Texas Tiebreaker Baseball Rules

Tie Games

• No innings can start after the time limit of 1 hour, 45 minutes is up, but the inning in progress can finish. In regular-season play, a game that is tied once the final inning is over is officially a draw. However, this changes in the end-of-season tournament. At this stage a winner mus be declared, so once the time or seven innings have passed and the teams are tied, an extra inning is played. The inning begins with the bases loaded -- the last hitter, second-last hitter and third-last hitter take up positions on first, second and third bases, respectively. The offensive team also starts the inning with one out. These innings are played until one team finishes with more runs than its opponents.

Tournament Ties

• Tiebreakers are also needed sometimes outside of games. If teams are tied in tournament standings, two options are available to declare a winner. The first option is to use a set of separating rules to determine which team comes out on top. The second method is to hold a one-game playoff, something that only the Texas Dixie Youth Baseball Board can order.

Playoffs

• This one-off game should be thought of as another round of the tournament, meaning normal rules apply. The only exception is that only pitchers who have pitched in each of the six previous innings can pitch in the seventh inning. The team that wins the playoff game is ahead of the opposing team in the standings.

Separating Rules

• If two teams are tied in the tournament standings, their results against each other are considered. The team that has won the most head-to-head games comes out on top. If the teams' wins in the head-to-head games are tied, the team that has given up fewer runs in these games wins. If the teams are still tied, the next tiebreakers are runs given up in the tournament, then the most runners left on base in the tournament. If all of these records are tied, a coin toss decides the matter.