Bat Rules

A bat is legal for COYBL league play if any one of these three organizations approves it:

• Five Tool Youth Baseball (formerly Nations)
• USA Baseball
• USSSA Baseball

Approval by one is enough. You do not need all three.

The fast check in the parking lot: if the bat carries a USA Baseball logo, it is legal for league play, unless that model appears on the USA Baseball or USSSA decertified list.

If any of the three bans a bat for not conforming to its standard, COYBL bans that bat too. That is the only way a bat loses its legality mid-season, so the decertified lists below are the only lists you need to watch.

The 2 3/4 inch barrel limit is written into the 7U and 8U rule book only. At 9U and above, the COYBL rule books set no separate barrel limit, so the standard of whichever organization approved the bat governs.

Bats get decertified during the season. Check these two lists before your first game and again any time you buy or borrow a bat.

• USA Baseball decertified bats: usabat.com/decertified-bats. These are the models USA Baseball has banned for non conformance.
• USSSA bat, ball and equipment information: usssa.com/baseball/baseball-bat-ball-equipment-info. This page carries the USSSA bat rules for all ages plus the current list of disallowed bats.
• Five Tool Youth Baseball: fivetoolyouth.org. Bat rules live in the Five Tool Youth rule book. For anything Five Tool related, contact Harry Oschip at hoschip@fivetoolyouth.org or 440-796-1515, or Sean Dowers, Regional Director, at sean.dowers@fivetoolyouth.org.

If a bat is disallowed by these organizations, it cannot be used in league play.

Check the bat rules for every tournament you enter, every time. Tournaments publish rules specific to that event, and those rules may be tighter than what COYBL allows. A bat that is legal all season in league play can be turned away at the gate of a weekend event.

COYBL league playoffs are the exception. The league tournament runs under regular COYBL rules, so everything on this page applies there.

COYBL follows the current USSSA, USA Baseball and Five Tool bat rules together, and permits any bat that any of the three allows. In the league's own words, this is done "to lessen the financial impact on families, while also protecting the kids." Families buy one bat, not three.

• An umpire's judgment call cannot be protested. Rule interpretations, age violations and pitching violations can.
• The protest must be given to the umpire before the game is completed. Get the umpire's name and phone number.
• Email the protest to the league office within 24 hours.
• A $100.00 protest fee and a written protest must reach the league office within 72 hours to make the protest official. The $100.00 is refunded if the protest is allowed.
• In Five Tool weekend tournaments the process is different: stop play, have a tournament director called, and the protest fee is $200 in cash paid before the protest is heard. That $200 is returned if the protest is upheld and donated to Nationwide Children's Hospital if it is not.

• Footwear: metal spikes are permitted at 13U and older. At 12U and below, metal spikes are prohibited and rubber spikes are recommended.
• Baseballs: COYBL approves specific ball models by age. See the Approved Baseballs page.
• Helmets: all helmets must be NOCSAE approved and free of cracks or damage. Spot check them.

Your age group director is the first point of contact for any bat question or dispute. For the league office, contact Doug Hare at doughare@coybl.org or 614-778-1391.

• Five Tool Youth Baseball: Harry Oschip, hoschip@fivetoolyouth.org, 440-796-1515
• USSSA Ohio: Dennis Dick, State Director, dennis.dick@usssa.com, (513) 275-1211