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Lineball is a team game commonly played in the United States and other countries. It is a direct descendant of baseball and cricket although many key differences that there is only one base and scoring is by total number of hits and not by runs. And that 4 outs is needed to end an inning. Lineball is played on a smaller field than in baseball; a lineball field's average distances from home plate to left, center, and right, as the fence is 146 feet to left and right field, and center field. Home plate and foul territory to the left and right sides is actually 50.1 feet outside of the fair territory to the left and right side of the home plate.

Umpires
Decisions about plays are made by umpires, similar to a referee in American football. The number of umpires is four ; home ump - the home plate umpire who calls strikes and non-strikes from behind home plate ; field ump - the umpire who stands behind the lineball and either behind the right side of the line or the left side of the line that is 73 ft. away, straight, in front of home plate ; foul line ump - the foul line umpire who stands beyond the foul ball line in center field ; scoring ump - the umpire who keeps track of the total number of hits using a scoreboard that is either located 25 feet behind home plate or 25 feet beyond the center field wall.

Gameplay
lineball games last anywhere from 8 to 9 innings, depending on which team wins the bat toss; however 9 innings is the most common. In each inning, each team bats until four batters have been put out. The teams take turns batting. Officially, which team bats first is decided by a coin toss. However, the most common rule is that the home team bats second. Batting second is advantageous. In Japan and during the World Cup of Lineball the teams switch off per inning of who bats first and who bats second. The rotation of this is listed below:

1.) AWAY 1 HOME 2

2.) HOME 1 AWAY 2

3.) AWAY 1 HOME 2

4.) HOME 1 AWAY 2

5.) AWAY 1 HOME 2

6.) HOME 1 AWAY 2

7.) AWAY 1 HOME 2

8.) HOME 1 AWAY 2

9.) AWAY 1 HOME 2

Pitching
The pitcher pitches from the mound, from half way in between the line and home plate. The pitch must be thrown overhand and may be thrown sideways as the original rule of where the pitcher may not pitch sideways was changed during the second month of the 2014 NMLB Season. The pitcher's foot must not extend five feet off of the line, to the left, to the right, and to towards home plate facing home plate or a cylitch is called (the original name was a balk, was changed to a cylitch in 2014). However, the pitcher's back foot doesn't have to be touching the pitcher's foot line when the pitcher is pitching ; the back foot just has to be infront of the line when pitching overhand or behind the line when pitching sidearm.

Pitcher's count
The pitcher's count is different in lineball then in baseball and softball. The pitch count in lineball consists of four things. Non-strikes - Strikes - Past balls - Wild pitches. In this case for example out of 100 pitches ; 37 - 60 - 2 - 1 ; in the real count of 100 pitches ; 37-60-2(1); in the Japanese pitcher's count out of 100 pitches ; 2(1)-60-37 ; meaning in backwards.

Batting
Each team must bat as well as field ; play defense. Each batter gets a maximum of ten pitches to get a hit or hit the ball in play. However, the tenth pitch must be a strike or else the batter gets five extra pitches to try to hit the ball fair. Each foul ball counts as a strike. A third foul ball while the count is somethin and two strikes the foul hit counts as a foul ball and the count stands as somethin and two strikes. If the batter swings and misses the ball completely with the bat or doesn't swing and the ball lands inside the strike zone or barely hits the strike zone and the batter is outside and there for the pitcher gets a strikeout. On a dropped third strike or a third strike in the dirk the batter must be tagged out or thrown out at the line by the catcher. A new rule was added in 2014, where the batter may single with the right out in the shape of an "o", which means a fair out, in other words the batter forfeits his / her run down to the line and doesn't have to be thrown out or tagged out.

Getting a runner out
The runner may be counted out in a few ways. Either by being thrown out a fielder, tagged out by a fielder, the fielder catches the ball in foul territory and keeps one foot inbounds - this rule was also changed in 2014 from the original rule or strikeout by the pitcher. Another way is if any one of the fielders catches the ball and throws the batter out.

Running
The batter may not circle around the line ; meaning the runner may not go in a circle to get to the line or else the runner is out. The runner may only run in a straight line. However, the runner may go in a circle if to avoid a fielder. The runner must touch the line with both feet to be declared safe. If the ball gets to the line at the same time as the runner then tie goes to the runner.

Whats fair and wats foul
If the ball gets popped up fair, but doesn't go past the pitcher's mound or over the pitcher's head ; then the batter who now becomes a runner is out do to the infielder fly rule ; the runner on the line may not advance to the home plate. If the ball hits off of a fielder's glove when the ball is fair and goes foul the ball is now in play ; meaning is fair do to the fielder's glove touching the ball. If the ball gets hit and goes behind the catcher the ball is foul. Any ball hit over the wall in the outfield, the ball is foul ; under the official rules the ball must not leave the field completely to be counted as a fair ball.

Extra Innings
After 9 innings, if the game is tied in number hits, the first team to get thirteen hits wins, the game may go on as far as thirteen innings ; if both teams have failed to get thirteen hits, the team with the most hits wins ; meaning the thirteen hits win rule gets dropped.