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Tournament Rules

All rules will correspond with the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS) rules, with the following exceptions:

  • TEAM ROSTER DUE BEFORE FIRST TOURNAMENT GAME. A team roster must be submitted before a team’s first tournament game as required by the Tournament Director, using Tourney Machine.

- Teams should have your players’ birth certificates readily available at all times. If a player’s age or position on a roster is questioned, you have 5 minutes to provide proof of age or roster position to the Tournament Director or his designee. If you cannot provide proof of age or roster position, the player will be removed immediately from the tournament and a forfeit will be awarded for that game and for any prior games that player participated in, for the tournament.

- There is a protest fee of $200 cash for this and must be paid to file a protest about a player’s age or position on a team’s roster. Money will be returned if the protest is upheld. If it’s determined that a coach has intentionally used an ineligible player, then the Tournament Director will decide to enforce one of the following (1) the team will forfeit all past games (2) the team forfeits all future games and (3) team will be removed from the tournament and not receive a refund.

  • PLAYER ELIGIBILITY. In order to participate in the tournament each player must meet the guidelines of the age division. Ages for each division for each age group are based upon the players age as of May 1, 2024.

- For example, for 14u, a player must be 14 or under as of May 1 in order to play on a 14u team.

- A player that is found to be illegal due to an age limitation during or after a game, shall result in the offending team losing that game(s) and the team player being ejected from the tournament.

- Any exceptions to the age rules must be approved by the Tournament Director, exceptions may be made for grade level players but must be approved prior to the team’s first game.

  • TOURNAMENT FORMAT. When in pool play teams will earn 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie and 0 points for a loss. Based upon those standings, teams are seeded and advanced to the single elimination brackets or a consolation game.

- In certain tournament formats, pool winners will be seeded ahead of other teams, despite their record. Winning a pool seeds you ahead of teams that do not.

- In the event of a tie in the pool games, tiebreakers in the following order will be used:

- Most Points
- Head-to-head (only when two (2) teams are tied, and only when they have played each other), once three (3) teams are tied in a pool, then we go to the next tie breakers.
- Fewest Runs Allowed
- Most Runs Scored
- Coin toss.

- Bracket seeding will be based upon overall tournament performance, however, and in some formats pool winners will be seeded first. Seeing is based upon the following tie-breaker rules.

- Most points
- Head-to-Head (only when two (2) teams are tied and have played each other), once three (3) teams are tied then we go to the next tie breaker.
- Runs Allowed
- Most Runs Scored
- Coin toss

  • EXTRA HITTER RULE and ROSTER BATTING.
  • Hit all players on the roster with free substitutions (roster batting)
  • Bat 10 and use EH (with or without DH)
  • Bat 11 and use EH + XH (with or without DH) • Straight 9 (with or without DH) follow high school substitution rules.
  • BATS. BBCOR stamped bats acceptable for NFHS use are permitted at any age level if the participant is strong enough to do so. In addition, in age levels 14 and under, bats bearing the 1.15 BPF stamp on the bottom of the bat barrel are permissible. We will permit 1.15 BPF bats of 2 ¾” (2 5/8 is the standard) diameter for tournament play. If a player uses an illegal bat, the batter is out, the player is ejected, and the coach is ejected from the game

- 14u AAA/Major Division events players must use BBCOR.

- 14u AA events still allow for a maximum drop of (-5).

  • PLAYER INJURY. If a player becomes injured (as ruled by the umpire) and is unable to continue playing, his spot in the batting order shall be skipped with no penalty. Once an injured player leaves the batting order, he is done playing for the remainder of that game.
     
  • CONCUSSION RULE. Any player that shows signs of a concussion, and is removed from a game, cannot return to play for the remainder of the tournament. Only the player’s Coach, Umpire or Tournament Director can remove a player from a game due to concussion symptoms. No penalty shall be incurred by a team that has a player removed due to concussion symptoms. Said player must get written approval from a Medical Professional specifying that the player is healthy and determined by that professional not to have a concussion, prior to returning to play in tournament games after the incident. If a removed plays in the game after the incident without this written consent the team will be disqualified from the tournament.
     
  • INTENTIONAL WALK. There will be no pitches thrown to intentionally walk a batter. Notify the umpire and the batter will be awarded first base.
     
  • FIELD DIMENSIONS: Age Group Pitching Basepaths 14u-18u, 60 ft 6 in 90
     
  • TWO TRIPS TO THE MOUND. Any time a coach or manager makes two trips to the mound in the same inning to the same pitcher, on the second trip that pitcher must be removed and may not pitch the remainder of that inning. Anytime a pitcher is removed they cannot pitch again.
     
  • PITCHING LIMITATION-ESA’s pitch limits will include a pitch count and a Back-to-Back Cumulative pitch limit. We feel it is in our best interest to protect the health of players participating.

- 0-30 Pitches = 0 Days Rest
- 31-49 Pitches = 1 Day Rest
- 50-79 Pitches = 2 Days Rest
- 80-125 Pitches = 4 Days Rest/Done for Tournament

Back-to-Back Cumulative Totals

***There is a tournament MAXIMUM of 125 pitches across all days.

- 0-30 1 Day Rest (EXAMPLE: Player throws 20 pitches on Thursday and 10 pitches Friday, 1 day of rest is required. So he could come back and pitch Sunday; at the earliest).

- 31-50 2 Days Rest (Pitcher throws 20 pitches Thursday and 20 pitches Friday, he cannot come back until Monday; at the earliest)

- 51+ total in consecutive days; player is done for the tournament.

** Please note these are BACK-TO-BACK totals. If a player throws 20 pitches on Thursday and doesn’t pitch Friday, then his count is reset to 0 for Saturday.

  • LENGTH OF GAME. 7 inning games.No inning can begin after 2 Hours. No time limit for Championship Games.

- If at any time a tournament official believes that a team is intentionally delaying a game for the time limit, they have the discretion to add additional to the game time limit.

- If any game is at a tie after 7 innings, but the time has not expired then a new inning will start. No new inning will start after time has expired.

  • COMPLETE GAME – If a game is suspended due to weather, it is considered a complete game if four(4) full innings of play have been completed. The score is taken from the last fully completed inning. If the tournament is shortened by weather delays, the Tournament Director has the discretion determine a game complete and take the score from the last completed inning as final and will determine if a suspended game is replayed or continued from the point the game was stopped.
     
  • RUN RULE-Mercy Rules will apply as follows:

- 15 after 3 innings
- 10 after 4 innings.
- 8 from the 5th inning through the end of the game.
- All innings must be counted as a completed inning for the mercy rule to apply.
**If a player hits a walk off hit or home run that results in reaching the run rule, all runs count.

  • FORFEIT POLICY BECAUSE OF LACK OF PLAYERS. A team will be allowed a 10- minute grace period from the scheduled starting time of a game to field nine (9) able-bodied players before a forfeit may be declared. Teams arriving late give up all rights to infield and warm-ups other than the usual 8 pitches for the starting pitchers.

- If at any point in the game a team cannot field nine players, they may continue playing with less than nine players provided an automatic out is recorded to the vacant spot(s) in the batting order.

- In the event of forfeiture, the winning team is assigned a final score of 7 to 0. Teams that forfeit a game in pool play are not eligible to win their pool, unless approved by the Tournament Director.

  • TURF FIELDS. Gum and Sunflower seeds are NOT permitted on any of the artificial turf fields we may use during our tournaments. Violation of this rule, by any team member, will result in the ejection of the Head Coach. Any additional violation will result in the team being removed from the tournament.
     
  • SLIDE RULE. Players do not have to slide at any base but MUST avoid malicious contact. The result of malicious contact will result in runner being called out and player will be ejected from the game.
     
  • SLIDING BASE RULE – When sliding, the runner shall remain on the ground until the umpire calls time. If the player gets up and moves before the umpire calls time, the runner will be called OUT if tagged and not standing on the original spot of the base. If the player moves the base and gets up and makes it to the next base, the future runner will go to the original spot of the base. (This only applies when bases are not pegged or tied down)
     
  • SCORE KEEPING. Home team book will serve as the official book. All scores must be reported by the winning team to the Tournament Director after each game. Failure to report scores within 45 minutes after the end of the game will result in forfeiting of the game. If available, the Away team will provide a scoreboard operator.
     
  • PRE-GAME INFIELD – There will be NO infield practice. No hitting fences. Please do not step on foul lines. No practice is allowed on any unused fields during the tournament.
     
  • HOME TEAM. Will be determined by coin flip prior to the game for pool and consolation games. In bracket games, the team with the higher seed in the tournament will be home, if a higher seed cannot be determined then a coin flip.
     
  • PARENT CONDUCT. Any player parent/fan whose conduct is unsportsmanlike or disrespectful toward the umpires, ground crew members, Site Manager, Tournament Director or any other tournament personnel may be removed from the tournament at the discretion of the tournament officials or the umpires. This includes such conduct at disrespectful comments in person, via email, social media or text messages to umpires, other parents, players, and tournament officials. Infractions may result in a team being disqualified from the tournament with no refund.

- ESA will have a 0 tolerance policy and handle all issues swiftly and proactively. We highly recommend keeping comments light-hearted, encouraging, and most importantly towards your own team.

  • MANAGER, PLAYER, PARENT or COACH EJECTION. If a manager, player, parent of a player or coach is ejected from the game, he/she must sit out the remainder of the game and the next additional game, unless approved by the Tournament Director. The manager, player, parent of player or coach must be removed from the facility for duration of suspension. It is the responsibility of the manager and/or coach to remove themselves. Failure to comply with this rule will result in the entire team being removed from the tournament.

- Discretion will apply, but any physical altercation/touching of umpires or fellow coaches will result in a forfeit of the game and removal of the guilty parties from the tournament.

  • PROTESTS. No Protests allowed. Umpire decisions will be final, only interpretation of the tournament rules will be allowed to be questioned during the game.
     
  • TIE BREAKER RULE. This only applies to bracket games and not the Championship Game, pool games or consolation games. This format can be used in other games, at the discretion of the Tournament Director to speed up play. This is the continuation of the original game; teams remain HOME and AWAY as determined by the original coin toss. Last three (3) batters on base with one (1) out. Each inning of the format will begin with one (1) out, with the home team taking the field. Play continues in this manner until there is a winner of the game. Strict adherence to the batting order shall be maintained, and all game/tournament rules remain in effect.
     
  • SPEEDUP RULE. Teams may use a courtesy runner for both the pitcher and catcher of the previous inning. A courtesy runner would be the player that made the last recorded out if batting the roster, or a player not currently in the lineup when batting 9, 10 or 11 batters.
     
  • BASEBALLS. We will provide two (2) new baseballs for each game; teams are responsible for providing back up balls and retrieving foul balls. Any baseball provided by the tournament will have an NFHS stamp.
     
  • PROCEDURE FOR BETWEEN INNINGS. Each team will be allowed no more than five (5) pitches for their pitcher. All infield warm-ups must end when the pitcher has finished their five (5) warm up pitches.
     
  • OFFENSIVE CONFERENCES. Teams will not be permitted to continually stop the game for offensive conferences such as talking to batters, base runners, on deck batters or other offensive team personnel. If a team makes many requests for time outs, umpires may limit such conferences per half inning.
     
  • MODIFICATIONS TO SCHEDULE/FORMAT – The Tournament Director may modify the number or length of games when necessary due to weather, field or scheduling issues. This includes modifying the time limit or number of innings if games get delayed for any reason.
     
  • Refund Policy - By registering for the 2024 Midwest Elite Series Tournament, you have acknowledged that 15% of the entry fee is non-refundable as well as the processing fees. The remaining 85% of the event registration fee can be refunded up until one month prior to the opening date of the tournament. For example, if your tournament begins on July 4th, then all funds will be non-refundable beginning June 4th. This must be requested, via email using the Contact Us section on the website, prior to June 4th, no exceptions. In lieu of a refund, we will always offer the option of a tournament credit that can be exchanged into any future tournament hosted by Elite Series Athletics.
     
  • Inclement Weather Policy - All efforts will be made to play all games of the tournament, but in the event of inclement weather or any other uncontrollable event, then coaches will be notified via texts and emails of any updates in the tournament schedule. Updates will also be made to the Tourney Machine tournament portal. Inclement weather is not an automatic grounds for a refund. If inclement weather concludes the tournament early, then the following refund percentages will come into play. If all games of the tournament are canceled due to inclement weather, then all teams will be issued a future tournament credit. a) No Games Played – Event Postponed to a New Future Date.

a) 1 Game Played – Refund will be 70% or a 100% credit towards future tournament.
b) 2 Games Played - Refund will be 40% or 100% credit towards a future tournament.
c) No refunds will be issued after 3 games have been played
d) No refunds will be provided for forfeited games.
e) A game is considered “played” once a pitch has been thrown.

***All teams are responsible for insuring their player***