Bronco and Pony

Practices

1. Practices limited to three per week before the season and one per week during the season.
2. Teams restricted to three activities (games and practices) per week.
3. Maximum two-hour duration per practice session.
4. Any meeting of the team with the manager or coach is considered a practice.
5. Batting practice on game day is not considered a practice.

Game Rules:

1. Game duration: six innings when time permits, with no inning starting after one hour and fifteen
   minutes, last inning unlimited runs. If the score is tied after the completion of the last inning, the
   game will end in a tie.
2. Five (5) minutes of infield practice allowed for each team before the game, with visitors taking the
   infield first.
3. All players present at the game and eligible to play shall be placed on a team lineup in the batting
   order. All players SHALL bat regardless of whether they are playing in the field. Late arriving
   players will be added to the batting line-up at the end of the list. The coach must report
   substitutions and changes to the scorekeeper.
4. Five warm-up pitches allowed at the beginning of each inning.
5. Defensive team to consist of a maximum of nine players or a minimum of eight players.
6. Teams must have at least eight eligible players present no later than ten minutes after scheduled
   game time to avoid automatic forfeit.
7. Coach/timeouts: The offense (batting) is allowed one (1) conference (timeout) per inning.
   Coaches allowed two mound visits per inning per pitcher. On the second mound visit, the pitcher
   must be removed from the pitcher’s position.
8. Outfield players must remain behind the boundary line until the ball is hit. Boundary line is
   defined as 5 feet from the grass edge.
9. Footwear regulations enforced, metal cleats not allowed.
10. All exposed jewelry such as stud earrings, piercings, non-metal bracelets, necklaces, hair beads
    and metal hair bands are legal. This includes medical alert bracelets and necklaces. Hoop earrings
    and metal bracelets are not allowed.
11. No penalty for wearing illegal jewelry unless the player refuses to remove it, then restricted to the
    dugout.
12. All protective equipment issued must be worn. All catchers must wear a throat protector,
    helmet or head protector with mask, shin guards and a chest protector. All catchers must use
    catchers’ gloves. Each batter, runner and on-deck batter must wear a helmet. The helmet shall be
    a type that has safety features equal to or greater than those provided (with full plastic cap,
    extended ear flaps that cover both ears and temples). If a batter enters the batter’s booth without a
    helmet, she will be declared out by the umpire. When an umpire witnesses a runner deliberately
    removing her helmet during action, the violator shall be declared out immediately. This action, in
    no way, eliminates a force play situation.
13. All players must wear softball gloves. There shall be no restrictions on types of gloves used, but
    the pitcher’s glove may not have a white or neon green insert on the outside or in the pocket of the
    glove.
14. All coaches and assistants must remain in the dugout except when occupying coaching boxes
    (only two coaches/assistants may be on the field at any one time on offense and all
    coaches/assistants must remain in the dugout during defense). If the coach refuses to follow the
    rule, that coach may be ejected from the game and if the coach refuses to leave, the game will be
    forfeited.
15. Infield fly rule in effect.
16. Batter may run to first on third strike if catcher drops the ball and base is unoccupied.
17. A runner on base shall be called out when failing to keep contact with the base before a legally
    pitched ball has been released from the pitcher.
18. Pinch runner allowed for pitcher and catcher, must be the last out.
19. Runners may not advance on illegal pitches. This shall apply to all illegal pitching situations. An
    illegal pitch declared by the umpire, will be considered a ball to the batter.
20. Home plate is “live”, runner may steal home on a passed ball except when a player has the ball in
    the pitcher circle.
21. Mercy rule applies if one team is up by 11 or more runs after completion of 4 innings.
22. Slide/Avoid Contact Rule enforced to avoid contact between player and catcher.
23. One coach will be appointed to represent the team during official business. He/she will be the
    only representative that may consult the umpires once the game begins. This means only one
    coach, not both the head and assistant coach. If more than one coach confers with the umpire,
    one coach will be asked to leave the field. Failure to do so may result in the eviction of the coach or
    forfeiture of the game. This rule includes any parents in the dugout and in the spectators’ area.
    Violators can be asked to leave. The official is there to umpire the game, not to explain each call or
    justify each call to the coach. Officials will not address parents outside of the playing areas. Please
    inform spectators not to insist on talking to the officials, they will be warned once and then may be
    asked to leave the area of play.
24. Players must attend 50% of practices per week to be eligible to play 50% of scheduled games,
    failure to do so may result in reduced playing time.
25. Players, coaches, and parents responsible for picking up litter after the game, with penalties for
    non-compliance.

This organization retains the important information while categorizing the rules for easier understanding.