2013 AAU Baseball Rule Changes

During the 2012 AAU National Convention held recently, the Baseball Executive Committee proposed several rule changes to the Baseball General Session. The General Session voted unanimously to adopt all changes. They are as follows:

Qualifying for AAU Baseball Grand Nationals or National Championships

For 2013 and beyond, winners (1st place only) of authorized Super Regionals will qualify directly for Grand Nationals or Nationals. Winners will not be required to participate in their State Championship to validate their bid.

Teams which participate in three Super Regionals in one season but do not win will qualify directly to the Grand Nationals or Nationals via an At-Large bid without playing in their State Championship.

Teams that placed in the Grand Nationals or Nationals in the previous year will qualify directly to the Grand Nationals or Nationals without playing in their State Championships.

Teams that participate in their State Championship but do not win or place will automatically qualify for, and will be granted, an At-Large bid to the Grand Nationals or Nationals. Winners, and teams that place, in the State Championship shall be seeded the highest in the Grand Nationals or Nationals, followed by Super Regional winners, then teams that placed in last year's Nationals, then league winners, then teams that participate in the State Championships but do not win or place, and teams that participate in three Super Regionals in that season (i.e. At-Large bids).

As a reminder, teams winning a Super Regional must file their letter of intent (which is different from the online Intent to Participate form) within 72 hours of winning the event. Your qualifying roster must also be submitted and will become frozen. Once the roster is frozen, you may add or replace a maximum of five players prior to the Grand Nationals or Nationals. You can obtain your letter of intent from the tournament operator for the Super Regional. The roster must be submitted with the letter of intent. Teams that participate in three Super Regionals must submit within 72 hours of the third Super Regional.

Residency Requirements

Teams may have no more than 40% of their players from a district adjoining their own. This rule replaces the previous that allowed only three cross-boundary players. The change is intended to assist those teams that are located right on the border of the district. A team with 12 athletes therefore may now have five cross-boundary players rather than the three the previous rule allowed.

Pitching Limits

Pitching limits have been removed for the 14U age group. The 14U age group will now mirror the Underclassmen and Upperclassmen rules.

Bat Restrictions

There are no bat restrictions for the 8U through 13U age groups. 14U, Underclassmen, and Upperclassmen must abide by the NFHS mandates for bats.

If you have any questions regarding any of the rule changes, please contact National Baseball Chair Ed Skovron (401.451.1999, oldpro77@msn.com) or Debra Horn at the National Office (407.828.3459; debra@aausports.org).