Game Preliminaries

Ball

Official WBSC Baseball5 competitions are played with Approved WBSC Baseball5 balls.

• WBSC, being the world governing body for Baseball5, is entitled of ball and equipment certification, homologation and licensing.
• WBSC sanctioned competitions shall be played with certified Baseball5 balls that have passed the WBSC homologation process

Inning

An inning is a division of a Baseball5™ game consisting of a turn at bat for each team. A Baseball5 game is made of five innings.

A different game format in which a match is played over the best of three games, may be developed for events such as, but not limited to, World Cups, Youth Olympic Games etc.

Team players

The number of active players per team during a game is five at all times. If a team cannot meet the minimum required number of players on the field, the team shall forfeit and the match is over.

The maximum number of players on the roster is eight (five in play and three reserves).

Athletes must be registered in the line-up card with a number which can be freely chosen from 0 to 99. This number must appear clearly on the player’s jersey. Please refer to the tournament regulations documents for uniform specifications.

Mixed teams

In mixed gender competitions the defensive team must have at all times a minimum of two athletes per gender on the field. 

Outfit

Only under certain circumstances can certain types of finger taping protection be allowed by Game Officials, on a case by case basis, for injury prevention purposes only. These must be announced to, and approved by, the Game Officials prior to the start of the game.

General urban sports attire is required when playing Baseball5. The WBSC reserves the right to define specific regulations for players to participate in its official competitions. Where applicable, this information will be presented in the tournament manual. Only kneepads and elbow sleeves are permitted as protective equipment.

Line-up

The coach of each team must present the line-up card, duly filled and signed, to the Table Official, 15 (fifteen) minutes before the start of the game. An event organiser can require a line-up card to be presented up to 90 (ninety) minutes before game. In the absence of a coach, the team manager or captain shall be responsible for presenting the line-up card. A copy of the line-up card must be presented to the opposing team before the beginning of the game.