Pony Baseball Rules (Regular League Games)

1. The bat barrel must be no larger than 2 5/8" and no more than 42 inches in length.  If a bat is manufactured after January 1, 2012, it must have a stamp that says "Approved for Pony Baseball".  Bat manufacturers will have a stamp on new bats that lists all organizations.  These new bats will also have a BPF (Bat Performance Factor) rating of 1.15 or less stamped on the bat.

2. If a 2 1/4" barrel bat is used, it must have a BPF of 1.15 stamped on it.  If manufactured after January 1, 2012, it must have the stamp, "Approved for Pony Baseball" and the year manufactured on the bat.

3. Effective January 1, 2012, all minus 3 (-3) bats must be BBCOR certified.  Bat barrel must be no larger than 2 5/8" in diameter.  All BBCOR bats must be labeled with a permanent certification mark.  This is the High School rule which we have been using for our Colt Division.  A -3 bat may be used in any Division, but it must be BBCOR certified.

4. Because we use a regulation baseball and not a safety ball, coach pitch bats cannot be used in the coach pitch (Pinto) Division.  The only Division a coach pitch bat can be used is T-Ball (Shetland) since we use a safety ball for T-Ball.  T-Ball bats cannot be used in any Division other than Shetland (T-Ball).

Nations Baseball Rules (Open League Games and Tournaments) -- The following bat rule is in effect at all Nations Events in the Houston/South Texas area.

1. In ages 14U and below, bats with the new BPF 1.15 stamp (on the transition area between the barrel and handle) are legal, regardless of weight and composition.

2. Bats with the old Little League approved stamp (2 ¼" barrel, no composite) on the barrel under the manufacturers model name, will be legal until July 31, 2012.

3. In 14U, bats must either be a BPF 1.15 -5 bat OR a BBCOR bat (BESR -3 bats are not legal).

4. 15U and above must use a NFHS (high school) legal BBCOR bat.

Penalty for Use of Illegal Bats (Fall 2011) – The bat will be removed from the playing field by the umpire and the manager of the team will be warned against further use. If the illegal bat is discovered after the end of the play, and the play results in the batter/runner safely reaching first base, the batter/runner will be declared out and all runners must return to the last base legally occupied prior to the play. No run may score on this play. Any out that results on the play will stand. On a second offense, the above penalties will apply and the manager of the offending team will be removed from the field and will be prohibited from managing for the remainder of the game.