shall be worn by any and all players. Regular metal cleats are NOT allowed in age divisions 9U-12U. No cleats of any kind allowed on temporary mounds. 

Rule 4.00 Official Playing Rules

4.01 The Official Playing Rules of Perfect Game Youth Florida will follow National Federation Rules with the exceptions being contained in this document.

4.02 Game Time:  Starting time is forfeit time, unless a delay is created by tournament director.  Scheduled games can start up to 30 minutes early if the previous game ends early. Teams may play an official game with an eight (8) player line-up.  If a team plays with an eight (8) player line-up, an out shall be declared for the ninth (9th) position in the batting line-up each turn at bat.  A ninth (9th) player and all subsequent players may be added to the bottom of the batting line-up as soon as they become available.

4.03 Home Team:  Home team will be predetermined in pool play and high seed in Bracket play.

4.04 Pool Play:  All Pool Play games will be played with a strict 1 hour 45 minute time limit for 9U - 12U, 1 hour 50 minutes time limit for 13U & 14U, and 2 hours for Freshman, Underclass & Upperclass divisions.  No inning can start after the time limit.  Game time will be kept by the umpires.  For each team's pool games the home team will be predetermined. All pool games can end in a tie.  A tie is equal to a ½ win and ½ loss for each team.

4.05 Championship Round/Playoffs:  No two teams from the same organization will match-up in the first round of the playoffs. After Round 1, no switches will be made. In bracket play, time limits and tie-breakers are in effect.  The Championship game will have a winner and played without a time limit. This rule is subject to change. The home team in Championship Play will be the higher seed except when there is no seeding. When there is no seeding, the home team will be determined by a coin flip. This is the case even if the schedule says otherwise.

Tie Breaker: The following tie breaker rules will go into effect except for the Semi-final and Championship Games. The last three hitters from the previous inning will load the bases. 
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
• Normal substitution rules apply to these runners.
• The hitting team will start the inning with one out.
• Play continues until one team is ahead at the end of an inning.

4.06 Forfeits:  Any intentional forfeit will result in the forfeiting team being eliminated from the tournament. The tournament committee will rule on all forfeits. No team should benefit from the result of a forfeit in an unfair manner. This rule could result in a dispute and the tournament committee reserves the right to look at and rule in the fairest possible way. The committee’s decision will be final! A forfeit score will be the average runs scored for the winning team to 0 for the losing team. The tournament committee will decide when a forfeit is declared.

4.07 TEAMS DEPARTING BEFORE THE END OF THE TOURNAMENT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO COMPETE IN THE PLAYOFFS!!!!! If this happens we will take the second place team out of the pool or the next best team. The Tournament Director will rule in the fairest possible way.

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

4.09 Mercy Rules 9U-12U: 15 after 3, 8 after 4. 13U-17U: 15 after 3, 12 after 4, 8 after 5.

4.10 Trips to the mound: The pitcher must be replaced on the 2nd trip to the mound in any inning.

4.11 Hitting lineup: 9U-12U: Can consist of 9, 10, or 11 players; or teams are permitted to bat their entire line up. 13U-17U: Can consist of 9, 10, or 11 players.  The lineup must stay with the same number of batters for the entire game. The 10th and 11th hitter 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. The starting pitcher is allowed to DH for himself and bat in any slot in the order.

4.12 Courtesy Runners: Courtesy runners are available for both the pitcher and the catcher and may be used at any time. Courtesy runner MUST be an available substitution. If no sub is available or you are batting the line-up, the courtesy runner will be the last recorded out.  The same player cannot run for the pitcher and catcher in the same inning.  REMINDER: This rule was modified to speed the progression of the game.

4.13 SLIDE RULE: Whenever a tag play is evident, a runner must slide or seek to avoid contact with the fielder and / or catcher. Attempting to jump, leap, or dive over the fielder and / or catcher is not interpreted as seeking to avoid contact. Malicious contact shall supersede all obstruction penalties.

Penalty: The runner shall be called out and may be ejected from the game at the umpire’s discretion.

 4.14 Intentional Walk: An Intentional Walk may be issued upon announcement from either the pitcher or catcher without throwing pitches.

4.15 In case of rain: All rain out games may not be made up depending on time constraints. In case of 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).

4.16 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 can not be resumed within 1 hour will be considered an official game, if: 

• For a six (6) inning game, if three (3) innings have been played or if the home team has scored more runs after two and one half (2 1/2) innings the game shall be declared a complete game.  In bracket play if a game is tied after 4 or more innings, the score will revert back to the previous inning. If still tied, the game will be a suspended game.
• For a seven (7) inning game, if four (4) innings have been played or if the home team has scored more runs after three and one half (3 1/2) innings the game shall be declared a complete game.

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.

If games can not be completed for any reason before or during the Championship round, first place, second place, third place, etc. will be awarded based on PG Seeding and Tie Breaker Rules.

4.17 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.

4.18 Roster and Roster changes: If a player is listed on more than one roster, the player listed will make a decision as to which roster he is legally on. This decision is up to the individual player. No player can appear in a tournament game for more than one team.

4.19 Scoring:  All 9u-14u teams are required to provide an official team scorer.  The home team will be the official scorer. Scorer must have the ability to keep the book via Game Changer.  If necessary, a tablet will be provided to the official home scorekeeper, when needed.  Pitch counts will be verified by the field umpire, with both teams scorers each half inning.  In case of a dispute the home book will take priority. 

4.20 Sportsmanship: In the interest of maintaining a quality event, the tournament committee reserves the right to eject any person from the site for unruly or unsportsmanlike behavior. Any coach or player who is ejected for the second time during the tournament will be eliminated from participating for the remainder of the tournament.

4.21 Pitching: The MLB balk rule will be enforced. When a balk is called it is NOT a dead ball. The 3B to 1B pickoff move is legal. Also, in the windup position, a pitcher is permitted to have his "free" foot on the rubber, in front of the rubber, behind the rubber, or off to the side of the rubber. Please refer to Pitch Smart guidelines for pitching limitations.

1. Enforced Pitching Limitations: All PGBA Events will follow PitchSmart Guidelines.  See specific tournament Pitching Rules for additional information.

4.22 Not covered in the Rules: In the event any item is not covered in the rules, the tournament committee will make the fairest possible ruling and that ruling will be final!

4.23 Seeding and Tie Breaker Rules

1. Pool play overall record (winning percentage)
2. If two teams are tied -Head to Head winner
3. If three teams are tied – If one team has defeated both other teams, that team advances. If not go to #4.
4. Run differential (Max of 7 runs per game)
5. Total runs allowed in pool play.
6. Total runs scored in pool play
7. Total runs allowed subtracting game with most runs allowed in pool play
8. Total runs allowed minus two games with most runs allowed in pool play
9. Runs scored inning by inning starting with first game until one team has more runs after a complete inning starting with pool games
10. Second place teams will always be taken ahead of 3rd place teams for wild cards, 3rd place ahead of 4th place, etc.

Rule 5.00 Sportsmanship

All players, coaches, managers, sponsors and spectators are expected to conduct themselves in a sportsmanlike manner at all times.  Ejection offenses include but are not limited to:

5.01  Physical attack on an umpire, tournament official, associate director, associate officer, and/or any player or fan prior, during, or immediately following a game played under the authority of Perfect Game.

5.02  Players, coaches, managers, or sponsors threatening an umpire, tournament official, associate director, or associate officer with physical harm.

5.03  Any player, coach, manager, sponsor, director or officer who engages in physical fighting.

5.04  Using unsportsmanlike conduct or abusive language, symbol tactics, or derogatory or unbecoming acts.

5.05 Destruction of property or abuse or failure to pay.

5.07  Competing under an assumed, false and/or altered name.

5.08  Use of any illegal equipment, substance, or falsification of any kind.

5.09  Tournament hosts have the authority to eject a player, fans or team anytime during a tournament of committing any of the above listed offenses.

5.10 A player or coach ejection carries removal from that game.  If warranted, the offending party can be suspended for the rest of the event at the discretion of the Umpire/Tournament Director.

5.11 Any coach, manager, sponsor or spectator ejected from a game shall immediately remove themselves from the vicinity of the playing field for the remainder of the game.  Any player ejected may be confined to the dugout at the discretion of the Umpire/Tournament Director.  If necessary, a team may be forced to forfeit a game and be removed from the tournament, if the ejected party does not leave the field in an appropriate, timely manner.