Baseball is a game contested between two teams of 9 players. The defense plays the field and has the ball, and the offense can score by batting the ball and making their way around the bases. The field consists of two parts, the infield, which contains the bases, and the outfield. The bases are 90 feet apart, arranged in diamond format, and advanced counterclockwise. The pitcher's mound is in the center of the infield and is 60 feet 6 inches away from home plate (where the batter stands to try and bat the ball). At the youth level, the bases may be placed as close as 60 feet apart, and the mound may be as close as 46 feet away. The infield contains 6 of the 9 defenders, the pitcher being on the pitcher's mound, the catcher positioned behind home plate to receive the ball from the pitcher, and 4 infielders. The 1st baseman and 2nd baseman are positioned on the right side of the infield near their respective bases. The shortstop and third baseman are positioned on the left side of the infield with the shortstop shaded closer to 2nd base, in a mirrored position from the 2nd baseman. The third baseman is positioned by third base. The outfielders are the 3 remaining defensive players positioned in the large grass outfield in a left, center, and right arrangement. The pitcher must deliver the ball over the plate at the height range of the player's knees to their torso. 3 pitches at this level or swings and misses count as an out. Balls batted that don't land in play, which the lines of play extend from the point of the home plate which is a 90-degree angle count as a strike as long it strikes one or two, a batter cannot foul out for the third strike. If a pitched ball is not called a strike it is a ball, and 4 balls in an at-bat award the batter first base via what is called a walk. Other ways to make outs are if a ball is batted and the fielders catch it before it hits the ground; if the ball hits the ground the runner can be declared out of the fielders touch the base of the advancing runner with possession of the ball prior to the runners' arrival, so long as the runner is forced to advance to the base. If there is no force, the runner must be tagged out. In the event of a fly-out, any runner must re-establish possession of the bag they started at and are not allowed to advance to the next base until the fielder catches the ball. If they don't re-establish possession of their originating base they can be called out if the ball and the fielder possessing it reaches the originating base before they do. 3 outs constitute a half-inning; after each half-inning, the teams rotate from offense to defense. After each team gets 3 outs the full inning is concluded. A game is complete after 9 innings, although youth games are usually 6 or 7 innings. If the teams are tied at the end of regulation, the teams will continuously add extra innings until the tie is broken. A ball that is batted over the outfield fence is considered a homerun and the batter and all base runners can advance safely to home. If a battled ball lands in fair territory and leaves the field of play, it is considered a ground-rule double, and all runners are awarded two bases from where they started. You can substitute players from your bench into the game at any time but players are not allowed to re-enter the game once substituted, so substitutions are done sparingly and strategically. Many leagues employ the designated hitter rule, which allows for a 10th player to bat in place of the pitcher. Balls, strikes, and outs are called by umpires, of which there can be anywhere between 2 and 4.