The HPL baseball program is for children ages 4-12 and is a Little League affiliate and is thus bound by Little League rules. Acceptance of these rules and the mission of Little League is a prerequisite for participation. The Little League mission in part… “Through proper guidance and exemplary leadership, the Little League program assists youth in developing the qualities of citizenship, discipline, teamwork and physical well-being. By espousing the virtues of character, courage and loyalty, the Little League Baseball program is designed to develop superior citizens rather than superior athletes...” So we must acknowledge that although winning is a goal and it’s fun, it is not a priority.
Little League registration is held on the last two Saturdays in February and the first Saturday in March.
For the older boys, the City chooses to run our programs in conjunction with Babe Ruth Baseball Incorporated. This program is Junior Babe Ruth, ages 13-15, and Senior Babe Ruth, ages 16-18.
Baseball rules at Bell Mountain Park - Major and AAA divisions play by Little League rules with a few exceptions during the regular season:
There must be a time limit imposed on early games that have a game following them to allow the later game to complete on time. In this case, early games shall be limited so that a new inning cannot begin within 15 minutes of the scheduled start time of the following game or after 1 hr 45 minutes of play, whichever is later.
For evening games on a school night a new inning cannot begin after 9:15 PM or after 1 hr 45 minutes of play whichever is later; but in all cases a new inning shall not begin after 10:00 PM (LL Rule). For evening games not on school night a new inning shall not begin after 10:00 PM.
Free defensive substitution will be allowed (except for the pitcher) as long as the minimum play is observed.
Continuous Batting Order - The batting order, which cannot be altered, will consist of all team members at the game and in uniform unless they have been removed from the game due to injury or illness.
Any player injured while running the bases may be replaced with a pinch runner. The pinch runner shall be the player who was the last out of the previous inning.
5 Run Rule - For the AAA division the 5 run rule is suspended in the 6th inning for both teams.
A team starting with 9 players may finish with 8 players if a player must be removed from the game.
A coach may warm up a pitcher.
In our continuing effort to help our baseball program excel we are offering the following instructional DVDs to you. You may request to borrow them any time with the expectation that you will return them promptly. We strongly encourage this for all coaches.
