Montgomery County Little League (MCLL)

Player Pool Policy

All divisions of baseball and softball within MCLL 

Adopted January 2023

1. This policy is for all divisions of both baseball and softball within MCLL.

2. This policy is provided to aid Teams in their participation in any MCLL hosted regular season games (this procedure may NOT be utilized for playoffs). In the event a team cannot field nine players the day of the game, they may elect to utilize a pool player from the other regular season teams in the league. 

3. The spirit behind this policy is to assist teams who may not be able to participate, due to lack of player participation that day, and gives them the ability to still play the game. The intent is NOT to stack a team or leave your weaker players home. This policy will be conducted on the ‘Honor” system and MCLL fully expects that teams will keep to the spirit of the rule in order for all to benefit from this procedure.

4. A pool of players from existing regular season teams will be created from registered players that are willing to participate in extra games during the regular season when teams face a shortage of rostered players for a regular season game within their respective division. 

5. Games that occur utilizing pool players are official games and count for purposes of standings and statistics just as any other game would.

Player Pool Guidelines

1. The league player agent(s) will create and run the pool. The league player agent(s) will use the pool to assign players on a rotating basis within their respective division to teams that are short of players. Note: Minors AAA players can be part of Majors pool and “called up” to play.

2. Managers and/or coaches will not have the right to randomly pick and choose players from the pool within their respective division. (LL Regulation V.c.2)

3. To request a pool player the coach must send an email to playeragent@mclittleleague.org with 1) team name/level, 2) number of players needed, and 3) game date/time.

4. A pool player is not permitted to pitch (LL Regulation V.c.3).

5. A pool player may not play the catcher position. 

   1. Exception:  At the Minors level a player pool player may play catcher for no more than 1 inning. 

6. Pool players that are activated and show up at the game site prior to game start must play at least nine (9) consecutive defensive outs and follow any other required field playing time rules.A player pool player may not be inserted any higher than 6th spot in the batting order (i.e. they may not bat in spots 1-5). 

7. A new player pool will be created for each season (i.e. fall and spring) and players must register for the player pool each season regardless of whether they have previously been a part of the pool.

8. The purpose of the player pool is to enable a team to have enough players to participate in a game.  While player pool players must be given the requisite playing time, coaches should not provide preference to player pool players that may have more “skill” than rostered players in attendance. 

9. The player agent(s), in consultation with the Board of Directors, may establish a player pool for any division in MCLL baseball or softball.

Method of creating and utilizing the pool

1. Following the close of registration and prior to the first regular season game the player agent(s) will solicit registered players to join the player pool.

2. During the season, players can choose to opt-out or opt-in by contacting the player agent.

3. All players will be listed in a spreadsheet  in the order that they registered for the player pool. The Player Agent will be in charge of creating and monitoring the spreadsheet. 

4. Players will be contacted in the order they appear on the player pool list. Starting at the top, contact the parents of the player to see if they are able to play.  If the player can play, they will be instructed to show up and play in their own team’s normal regular season uniform. This is to allow pool players to be identified. TIf the player cannot play in the game after being asked, the player agent shall move to the next player on the list.

5. Once the pool player is utilized, his/her name should be moved to the bottom of the pool for any future games until all players have been called to play. This will prevent the same player being utilized over and over again.

6. Upon written request of a player’s parent and approval of the player agent(s), players may also be entered to play in the player pool for  a higher division (e.g., a Minors AA player may be placed in the AAA pool or a Minors player may be placed in the Majors player pool).

Coach Player Pool Considerations

1. If you anticipate needing a pool player, please be clear with all your other player’s parents. If you activate the pool because you have 8 showing up and you have 10 show up, plus the pool player, the pool players MUST play 9 consecutive outs and bat once. It is imperative you express this to your players so they understand the ramifications of not communicating to the coach.

2. You can bring more than one player, but they both MUST be selected randomly per the guidelines, and they both MUST both play 9 consecutive outs and bat once.

3. As noted above, the pool player should wear their normal uniform from their regular team and should NOT be using a jersey from the team that called on them. This is to help delineate who is a pool player and who is on the roster.

4. The pool should be activated for each separate game (Example: Your team is scheduled to play both Monday and Tuesday evening and you only have 8 for both games. On Monday, you will activate the pool and then on Tuesday, you will need to have a different player from the pool). 

5. Pool players are not guaranteed if requested.  Therefore it is important that you obtain planned attendance from all players well in advance of a scheduled game (you can utilize Game Changer for RSVPs).  The earlier you request a pool player increases the likelihood of your request being met.

6. Upon approval of the player agent use of a non-pool player (i.e., borrowing a player from the opposing team) may be used in “emergency” situations where a team would be left with no alternative, but to forfeit the game.