Rules

DuPage River Conference Bronco & Pony Rules – 2026

SLIDE RULE: Players are often injured when not necessary.  The purpose of the home plate slide rule is to avoid unnecessary contact at home plate.  However, no player can block a base including home plate without having possession of the ball.  If in the umpires judgement, any player blocks a runners path to any base including home plate, the umpire should call obstruction on the defensive player and the base runner should be awarded the base.  If the catcher is holding the ball before the runner reaches home plate, the runner must slide or attempt to go around the catcher.  If he runs into the catcher without sliding or attempting to go around, the umpire will call the runner out for unnecessary contact.  If in the umpires judgement the contact was intent to cause injury, the player will be ejected from the game.  If the ball and the runner arrive at the same time, the runner does not have to slide.  The catcher must have possession of the ball before the runner reaches home plate.  If there is contact between the catcher and the base runner and the catcher is blocking the plate without having the ball, obstruction should be called on the catcher and the base runner awarded home plate.

BAT RULE: Any drop 3 bat needs to be BBCOR and no more than two and five-eights (2 5/8″) in diameter.  No 2 3/4″ bats are allowed.  If illegal bat is detected before the first pitch of an at bat, the bat shall be removed from the game.  The player is not out and is required to use a legal bat.  If illegal bat is detected after first pitch or after the ball has been hit, the batter is out, the manager will be ejected and the base runners shall not advance.  All bats must have the USA stamp.

TIME LIMITS: Bronco & Pony will be two (2) hours.  No inning shall start after the time limit.

When the third out is made before the time limit is reached, play should continue.
If the score is tied when the time limit is reached, one extra inning will be played. 

Games called due to weather or darkness are considered a complete game:

a.  If four and one half (4 ½ ) innings are complete and the home team has scored more runs than the visiting team.
b.  If the visiting team has scored more runs than the home team after five (5) complete innings.
c.  If a game in the 6th or 7th inning is called due to weather or darkness and an inning can’t be completed the score will revert back to the last inning.

Exceptions to the time limit: When a game can’t be started on time because of rain or having no umpires.  You can start a game with one umpire if needed.  Otherwise the time limit should start at the scheduled starting time.  It is the manager’s responsibility to have their warm ups done and have their team ready to start on time.  Before starting the game, both managers, umpires and official scorekeepers should check and agree on starting time. 

PLAYERS: Bronco teams can borrow from Mustang (9-10) and Pony teams can borrow from Bronco (11-12) Or you can borrow from your age division to avoid a forfeiture. 

  1. No more than three players can be borrowed.
  2. You can also use a player from the opposing team.  Any additional player must play the outfield and bat ninth. 
  3. You can start a game with only 8 players and the 9th batter would be an automatic out.
  4. Continuous batting order in Bronco and Pony.
  5. Bronco players must play two innings in the field.

TRAVEL PLAYERS No player shall be a rostered player on two teams with the exception of Sunday travel league.  Any Bronco or pony team that has a player on a travel team or another league will forfeit all games in which this player played and will be removed from the Bronco or Pony team.

 COURTESY RUNNERS can be used for pitchers and catcher.

  1. Any time.
  2. The courtesy runner would be the player that made the last out.

BALKS    Bronco – There will be one (1) warning on a balk per pitcher until May 15.  After May 15 all balks will be called.

PITCHING  

Age      No rest   1 Day rest    2 Days Rest    3 Days Rest   4 Days rest     MAX per day
11-12     1-30         31-45             46-60               61-75              75-85                    85
13-14     1-30         31-45            46-60               61-75              75-95                    95

TEN RUN RULE applies to games after five (5) innings and will be an official game.
Bronco & Pony –  15 runs after three innings.

SPIKES ~ no metal spikes will be allowed at the bronco or pony level.

RAIN OUTS

  1. All rain outs must be rescheduled within 48 hours of the original scheduled date and must be played within 10 days of the original schedule date.
  2. If the home team field is not available then the visiting team should be asked if they                      have a field available.
  3. If the game is played at the visiting teams field the home team will supply baseballs and bring money for umpires.          

RAIN DELAYS An additional 15 minutes will be added to the original time limit.  If a rain delay (s) is longer than 15 minutes, it will count against the original time limit.  For Bronco & Pony a game with a rain delay is not to exceed (start a inning after) 2 hours & 15 minutes. 

PROTESTS  ~ Only during conference tournament.

SEED MEETING
Bronco:  June 18th at 8:00pm at Crest Hill
Pony: June 18th at 7:00pm at Crest Hill

Please keep your record updated on the DuPage River website at www.dupageriverbaseball.com.
Your record on the website is what will be used at the Seed Meetings.
You will not be able to add more than one game at the seed meeting.