Basic Rules of Baseball for Nijisanji Koshien Beginners

Rules of Baseball:

1. The first team, the "visiting team", begins on offense, sending out batters, while the "home team" begins defense, occupying the field. Each player takes turns in these roles as an "inning". The game proceeds for nine innings.
2. When on offense, an individual team member comes up for an "at bat", where the pitcher throws the ball and they attempt to hit it.
		1. A thrown ball is a "strike" if the batter swings and misses the ball, or if the ball travels within the strike zone (the width of home plate) without the player swinging. If a batter gets three strikes, they are out.
		2. A thrown ball is a "ball" if the ball passes the batter outside of the strike zone without the batter swinging. If a batter gets four balls, they have earned a "walk" and may advance to first base.
		3. If the batter swings and hits the ball, but it travels outside of the two diagonal white lines on the field, this is a "foul". This counts as a strike unless the player already has two strikes, then it doesn't count for anything.
		4. If the batter hits the ball inside of the foul zone, then that ball is in play. The batter will then attempt to run to first base as fast as they can. At that point, the defense must try to get them "out" before they reach a base (see section 4 below).
		5. Once a batter stands on a base, they are "safe" and play moves to the next "at bat". While the ball is in play, the batter may choose to advance to second base, third base, or even all the way around back to home plate. A batter is only "safe" for the next "at bat" if they remain on a base. Once a batter touches home plate, they have scored a "run" for the offense team. If a batter remains on base, they have effectively become a "baserunner" (see section 3 below).
		6. Any hit by a batter that is hit in play but in such a way that a fielder cannot reach it (out of the park) is considered a home run. The batter and all baserunners round the bases and score runs.
		7. Once the offense team earns three outs, the inning half is over and the teams switch roles.
3. All baserunners must advance after a hit or a walk. In the case of a hit, the runner must reach the next base without being declared out. No two runners can occupy the same base.
		1. If a baserunner ends up on home plate, a "run" is scored for the offense team.
		2. It is possible for baserunners to advance beyond the base required of them. In this instance they are not obligated to advance on a hit unless there is a runner on the base behind them.
		3. It is also possible for baserunners to attempt to "steal" a base by running towards the next base as the pitcher winds up their next pitch. This is a risky move that can be caught by the pitcher or other fielders.
4. On defense, the nine players are arranged on the field in a way to best manage the offense. One player is on the pitcher's mound as the pitcher, who throws balls in an at-bat. Behind home plate is the catcher, who receives and returns the ball during an at-bat and also mans home plate. There are also four infielders; the first baseman, the second baseman, the shortstop, and the third baseman, arranged from right to left, who are to field any balls that are in play. Also are three outfielders, the left fielder, center fielder, and right fielder, from left to right outside of the diamond, who are also to field any balls that are in play.
If the ball is hit and is in fair play, then the fielders must attempt to get the runner "out" in one of three main ways:
		1. A "fly out" occurs if the ball is caught by a fielder without it touching the ground after the hit.
		2. A "tag out" occurs if a fielder holding the ball touches a baserunner that is not on base.
		3. A "force out" occurs if a fielder holding the ball touches a base that a baserunner is required to touch.
5. If in the final inning the first offense team (the visiting team) does not earn more runs than the first defense team (the home team), then the game is ended after that half inning, as there is no need for the other team to earn more runs.