Rules statusCompetition rules v1.3Effective July 25, 2026No tournament pitch limitsWeather formula adopted

Next Nine competition standards

Know the game before first pitch.

Complete 13U and 14U rules for age eligibility, pitching, bats, game procedure, administration, and team credentials.

Rules model

Familiar standards. One clear packet.

These rules use NFHS baseball as the base code and independently adapt portions of the youth-tournament structure currently published by Perfect Game for 13U–14U events. Next Nine’s no-limit pitching policy is its own and differs from Perfect Game’s pitching restrictions.

Next Nine has adopted the 2027 eligibility dates shown here as its official event standard: May 1, 2012 for 14U and May 1, 2013 for 13U. The 13U grade-exemption rule is also stated in full above.

Review MLB Pitch Smart guidance →

Governing rules

NFHS baseball rules govern unless a published Next Nine event rule below states otherwise.
The online version is controlling if a printed copy conflicts with the most recently published version.
The tournament director may make a fair final ruling on an issue not addressed by these rules or NFHS rules.
Next Nine is independently operated and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Perfect Game.

2027 age eligibility

14U: players born on or after May 1, 2012 are eligible. Players in the high-school graduation class of 2031 or younger are also eligible.
13U: players born on or after May 1, 2013 are eligible.
A 13U team may carry no more than two seventh-grade exemptions. An exempt player who turns 14 before May 1, 2027 must have been born on or after January 1, 2013.
The team manager is responsible for eligibility and must have a birth certificate, passport, or accepted digital copy available. Grade exemptions also require a current report card or transcript.
A player may appear for only one team during the same Next Nine tournament weekend. An ineligible player can result in removal and a team forfeit.

Pitching policy

Next Nine does not impose or enforce a tournament pitch-count, innings-pitched, recorded-outs, appearance, or required-rest limit for 13U or 14U.
Each team's head coach is responsible for managing every pitcher's workload, rest, health, and availability throughout the event.
Next Nine strongly recommends that coaches and parents follow MLB Pitch Smart guidance for ages 13–14, including a 95-pitch daily maximum and age-appropriate rest.
A player who shows pain, injury, or unsafe fatigue must be removed from pitching. An umpire or tournament director may stop a player from pitching when an immediate safety concern is observed.
Once removed from the mound, a player may not return as a pitcher in the same game.
The MLB balk rule is used as a live-ball ruling.

Bats and equipment

13U Open/Major: -5 or -3 BBCOR, legal wood, or an event-approved bat carrying the required USSSA/NTS BPF 1.15 certification.
14U Open/Major: -3 BBCOR or legal single-piece wood. If an event is specifically labeled AA/AAA, the event page may publish a -5 option before registration opens.
Altered, damaged, cracked, rattling, missing-cap, or unidentifiable bats are illegal. The current Perfect Game prohibited-bat list is incorporated as a safety minimum.
An illegal-bat violation makes the batter out when discovered before the next pitch. The head coach is restricted to the dugout on the first team violation and ejected on a second violation in the same game.
Metal spikes are allowed for 13U and 14U. Catchers must wear a helmet with mask and throat protection, chest protector, leg protection, and required athletic protection.
One-way electronic pitch-calling devices are allowed. Direct live audio is limited to the defensive catcher.

Game procedure

All Next Nine 13U and 14U games use 60-foot, 6-inch pitching distance and 90-foot bases.
13U pool and semifinal games are seven innings with no new inning after 1 hour 40 minutes. 14U pool and semifinal games are seven innings with no new inning after 1 hour 45 minutes.
Championship games are seven innings and have no time limit when field and weather conditions allow.
Pool-play home teams are assigned in advance. The higher seed is home in bracket play; a coin flip decides when no seeding applies.
Pool-play games may end in a tie, recorded as one-half win and one-half loss. Bracket games use the Texas tiebreaker after time expires: bases loaded with the previous three hitters, one out.
No team infield is permitted before a game. Teams must be ready to begin up to ten minutes early when the field is ahead of schedule.

Lineups and substitutions

A team may bat nine, ten, eleven, or its entire eligible roster. The selected format locks at first pitch.
A tenth hitter is an EH and an eleventh hitter is an XH. A DH is allowed, including a properly listed P/DH.
A game may begin and finish with eight eligible players; the vacant ninth position is an automatic out.
When roster batting, an injured or ejected player's spot becomes an automatic out if no eligible replacement exists.
Courtesy runners are permitted for the pitcher and catcher. When roster batting, use the last batted out who is eligible to run.
All starters, substitutes, positions, and jersey numbers must appear accurately on the lineup card before the plate meeting.

Mound visits, mercy and forfeits

Each team receives three charged defensive conferences in a seven-inning game and one additional conference in each extra inning. The fourth regulation visit, or second visit in an extra inning, removes the pitcher.
13U–14U mercy rule: 15 runs after three innings, 12 after four, or eight after five.
Only the tournament director may declare a forfeit. An intentional forfeit may remove a team from the event.
A forfeit is recorded as one run per scheduled inning for the winning team and zero for the forfeiting team, subject to final tournament-committee review.
A team that leaves before completing its scheduled tournament games may lose playoff eligibility.

Weather and stopped games

Weather may require shortened games, altered formats, rescheduling, or cancellation. Coaches are responsible for monitoring the tournament page and official alerts.
If a stopped game cannot resume within one hour, the director may resume it later, shorten the remaining time, or declare it official.
For 13U–14U, a stopped game is regulation after five completed innings, or four and one-half innings when the home team is ahead.
A suspended game resumes from the point of suspension when the schedule permits. If championship play cannot continue, placement is determined by published seeding and tiebreakers.
If weather causes the event to end with no games played, the team receives a full refund minus a $75 administration fee.
If weather causes the event to end after one game played, the team receives a 50% refund.
If weather causes the event to end after two or more games played, no refund is issued.

Team withdrawals and refunds

All team-entry payments are nonrefundable after payment.
If a team withdraws at least 21 days before the tournament begins, the tournament director may issue a credit toward a future Next Nine event.
Future-event credits are discretionary, nontransferable, have no cash value, and must be used within 12 months of the original event.
Teams withdrawing fewer than 21 days before the tournament receive no refund or future-event credit.
The weather-cancellation formula in Section 08 is the only exception to the general no-refund rule.

Protests and official scoring

Judgment calls cannot be protested. Eligible protests involve rule interpretation or player eligibility.
A protest must be declared before the next pitch, or before the umpires leave the field if it follows the final play.
A $100 protest deposit is required and is returned when the protest is upheld. The tournament committee's decision is final.
Tournament staff maintain the official scorebook when available. If staff cannot score, the home team is official book, then the visiting team.
Both teams should verify the official score during and immediately after the game.

Sportsmanship and safety

Threats, fighting, abusive conduct, discriminatory language, property damage, false identities, or physical contact with an official may result in immediate removal.
A first ejection normally removes the person for that game. A second ejection during the event removes the person for the rest of the tournament. Postgame ejections carry into the next scheduled game.
A legal slide may be feet-first or head-first and must be completed on the ground before contact. Hurdling a standing or crouching fielder and diving over any fielder are prohibited.
The tournament director may remove any player, coach, or spectator whose conduct threatens safety or the quality of the event.

Seeding and tiebreakers

Pool-to-bracket seeds are determined after pool play. Apply the following criteria in order:
1. Pool-play winning percentage.
2. Head-to-head result when exactly two tied teams played each other.
3. For a three-team tie, a team that defeated both other tied teams receives the highest available seed among the tied teams. If the tie is for the final bracket position, that team advances.
4. Fewest total runs allowed in pool play.
5. Most total runs scored in pool play.
6. Fewest runs allowed after removing each team's highest runs-allowed game.
7. Fewest runs allowed after removing each team's two highest runs-allowed games.
8. Compare runs scored inning by inning, beginning with the first inning of each team's first pool game and continuing chronologically until one team has more runs after a complete inning.
When one team is separated from a multi-team tie, place that team and restart the process for the remaining tied teams.
If weather or another interruption leaves tied teams with unequal numbers of completed pool games, or if the tie remains after all listed criteria, the tournament committee makes the fairest possible seeding decision. Its decision is final.

Team and gate credentials

Rostered players and up to four coaches per team receive complimentary event credentials.
Each team's four coach names must be submitted through the coach portal before gates open on the first event day.
Gates open 90 minutes before the first scheduled game each event day.
Every entrant receives a wristband at the front gate. A valid wristband is required for re-entry.

Published refund and weather policy

Payments are final. Weather has one clear formula.

Team-entry payments are nonrefundable. A team withdrawing at least 21 days before the event may receive a discretionary, nontransferable Next Nine event credit. If weather ends the event: zero games receives a full refund minus $75, one game receives a 50% refund, and two or more games receives no refund.

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