MUSA Madison Official Recess Kickball Rules
(No teams playing in a division governed by the Recess rules are eligible for any MUSA tournaments)
revised June 2012

1. Equipment / General

Equipment:

• All games shall be played with a 8.5 inch rubber ball.

• Metal spikes are not allowed! (PERIOD)
• Any other types of cleats are (i.e. softball, soccer)

General:

Umpping:

• Teams must furnish 2 umpires per game, as assigned on the current season schedule.
• Consistent failure to not provide umpires will jeopardize future league participation.
• Teams failing to supply umpires will be considered a Red Flagged team and be put under observation after one offense. Failure to provide umps a second time during a given season will result in a “Black listing” and the team will not be able to participate in any following MUSA Madison seasons for a period of 1 year.
• The umpire’s word is final and not to be disputed unless a blatant contradiction to the official rules has been committed.
• The Field Monitor has the right to over turn an umpire’s call if it is not within the parameters of the official MUSA Madison rules.
• Umpires and/or Field Monitors may eject players for unsportsmanlike behavior.
• Any occurrences which are not covered in the rules shall be settled by the Field Monitor and noted for later rule updates.
• Players will remember we are all out here for fun. Dickheadedness and jackassery will not be tolerated. Keep your competitive attitude and antics at home!!

 

2. Number of participants

• Rosters may hold an unlimited number of people.
• A maximum of 11 players can be on the field for the fielding team.
• Teams must have at least two players of each gender, or a forfeit will be declared, and must also have the required minimum 7 players.
• A catcher is not necessary for teams with less than 9 players.
• All players on your roster, that are present, must kick in the line-up, unless player is injured.
• There is no boy/girl kicking order rule. Players can kick in any order and must retain the order throughout the entire game.
• Teams must have a minimum of 4 players of each sex. If a team does not have four females/males for a particular game, a “ghost” player shall be written into the kicking order and represents an automatic out for each female/male under the minimum.
• A team that is missing the required male/female minimum, must play short defensively, the number of missing player(s). (Example: 2 females + 10 males = team can only play, defensively, 2 females + 7 males).
• Teams with fewer than 7 players shall have a 10 minute grace period before a forfeit is declared.
• Subs may be used at any time, so long as the opposing team is in agreement!!

 

3. Regulation games

• A regulation game shall consist of 8 innings or a time limit of 55 minutes. If a game starts late, it shall be played until 5 minutes before the next games starting time.
• Home and away team is determined by Rock, Paper, Scissors best two out of three attempts for every game.
• The “away” team shall kick first. The “home” team gets last-at-kicks.
• A game is considered official once 5 full innings have been completed.

 

4. Pitching

Pitching:

• A legal pitch must be underhand and no higher than knee level of the kicker upon crossing the plate.
• Pitches will be thrown in a civil manner, at a reasonable rate and not excessively bouncy. A guideline is pitching as though you are rolling it casually to a teammate. Fast, sidearm, curveball or overhand pitching is not allowed. Any pitch deemed by the ump or Field Monitor to be out of the context of a casual pitch and MUSA Madison sportsmanship will result in a warning to the pitcher. The next infraction will result in the replacement of the pitcher. Umps in doubt, as to what is an allowable pitch should consult the MUSA Madison Field Monitor, on duty, for assistance.
• Pitcher must pitch from or behind back rubber (running up to the rubber is not allowed).
• Once the ball is pitched the pitcher may advance no further than the first rubber or six feet from the back rubber, depending on field.
• Lateral movement by the pitcher is tolerated, as long as there is no encroachment.
• Ball must bounce at least three times, before crossing or hitting home plate.

 

5. Outs / In-Field Pop-ups / Foul Balls / Overthrows / Fielding

Outs:

• No Balls or Strikes will be called, except for foul balls.
• The kicking team gets 3 outs per inning. An out results due to the following:
  - Two foul balls are kicked.

- A ball caught on the fly.

- Base runner is forced out.

- Base runner is hit with ball while not on base.

- The kicker is hit with the ball, a 2^nd time, after making contact with it while in fair territory.

If they are in foul territory when struck by the ball then a foul ball shall be called.

- See ghost batter rule above (under Number of participants).

In-Field pop-ups:

• As even the most innocent looking pop ups are potential hits in kickball, there is NO infield fly rule. Due to some abuses of this in the past, there will be a “No Cheese” rule for situations where a fielder is judged to have intentionally allowed the ball to drop to turn a double play. (For example, team A has a runner on first. The kicker from team A kicks the ball in the air to the first baseperson on team B. The runner on team A stays on first, while the kicker runs to first. The first baseperson intentionally [and these are generally obvious] muffs the pop fly, tags the waiting runner and tags the base). As this is contrary to fair sportsmanship MUSA promotes, the tactic will be deemed “Cheesy” and the runner and kicker will be deemed safe.

Foul balls:

• A foul ball that is caught counts as an out, but is a dead play for the offense, meaning runners may not advance, even if the ball is dropped or touched in foul territory and lands fair.
• If a ball is touched in fair territory, it is fair, regardless of other factors, i.e. foot placement of the fielder.
• Fair vs. foul: it is where the ball was determined to be at, by the umpire, in regards to the plain of the foul line, not where the defensive players positioning is (i.e. foot placement).

Overthrows:

• One base on an overthrow, that goes out of play!!
• An overthrow constitutes a ball that is thrown or kicked “out of play” from within the infield to the intended base or target.
• If the ball bounces off of a target and stays within the stated boundaries the play is still live, if not the third out. Runners may advance at their own risk.
• Boundaries are defined as past the bench line extended or fence / fence line.
• Because fields can have different types of layouts the Field Monitors will define boundaries on given fields and let the captains know where the said boundaries are.
• Anything thrown or kicked, from the outfield is a live ball.
• If a player is past ½ way to the next base, they are awarded that base plus another one, on the overthrow. The play is considered dead at this time.
• A ball thrown past the base that remains in the set boundaries remains a live ball and runners may advance at their own risk.

Fielding:

• The orange 1^st base ‘safety base’ is for offensive running players only.
• Defensive players must make all their defensive fielding plays on the white half of 1^st base.
• Defensive infielders may not encroach past the 1^st to 2^nd and 2^nd to 3^rd base paths, until the ball is kicked, no matter what gender is up to kick.
• Pitcher can only advance as previously stated in the rule above (see Pitching).
• Encroachment past the baseline restriction for infielders results in a “no play” and the play will considered a “do over” with the defensive player getting a warning.
• Continued disregard of this rule will result in the kicker automatically getting put on first base and all other base runners advancing one base, if forced to do so.
• Catcher must stay behind the front plane of home plate, extended, until the ball is kicked and must not interfere with the kickers ability to kick the ball or run to 1^st base.

 

6. Running / Kicking
   

Running:

• Sliding is NOT allowed! If a player slides into a base during play they will be called ‘OUT’ no matter the actual result of the play. Continued infraction will result in player being kicked out of the game.
• Runners must stay in the base path as much as possible.
• Fielders impeding the runners’ path to the base shall result in the runner being awarded the base.
• Infield base runners cannot advance until the ball is kicked.
• Leading off and stealing are not allowed. Leading off/leaving early will result in a “do-over”.
• Runners can tag-up, at their own risk, once first contact is made by the defensive player, even if the “initial ball touching” defensive player does not catch the ball.
• After first contactthe runner must tag up before advancing to the next base. Failure to tag up before advancing results in an out if the runner is tagged or the ball is thrown to the previous base prior to them getting back.
• Balls thrown at the base runner must be below the shoulders. Any head shot results in advancement to the next base.
• Any intentional hitting of the ball with the head by a runner will result in an out.
• If runner jumps, slides or ducts to avoid a ball, this does not count as a head shot and runner will be safe or out depending on umpire’s call of the play.
• If a ball hits the kicker or any base runner that is not on a base, the kicker or said runner is out.
• Intentionally kicking the ball out of play by the kicker or runner after the out shall result in a dead ball.
• Once the pitcher has control of the ball near or around the pitchers mound and all action has reasonably ceased, he/she can call “TIME”. All play is considered dead and no base runners can advance, nor can the defense make a play once “TIME” is called.
• Each team may have base coaches at first and third bases.

Kicking:

• The kicker must kick the ball behind home plate. Meaning, the kickers planted foot must be behind the front edge of home plate prior to kicking it. See Advantage Rule below.
• “Advantage Rule”…if a kicker kicks the ball before it crosses home plate, the play is played out. If the play results in an OUT, the outcome of the play will stand. If the result is SAFE, then the play will be deemed a strike/foul ball and the kicker will either get a second chance or be called out if they had one strike/foul ball against them already.
• Bunting is allowed by female players only.
• If a male bunts the ball it will be considered a foul ball regardless if ball was fair or not and may result in an out if it was the second foul ball for that kicker.
• Bunting may not be executed by a team that is up by 10 or more runs. If this happens the result will be an automatic out.

 

7. Scoring

• No team shall score more than 8 runs in any given inning
• Once 8 runs are scored in an inning the by a team, teams will then switch sides, regardless of number of outs the offensive team has during said inning.

 

8. Mercy Rule

• Teams may opt to ‘submit’ if down 15 runs or more after 5 complete innings of play.

© 2012 MUSA Madison, LLC™

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