The City of Jackson adopts the National Federation rules, with exceptions, as the primary rulebook governing all tournament play.
Exceptions
- Any State Tournament and/or World Series play will be governed strictly by the sanctioning host rulebook. National Federation Rules will govern any rule not addressed by host rulebook. All other City of Jackson Tournament events will be governed by USSSA amendments to the National Rederation rules. Any rule not covered will be reviewed and acted upon by the tournament director.
- The Extra Hitter (EH) is allowed at the coaches’ discretion in all age divisions. The EH can be substituted the same way as a position player.
- The contact rule is in effect at all times in all age groups. The runner(s) must either slide or try to avoid the tag on close plays at any of the bases. This rule does not apply on runners returning to their occupied bases on pick-off attempts, unless a rundown results.
Tournament Entry Fees
Tournament entries are only guaranteed after receipt of the entry fee. Online payment is available at usssa.com
Any team withdrawing from a tournament within the business week (Monday-Friday) of the weekend start of that tournament will not receive a refund if the game schedule for the tournament has been posted online. If a team has yet to pay its entry fee, it will be required to pay that entry fee before entry is allowed into any future tournament, and any subsequent tournament entries must be paid in advance.
Proof of Age
It is the head coach’s responsibility to have the players’ proof of age in possession and be able to produce on demand the players’ birth certificates or legally accepted proof of age.
Team Insurance
All teams are required to provide proof of team insurance. A copy of the team’s certificate of insurance must be provided at the team check-in prior to a team’s participation in any City of Jackson tournament event.
Team Check-In
Check Ins will now be contact free. All entry fees will need to be paid on the USSSA Website.
Game Time Limits and Rainouts
| Age Division | Time Limit | Game Length | Full Game/Event of Rainout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5-8 | 1 hour 15 minutes | 6 innings | 3 innings * |
| 9-10 | 1 hour 25 minutes pool play – 1 hour 25 minutes elimination play | 6 innings | 3 innings * |
| 11-12 | 1 hour 25 minutes pool play – 1 hour 25 minutes elimination play | 6 innings | 3 innings * |
| 13-14 | 1 hour 25 minutes pool play – 1 hour 25 minutes elimination play | 7 innings | 4 innings ** |
15 1 hour 40 minutes both pool and elimination play 7 innings 4 innings **
* or if home team is ahead after 2 ½ innings
** or if home team is ahead after 3 ½ innings
For the age gold division championship finals, a standard 2-hour time limit will apply for all age groups except 9U AA. 9U AA will have a championship time limit of 1 hour and 45 minutes. The time limits stated above in the boxed graphic apply to all other games, including championship round semifinals and silver division finals.
The City of Jackson reserves the right to modify game times as needed, especially if play is affected by inclement weather.
If rainouts occur: Full refund if no games are begun; 2/3 refund if one game is started; 1/3 refund if second game is completed. Teams have the option of applying refunds to future events.
No refund once third game begins (at that point, umpire & ground crew staffs must be paid, among other park expenses). If play is in doubt due to inclement weather in the area, parents and fans should remain outside the gate until play actually begins or is announced to begin.
Placement Points
Every team entered in Sportsplex events receives placement points for their finishing position by the organization sanctioning the event. If a tournament is canceled by inclement weather after bracket play has begun, but has not been completed, the following policies apply
For single-elimination brackets – All teams that have not yet suffered a bracket-play loss will be ranked by the order of the seeding with which they entered bracket play, and automatically finish ahead of any teams that have been defeated in bracket play. All teams competing in a “Gold Division” bracket automatically finish ahead of all teams competing in a “Silver Division” bracket. All teams competing in a “Silver Division” bracket automatically finish ahead of all teams who did not qualify for bracket play, if any. As long as a No. 1 seed is still alive in bracket play, that team will be declared the champion in the event of a rainout.
For double-elimination brackets – All teams that have not yet suffered a loss in the winners’ bracket will be ranked by the order of the seeding with which they entered bracket play, and automatically finish ahead of any teams that have been defeated in bracket play. All teams that are still alive in losers’ bracket play will be ranked by the order of the seeding with which they entered bracket play, and automatically finish ahead of any teams that have been eliminated from bracket play, if any. Examples: If six teams are still in the winners’ bracket at the time of a rainout, and four others have dropped into the losers’ bracket, the six teams still alive in the winners’ bracket will occupy the first six positions of the ordered finish, ranked by their seeds entering bracket play. The four teams in the losers bracket would make up the bottom four positions of the 10 teams involved.
Order of Finish in Inclement Weather Situations
This policy only applies for the City of Jackson invitational events. When a tournament cannot be concluded due to inclement weather, the following policies shall govern all baseball events conducted by Sportsplex staff, with regard to determining the order of finish …
- If the tournament is canceled during or after the completion of pool play, the tournament order of finish will be set by the tournament tie-breakers listed in the Divisional/Pool Play Tie Breakers section of the rules. Normally, two complete rounds must be completed in order to establish a tournament order of finish, but the Sportsplex reserves the right to establish different criteria if warranted by the circumstances. In the event that teams have completed an unequal number of games (including suspended games that have reached official status at the time of the cancellation), the winning percentage of all teams will be used to determine placement. For undefeated teams, teams will be ranked by the number of wins. (Examples: A 3-0 record is better than a 2-0 record; a 2-0-1 record is better than a 2-1 record; a 1-1-1 record is better than a 1-2 record; a 0-2 record is better than a 0-3 record.) For purposes of win percentage, ties count as a half-win and a half-loss. (Examples: A 1-0-2 record is equal to a 2-1 record; a 1-0-1 record is better than a 1-1 record.)
- If the tournament is canceled after bracket play has begun, but has not been completed, the following policies apply:
- For single-elimination brackets: All teams that have not yet suffered a bracket play loss will be ranked by order of the seeding with which they entered bracket play, and automatically finish ahead of any teams that have been defeated in bracket play. All teams competing in a “Gold Division” bracket automatically finish ahead of all teams competing in a “Silver Division” bracket. All teams competing in a “Silver Division” bracket automatically finish ahead of all teams who did not qualify for bracket play, if any. (Examples: As long as a No. 1 seed is still alive in bracket play, that team will be declared the champion in the event of a rainout; if the No. 1 seed is not still alive in the bracket, the next-highest seed that is still alive will be declared the champion. If four teams are playing in a Gold Division bracket, the highest position a Silver Division team can place is 5th.)
- For double-elimination brackets: All teams that have not yet suffered a loss in the winners’ bracket will be ranked by order of the seeding with which they entered bracket play, and automatically finish ahead of any teams that have been defeated in bracket play. All teams that are still alive in losers’ bracket play will be ranked by order of the seeding with which they entered bracket play, and automatically finish ahead of any teams that have been eliminated from bracket play, if any. (Examples: If six teams are still in the winners’ bracket at the time of a rainout, and four others have dropped into the losers’ bracket, the six teams still alive in the winners bracket will occupy the first six positions of the ordered finish, ranked by their seeds entering bracket play. The four teams in the losers’ bracket would make up the bottom four positions of the 10 teams involved.)
- If a tournament is canceled before its completion, no consolation awards will be presented, unless the Sportsplex staff has determined that unusually special circumstances warrant their distribution. No awards of any kind will be made if less than two rounds have been completed.
- These policies are only specific to Sportsplex staff-run events and have been designed to reflect the staff’s belief that these are the fairest ways to determine final placement. They are not intended to represent the policies of any other facility or organization.
Pitching Limits
Any Qualifier, State Tournament, and/or World Series play will be governed strictly by the sanctioning host rulebook. The USSSA has an 8-inning limit per tournament for all ages; the daily limit for a pitcher to still be eligible for the next day (as long as the tournament limit has not yet been reached) is 3 innings (except in the 15s division, which has no pitching limitations).
A team is allowed one defensive-charged conference per inning per pitcher. The second conference will result in the pitcher being removed from the game as a pitcher. The pitcher may be moved to another defensive position, but may NOT return as a pitcher for the remainder of the game.
Run Rules
USSSA rules:
| Age Division | Winner of Game Declared (if it occurs) | Maximum Runs per Inning |
|---|---|---|
| 6-8 CP | The game is over, when the opposing team is mathematically eliminated from scoring enough runs to win or tie the game. | 7 per inning |
| 8U KP, 9-12 | 15 runs ahead after 3 complete innings or 8 runs ahead after 4 complete innings |
n/a |
| 13-15 | 15 runs ahead after 3 complete innings or 12 runs ahead after 4 complete innings or 8 runs ahead after 5 complete innings |
n/a |
Home Team
Will be determined by coin toss with exception to NIT/State Tournaments. Home team scorekeeper will be the official score keeper and must record starting time in scorebook. In championship finals, the higher-seeded team will be the home team.
Game Tie Breakers
During the initial round of pool/divisional play games, at the end of regulation time limit, if the score is tied, the game will end in a tie.
In Bracket Play, if all regulation innings have been played or the imposed time limit has expired and the score is tied, the game shall continue using the Extra Innings guideline below. The following applies to all age divisions EXCLUDING the 6, 7 and 8 year old coach pitch divisions.
- Each team will have the opportunity to bat with NO outs.
- Baserunners will be placed on 2nd base and 3rd base with the 2 batters in front of the proper batter in the lineup being placed on 2nd base and 3rd base respectively. EXAMPLE: If the proper batter is the 6th batter in the lineup, the 5th batter in the lineup would be placed on 2nd base, the 4th batter would be placed on 3rd base.
- Each team will bat until 3 outs are recorded. At the end of the complete extra inning, the team with the most runs will be declared the winner. If the game is still tied, the extra innings with the prior stipulations will continue until a winner has been declared.
- All substitution and courtesy runner rules remain in force.
- For the purposes of the divisional pool play tie breakers and the order of finish, all runs scored and all runs allowed will NOT be recorded for the extra innings played.
Exceptions: District, State, Regional and World Series tie games will be governed by the sanctioning host tournament guidelines.
Divisional/Pool Play Tie Breakers
At the end of pool play, teams may be tied going into the final rounds with the same win-loss records. The Following tie breakers will determine which teams advance and in which order.
- Best record (best winning percentage)
- Head-to-head result (unless more than two teams are tied)
- Fewest average runs allowed per game
- Greatest average run differential per game (maximum of 8 runs per game)
- Most sanctioning body season points
- Coin toss
Forfeits
Any team that forfeits a game to another will be considered the loser of that game. A pre-game forfeit will be allowed only in the event of a team not being able to field enough players to compete in the scheduled game. A team will not be allowed to forfeit a game as a means to save its pitching for future games in the tournament. Scores for forfeits will be placed as a 0-0.
Exceptions: District, State, Regional and World Series tie games will be governed by the sanctioning host tournament guidelines.
Pregame Warmup
All team pregame warmups will only be allowed in designated warmup areas, or in the outfield of a ball field; no pregame practice on any mounds or plates. Absolutely no soft toss (including plastic balls) allowed within any fencing in the complex.
Game Balls
Each team must provide game balls for the games in which they play:
- Ages 6-8 … One new or good condition baseball per game.
- Ages 9-15 … Two new or good condition baseballs per game.
- In USSSA events, the preferred baseballs have the official USSSA stamp on them.
Awards
Awards will vary depending on the tournament event. However, individual awards will always be presented to all players of the top two finishing teams. Team awards will vary by tournament. See Order of Finish in Inclement Weather Situations for award rules under those circumstances.