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What a baseball scrimmage is
A baseball scrimmage is a practice game between two teams, outside league standings. Coaches use it to stretch out pitchers on a planned pitch count, try players at new positions, and get live at-bats before the season. Many use relaxed rules, such as a continuous batting order or free substitution, while others play it straight as an exhibition game.
How to find a baseball scrimmage in 4 steps
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Pick your team and its range
Choose your team in Next Play. Teams are matched by birth year, gender (boys, girls or co-ed) and level (recreational, development, competitive or premier), inside your club's travel radius. If you think in 12U or 14U terms, choose the birth year that lines up with that age group. You can also list how far your team plays up or down, and the app shows when two teams' ranges overlap.
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Send a friendly invite
Pick an opponent and send an invite with your team, the date, the first-pitch time and who hosts, your diamond or theirs. The other club accepts, suggests another time or declines with a reason.
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Fill an open diamond or invite a club by name
Have a permit slot with no game in it? Post an open game with the date, the time window and the field, and matching teams can claim it. Know a team that isn't on Play 2 Earn Sports? Invite it by name; Next Play emails the club an invite and sends one reminder.
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Confirm the details and play ball
Once the game is booked, confirmed games go on your team's schedule. Use the staff chat to settle innings, pitch counts and bats, and request an umpire through the referee request if you want one.
How long is a baseball scrimmage?
Most baseball scrimmages run to an agreed number of innings or a time limit, whichever comes first, because diamonds are booked in slots and daylight runs out. The ranges below are general patterns, not rules. Agree your own with the other coach.
- Younger, coach-pitch or machine-pitch ages: many clubs play four to six innings or about 75 to 90 minutes, often batting the whole lineup or stopping each half-inning at a set number of runs.
- 12U-style ages: six innings or a time cap of around two hours is a common setup, with players pitching to a planned count.
- Older teams: many play seven innings, and some book a doubleheader so more pitchers get work.
On pitch counts, use your league's or association's pitch-count and rest guidance as the floor, and agree how both teams will track pitches. Many coaches go further in a scrimmage and plan each pitcher's count before the game, for example a set number of pitches or two innings, whichever comes first.
What to agree before the game
- Innings and time limit: how many innings, the latest start for a new inning, and the hard finish time on the diamond.
- Pitching: pitch-count limits, who tracks them, and whether to share counts after the game so both teams can plan rest days.
- Batting order: nine-player lineup, or a continuous order that bats the whole roster.
- Substitution and re-entry: free substitution, courtesy runners for the catcher and pitcher, and whether players can re-enter.
- Half-inning limits: end each half-inning at three outs only, or at three outs or a set number of runs.
- Base running: leadoffs and stealing, and the dropped third strike for 12U-style ages.
- Umpires and equipment: one umpire, two, or a coach behind the plate; bat standards your league uses; full catcher's gear.
- Field and safety: who preps and lines the diamond, a first aid contact, and the lightning plan.
Why clubs use Next Play for baseball scrimmages
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Teams in your birth year and level
Matching uses sport, birth year, gender and level within your travel radius. A baseball club only sees baseball teams, and play-up ranges show when an older team fits.
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Referee and umpire requests
Request one official or a full crew from the game. The host club and the official agree the fee, and Next Play doesn't charge for it.
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Scores both clubs confirm
One club enters the score after first pitch, and the other confirms or disputes it within 48 hours. Friendlies are kept separate from league standings, so preseason scores never touch the league table.
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A record other coaches can trust
A team's record counts games, wins-losses-draws, late cancels (less than 24 hours' notice) and no-shows from confirmed friendlies only. With at least 5 confirmed games, no no-shows and no more than 1 late cancel in the last 12 months, a team shows the "Reliable" badge.
Questions
In Next Play, pick your team and browse baseball teams that match your birth year, gender and level within your travel radius. Send a friendly invite with the date, first-pitch time and diamond, or post an open slot so a matching team can claim it. If you have a team in mind that isn't on the app, invite it by name and Next Play emails it.
Both are games outside league standings. An exhibition game is usually played like a league game, with full innings and normal lineups. A scrimmage is often looser: continuous batting, free substitution, run limits per half-inning or a coach re-pitching a count. Next Play books either one, and the two coaches agree the format in the staff chat.
There's no set number. Younger teams often play four to six innings or about 90 minutes. Many 12U-style teams play six innings or to a two-hour cap, whichever comes first, and older teams usually play seven. Your diamond slot and daylight usually decide the limit, so agree innings and a hard finish time before first pitch.
Treat them as if they do. Arms don't know the game is a scrimmage. Many coaches follow their league's or association's pitch-count and rest guidance for every outing and set a planned count for each pitcher before the game. Agree who tracks pitches and share the counts after the game so both teams can plan rest days.
Agree it in advance. Often the host club arranges the umpire, and some younger scrimmages use a coach behind the plate. In Next Play you can request one official or a full crew from the booked game. The host club and the official agree the fee directly, and Next Play doesn't charge for the request.
Yes. Next Play is free for clubs to use. It's built for adult club staff, including owners, club managers, team managers and coaches the club allows, and players and parents don't use it. It covers baseball and eight other team sports. Get the Next Play app from the Next Play page to begin.
