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Welcome to the homepage of Coastal Baseball. Coastal Baseball is a Baseball League located in Houston, Texas and is home to Adult Baseball, Summer College Baseball and Semi-Pro Baseball 11 months out of the year. 2024 will mark the 17th year of Coastal Baseball. Coastal Baseball Parks are located on the Beltway 8 feeder in between Telephone and Mykawa.

1st Annual Bill Moore Garden of Gears
Father/Son Memorial Day Tournament Houston, Texas USA

Father/Son Playing Rules

1. Approved Player Combinations: Each player must meet the criteria of the "Approved Player Combination" chart shown above. This is an open division, meaning anyone is allowed to participate in the Father/Son division.

Father Designation                                    Son Designation
Father Son/Step                                          Son/Son-in-law
Grandfather                                                 Grandson
Uncle (50 yrs or older)                                 Nephew
Son (50 yrs or older)                                   Uncle (49 yrs or younger)

2. Pitching Guidelines: Fathers and Sons must each pitch 3 complete innings (9 outs) of each 7 inning game;

3. Offense: 14 players must complete an at-bat in every scheduled 9 inning game, and 12 players in a scheduled 7 inning game..

No more than 2 sons may bat consecutively. Ten minimum batting order slots required. Batters must use bats with a wood bats only.

4. Offensive Batting Order: Each manager has the prerogative to bat as many players in his initial lineup. If the manager wishes to add players to the bottom of the lineup (i.e. hitting positions 11, 12, 13, 14, etc.), he may do so at any time. Added players to the bottom of the line-up may be added as individual hitters or as A/B. Any added player to the bottom of the lineup or pinch hitter must notify the opposing team manager of the batting order change. If no notification is made, and proper protest is made, an automatic out will be assessed to that batter. If a player is pinch hit for, he may not re-enter the game as a hitter, but may stay in the game defensively. Batters may not be deleted or skipped over, regardless of their batting position or when they were added to the game. If a team increases the size of their lineup to 15 hitters, they must always have 15 hitters in their lineup. The tournament will use the "Shared Position" to enter two players in any offensive batting order position. A team MAY declare at the time that lineups are exchanged prior to the start of play that any batting order position will be occupied by two (2) players in each such batting position. That is, 3A/3B, 10A/10B, etc. The first time that position 3 gets an at bat, 3A would hit and the next time this slot hits, 3B would be up. Then 3A hits the third time this spot in the order comes up, and so on, alternating between these two players throughout the game. Once a team declares the use of this A/B system, it must continue using it for the remainder of the game. Hitters in the A/B position from the batting order may be pinch hit for, just as any other player. An A/B position may be added to the bottom of the lineup at any time during the game. Teams can not add a "B” batter to an existing lineup spot once the game begins.

Offensive substitution is unlimited for players sharing the same spot in the batting order once they are placed there (i.e., a batter and a runner for that batter may occupy the same position in the offensive lineup; neither player may appear in any other offensive lineup slot. Shared position must be Father/Father or Son/Son). A shared position in the offensive batting order may be initiated at any time, at the manager's discretion. Managers must notify opposing manager when players in shared-batting order positions are being switched. A player batting in a "shared" slot may vacate and substitute for an injured player who does not have a "shared spot”, without penalty of an out.

An out will be assessed if an injured father is unable to bat in his designated batting position, and there is no available father to bat in his place, resulting in 3 sons batting consecutively. Exception: A father batting in a "shared "slot may vacate that spot and substitute for an injured father batter who does not have a "shared" spot, without penalty of an out.

5.  Batting order and offensive starter re-entry rule:  A starter in the batting order may be removed and a substitute may bat in that player’s place at any point during a game, but it must be a father for a father and a son for a son. The starter may return to bat again, but only in the original spot in the batting order, and only after the replacement has had at least one plate appearance. The substitute may not bat again once removed from the batting order. Please remember, only the starter may re-enter during the course of the game. Any other player re-entering the order will be treated as batting out of order under Official Baseball rule #6.07

6. Pinch Runners: Pinch runners replace batters in the batting order. Sons may not run or pinch run for fathers.

7. Eligibility Rules: The Father/Son division will be an open division. Meaning anyone is allowed to participate in the father/son division. Minimum age to play is turning 16 years of age in the calendar year. Uncles or Sons 50 years of age or older qualify to play as "Fathers". Uncles 49 years and under must play as "Sons". Uncles and Nephews do not qualify as "related" fathers/sons under the exception rule explained below. "Players" who have a son and father "playing" in the tournament will decide to play either as a "father" or as a "son" according to the tournament fee schedule. "Daughter" and "Niece", etc. can be substituted for "Son" and "Nephew".

8. Defense: There must be a minimum of 4 fathers on defense at all times. Exception: There may be fewer than 4 fathers on defense if the defense is made up of "related" fathers and sons as shown on the chart above (first two categories only). lf the "related "father/son combinations add up to 8 players, the ninth player must be a father.

9. Start Times: Game start times will be approximately 8:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted on your schedules. Should a team fail to arrive or have a full team ready to play (8 or more under the 8-man start and finish rule) by the scheduled start time, a maximum 1-hour grace period will be allowed and the exact amount of time given that team will be deducted from the original starting time so that the game will be shortened by that amount of time. (Example: if the game starts 15 minutes late due to one team’s being late, no full inning will start after 2 hours and 45 minutes after play has begun.) Assuming the game starts within the 1-hour grace period, the late team will forfeit one run for every 15 minutes to the other team and the game will start at 1-0, beginning with the first minute. In other words, if the start time is 8:30, the score is 1-0 at 8:31; 2-0 at 8:46; 3-0 at 9:01; 4-0 at 9:16 and a forfeit at 9:31. (However, the actual forfeit score “in the scorebook” for tiebreaker purposes will be 9-0.) This rule will not apply if the late team is coming off a back-to-back game, and games that start late due to the previous game’s running over (and not due to a team’s lateness) will not be shortened. (E.g. if both teams arrive to a scheduled 3:30 p.m. game on time and have to wait until another game finishes and do not start until 4:00 p.m., that game will be allowed the full time under the 3 hour Time Limit rule, provided there is adequate light.) START TIMES WILL BE ENFORCED.

10. Time Limit: 2 hour 20 minute time limits for all pool play games. No new inning may start after the 3-hour mark. If two teams are tied after 9 innings and have not played 3 hours, they may continue to play up to 3 hours, however no new inning may start after the 3-hour mark. All games tied at the end of the 3-hour mark will remain a tied game. There is a 3 ½ hour time limit for playoff games. No time limits for Championship games with the exception of the 50, 55 and 60 and over championship games, which will be a 3 ½ hour time limit for championship games.

13. Mercy Rule: There is a 8-run mercy rule after 5 innings in effect for all pool play and playoff games. The mercy rule will not apply to Championship games.

14. Protests: All protests must be filed at the field with the plate umpire at the time in the game the manager believes an umpire’s decision is in violation of these rules. We will follow the rules exactly in accordance with the 2017 Official Baseball Rules (4.19) from the National Baseball Congress. By filing a protest, the manager agrees per this rule to submit a $100 cash, non-refundable fee (refundable only if you prevail) to the umpire at the field. If a protest is made, the game will stop and the protesting manager must give $100 and a cell phone to the home plate umpire. The home plate umpire will call the Coastal Baseball Tournament Office and informs the head umpire assigner he has an official protest. He will then give the phone to the manager to explain his protest. Once the manager has explained the protest he will give the phone back to the hom plate umpire. After consulting with the tournament rules committee, the umpire coordinator and tournament director; will make a decision regarding the protest. There will be no time added to the clock during a protest. The clock will remain running to keep the tournament on schedule. If the protest is upheld, the umpire will give the money back to the manager; and if the protest is denied, the umpire keeps the money. Remember, an umpire’s “judgment” call cannot be protested, only rules interpretations. PLEASE NOTE: Only the tournament director has the authority, if needed, to stop the clock or to add time remaining to the game.

15. Eligibility Protest: All protests with regard to age/identity or ex-pro/college rule must be protested on the field to the umpire and opposing team manager with the number of the specific player in question. Eligibility protests must occur before the game begins if an opposing team knows of an infraction. For a protest to happen during the game, the manager of the team protesting must protest the game prior to the end of the 4th inning in order for the protest to be valid. By filing a protest, the manager agrees per this rule to submit a $100 cash, non-refundable fee (refundable only if you prevail) to the umpire at the field.

If a protest is made the game will stop and the protesting manager must give the umpire $100, a cell phone, and the specific player in question with regard to eligibility. The umpire will ask the opposing manager to provide that specific player’s proof of age and identity with a valid picture ID and tournament ID card. Any player unable to produce a valid picture ID and tournament ID card will be ineligible to continue or play in the game. If a player’s identity or age makes him ineligible to play, the umpire will not allow the player to continue in the game. The home plate umpire will then call the Coastal Baseball Tournament Office and inform the head umpire of the protest. After consulting with the tournament rules committee, the umpire coordinator and tournament director; will make a decision regarding the protest. The Coastal Baseball rules committee will then determine if the game has been tainted and if a protest/consequence should stand in the game and/or tournament for the violating team. A protest of the age/identity or ex-pro/college rule by a team after the 4th inning has been completed will not merit protest consideration. There will be no time added to the clock during a protest. The clock will remain running to keep the tournament on schedule. If the protest is upheld, the umpire will give the money back to the manager; and if the protest is denied, the umpire keeps the money.

PLEASE NOTE: Only the tournament director has the authority, if needed, to stop the clock or to add time remaining to the game.

16. Reporting Scores: Both teams must report all scores within 1 hour of completion of the game to the tournament score line. It is the team manager’s responsibility to verify their team's score with the official tournament headquarters records. No discrepancies will be altered after seeding for playoffs.

17. Courtesy Runner: Father’s can declare up to 4 players who can have another player run for them in the event they reach base. Son’s can have up to 2 players who can have another player run for them in the event they reach base. Those that require the courtesy runners are called non-runners ("NR"). The courtesy runner will always be the last recorded out. Father’s must run for father’s and son’s must run for son’s. It is not mandatory to use this rule as the manager has the option depending upon the situation. But if a change is made, it must be at the furthest base the player reaches safely on that play. If the non-runner advances to any base beyond that reached before the next pitch a courtesy runner may not be used. The courtesy runner must enter the game before the next pitch, or the use of the courtesy runner is forfeited on that play. Failure to promptly send the courtesy runner to the field may result in a "delay of game" call, resulting in the original runner being called out. The players who will not run must be designated as such before the game begins on the lineup card with the "NR" symbol next to their name. This rule applies only to the player(s) and not the position in the batting order. If a listed available substitute is a "Non-runner", they must be so designated on the lineup card. If the non-runner is the first player up in the first inning of a game, the courtesy runner will be the last player in the batting order. There is no speed-up rule allowing runners for the pitcher or catcher. Any improper use of a courtesy runner including the use of the improper or wrong replacement shall result in the non-runner being scored as an out.