Anoka Fall Softball League Rules

Transcription

1 Anoka-Hennepin Community Education Adult Athletics Department 2727 North Ferry St. Anoka, MN Anoka Fall Softball League Rules League Communications: Marv Johnson Jr., League Director Weather & Standings Hotline Weather & Standings Hot Line : Prompt 1 Score Reporting (Umpires) Prompt 2 Weather Hotline Prompt 3 Monday Standings Prompt 4 Tuesday Standings Internet Standings and Listing of Schedules Prompt 5 Wednesday Standings Prompt 6 Thursday Standings Prompt 7 Friday/Sunday Standings Team Manager Duty Timelines: Before 1 st scheduled game By June 15th * turn in rest of fees and roster forms * final day to add or subtract players to your league rosters.

2 1) ADULT SOFTBALL RULES & REGULATIONS The Anoka Adult Softball Leagues will be administrated by the Anoka-Hennepin Community Education Adult Athletics Department. The municipal park maintenance departments facilitate and provide field maintenance. League Objectives and Purposes The objectives and purposes of the Anoka-Hennepin Community Education Adult Athletics softball leagues shall be: 1) to foster, develop, promote and regulate amateur adult softball within the city of Anoka; 2) to establish rules and regulations governing all teams participating in the various leagues; 3) to extend the softball program as a wholesome recreational activity for adults. General Regulations Statement The Anoka-Hennepin Community Education Adult Athletics Department reserves the right to change any and all rules, regulations, and policies whenever due cause warrants a change. When a rule or regulation change is made all teams that are affected will be notified by the Recreation/Athletic Supervisor immediately. General Policies, Regulations, and Definitions The policies and regulations stated here will govern all adult athletic leagues: 1. Sportsmanship and fair play will be the required standard of all adult athletic leagues. Remember these are recreational leagues offered for the enjoyment of all the participants. 2. A rules committee will govern all adult athletic leagues and will be composed of a representative Anoka-Hennepin Community Education Department, the Recreation/Athletic Supervisor, and the local sports official in charge, and possibly the state rules interpreter for the respective sports. 3. A Non-resident is any player that doesn t live or work (full-time) within the boundaries of the Anoka-Hennepin ISD # Player Eligibility A. All players should be at least 18 years of age or older to participate in any adult league or sport. B. All players must comply with eligibility and conduct requirements of each specific league as described in the printed information about the different leagues. C. Current Varsity athletes might be ineligible for these leagues. The athlete should check with the Athletic Director at their school to make sure that participating in this league will not jeopardize their high school or college athletic eligibility 5. Entry fees and entry deadlines will vary with each sport or league. Entry deadlines and league starting dates will be announced in blasts, online and/or flyers sent to the sports mailing lists. Entries must be received by the deadline. Teams will not be considered registered until their entry fee is paid in full and player rosters, conduct and waiver forms are turned into the Anoka-Hennepin Community Education Adult Athletics Department. 6. Amendments to rules concerning each respective sport can be made at the organizational meeting for that sport. This will cover changes in league policies, rules, etc. Coaches and managers are encouraged to participate in discussion of the rules and express their desires concerning changes or anything else dealing with the leagues. 7. The Penalties for Unsportsmanlike Conduct - Any player or coach who is ejected from a game is automatically ineligible for that teams next 2 scheduled weeks of games (4 games). Each participant is held responsible to know and abide by this rule, ineligibles participating in either of the next 2 weeks of games will result in your team forfeiting the games plus further suspensions being applied. Any player or coach who, in the opinion of the rules committee, is detrimental to the function of the league will be barred from the league. 2) GENERAL LEAGUE REGULATIONS LEAGUE AFFILIATIONS All teams will be sanctioned with the Minnesota Sports Federation (MSF NSF) and the Minnesota Recreation and Parks Association (MRPA USSSA). The Tri-City Umpires Association will provide our umpiring services. If you are interested in becoming an umpire, give a call to Gary Friend at

3 1. League Schedules The Recreation/Athletic Supervisor will divide teams into divisions and produce all league schedules. 2. Awards The regular season & playoff champions will receive individual awards. 3. Team Conduct All teams are required to behave themselves and follow these league rules and regulations. Teams will be fined for the following violations. Other violations and conduct problems will also be assessed a fine. The fine will have to be paid before the next scheduled game or else the team will have to forfeit this game. A. Use of illegal players or players not on your roster ($50). B. Failure to turn in Roster, Waiver, and Conduct forms ($25). C. Team Forfeits their games without calling the Recreation/Athletic by 3:30 pm the day of the game ($25). D. Team conduct problems (team behavior, player ejections, alcohol violations, etc.) ($75) 4. Rosters, and Team Waiver and Conduct Forms All forms must be neatly completed and turned in before your teams 2 nd week. A. Rosters must be submitted in order for a team to be officially registered. B. The last day to make changes to the rosters is September 1st. C. A roster may not exceed 20 players. D. Rosters must be neatly completed with full Names, cities, and phone numbers. E. Team Waiver and Conduct Forms must be signed by the manager and turned in with the roster. 5. Team/Player Probation or Suspension The league has the authority to suspend or put on probation any player or team for inappropriate conduct to the sport of softball or the Community Education Department or the cities involved. Softball is a recreational game and we must keep all actions involved in the sport in their proper perspective. Alcohol Policy Alcoholic beverages are not allowed on the bench or in the bleacher area during your games. Umpires can (and will) disqualify any player who is drinking during games and may disqualify any players who show up at the game in a drunken state. Drinking by players is not allowed during games, even if behind the backstop, or in the bleachers, etc. NO glass bottles of any kind are allowed in the parks or in the parking lots. This is posted and will be enforced by park security this year. Please ABSOLUTLY NO GLASS ALLOWED!! USSSA Bat Performance Standard The performance standard for all bats will be a Bat Performance Factor (BPF) of 1.2 or less. The BPF was developed by the Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) Softball Bat Performance Study. All bats previously approved will be permitted with the approval of the Recreation/Athletic Supervisor or the Umpire-in-Chief. At all levels of play, bats will need to DISPLAY a BPF of 1.2 or LESS to be allowed for use in all Anoka-Hennepin Community Education Leagues. NOTE: The following bats are not allowed to be used in all Anoka-Hennepin Community Education Leagues: BEAST, REBEL, OUTLAW, ANY TITANIUM OR DEMARNI DOUBLE WALL NOT STAMPED BPF 1.2 OR LESS. Any player that is caught hitting a ball with an illegal bat will be ejected from the game and will also be suspended for the next two games (not knowing this rule is not an excuse. Managers need to inform their players of this rule). 3) GENERAL LEAGUE RULES (Note Current ASA official softball rules will prevail with the following exceptions or in-house rules) 1. Starting Times - 6:15, 7:15, 8:15, 9:15 pm A. A 5-minute grace period will be allowed from the scheduled starting time for teams to produce an official line-up of eligible players. This grace period counts as part of the hour time limit for the game. B. A minimum of 8 eligible players must be present to start and finish a game. C. A double forfeit will be declared if neither team has eight players. D. A $25.00 forfeit fee will be assessed to teams forfeiting at the field. To save this fee, contact the Anoka- Hennepin Community Education Adult Athletic Department before 3:30 pm the day of the game. Forfeit fees must be paid before the next scheduled game. If not paid, the team will lose their Conduct Deposit and will automatically lose their next games until the fees are paid.

4 2. Length of Games Games will be seven (7) innings with the following exceptions: A. There is a one-hour time limit on all games. No new inning should begin after the 55-minute mark. (Note: games can end in ties.) B. Run Rule: If one team is ahead by 15 runs or more after 3-1/2 or 4 innings or 10 runs or more after 4-1/2 or 5 innings. C. In the event of bad weather, games will be official after 3-1/2 or 4 innings. D. In the event of a tie at the time limit, the game will be declared a tie and each team will be awarded a 1/2 game win in the standings. 3. Special League Rules A. A three- (3) ball and two- (2) strike count with NO COURTESY foul allowed will be in effect for all league games. (Note: On the 2 nd strike foul ball, the ball is dead and the base runners can t advance). B. A team may elect to bat all players at the game (open ended batting order). To do this the team manager must inform the umpire and the other team prior to the start of the game. Teams may not subtract batters except for injury. Additions can only be made before the batting order has been completed once. Any 10 players may play defense as long as the batting order remains the same. Note: if a player gets injured and there is no substitute, that spot in the batting order will be skipped over with no penalty. If a player leaves early or is ejected and there are no subs, that spot in the order will be an automatic out. Mixed Couples Batting order rule The batting order must be alternating between men and women. At no time may there be more men than women in the batting order. The batting order must remain in the same throughout the game (no rotating an extra male batter throughout the order). Teams can bat more women than men but this will then cause the women to bat back to back at the end of the order. Any combination of 5 men and 5 women may play on defense. C. A courtesy runner shall be allowed for a player injured during the game. (Note: in Mixed couples the runner must be the last person of the same sex to make an out). D. Steel Spikes are not allowed E. No Infield practice before the games. Teams should warm-up on the outfield grass. F. All teams are responsible to put all their trash in the trashcans provided at the fields. If a team is in violation of this rule they will be fined. G. In Mixed Couples if a male walks he automatically goes to second base. The female than has the option of receiving an automatic walk or hitting. 4. Team Disbandment In the event a team disbands before the schedule is complete, all the remaining games will be credited to their scheduled opponent. No refund of fees will be made. 5. Dividing Teams into Divisions - Anoka-Hennepin Community Education Adult Athletics Department reserves the right to place teams in leagues or divisions where there will be equalization of competition and/or will allow teams the opportunity to play. 6. Changing Teams Any person playing on one team may not transfer to any other team in the same division without the approval of the rules committee and/or the Recreation/Athletic Supervisor. Players must submit a written request for changing teams to the Anoka-Hennepin Community Education Adult Athletics Department stating the reason for such a change. If approved there will be a one week waiting period from the time the request was approved before the transferred player will be eligible to play on their new team. 7. Playing on More Than one Team Players may not play on more than one team in the same league/division or on the same night of play. 8. Playing Under an Assumed Name or False Address Playing under an assumed name or false address will result in the guilty team losing the game and forfeiting their conduct deposit on the first offense and being barred from the league on the second offense. A team may be barred from the league on the first offense if the rules committee feels the rule breaking is flagrant. 9. Standings and Tie Breakers A. League and/or division standings will be kept and updated by the Recreation/Athletic Supervisor. Standings can be heard on the voic standings hotline (listed on your schedules and the front page of these rules), or they can be viewed at the following web site: B. Post season berths will be determined by the procedure outlined on the last page of these rules. C. Ties at the end of the season, in league play, will be determined as follows: I. By Head to Head record between tied teams. II. By the runs scored between each of the tied teams in their head to head games. III. By the total runs scored during all their league games.

5 IV. If the above tie breaking methods do not break the tie, a play-off game will be played. 10. Substitution Rules A. A player may re-enter the game once, if the team isn t batting their entire line-up. This player must bat in the same spot in the batting order. B. A player must play one complete inning by either playing the field then batting or batting and then playing the field. C. In the event of an injury, a player may be re-entered before one complete inning if a team has only eleven players at the game; however, he/she must abide by rule A listed above. D. Open Ended Batting Order All players at the game can be listed in the batting order. This option must be declared before the game. Batters cannot be subtracted except for injury. Batters cannot be added once the batting order has been completed once. (See Rule 3-3-B) 11. Rain Out Policy A. No decisions are made on possibly canceling games until about 4:00 pm. Don t call the Adult Athletic Office, instead call the weather hotline number listed on your schedules. B. Team Managers should call the Weather Hotline at to hear a voice mail message regarding the game status. If games are not cancelled at 4:00 pm, it is the team s responsibility to show up at the field and the umpires are then responsible for deciding whether games should be played. (Note: some fields drain better than others, so it is possible that games could be played at one complex but not at another). 12. Make-Up GamePolicy Teams will be notified in writing of all make-up games. Any postponed or cancelled games could or will be made up by one of the following three options: extending the regular season, on a Friday night, or on a Saturday. The Recreation/Athletic Supervisor will decide on when make-up games will be played. If a team can t make the make-up game the other team will be awarded a forfeit victory. If both teams can t make the game a double forfeit will be enforced. 13. Umpire Decisions A. Only the team manager is allowed to approach the umpire to question an umpire s decision on a given play. Keep in mind judgement calls (balls/strikes, out/safe, catch/no catch, etc.) shall not be questioned or disputed. B. Any player leaving the bench or their position to dispute an umpire s decision will be immediately ejected from the game. C. Absolutely no physical contact with the umpire will be tolerated. This includes the traditional bumping and excessive expression of words resulting in spitting. An immediate ejection will be enforced on this player. D. Absolutely no swearing is allowed. If a team manager or another player uses swear words or derogatory remarks while questioning an umpire s decision will be immediately ejected from the game. 14. Home Run Rules The ASA or USSSA home run rules will not be used in these leagues although the teams playing in the post season will use the various Associations rules in their tournaments. Our league will use the following home run rule: **A home run will be considered a non-touched or non-deflected ball that clears the outfield fence. Any player on the team can hit the home runs. After the allotted numbers of home runs have been hit, any ball hit over the fence that is not touched or deflected by the outfielder will be considered an out. If an outfielder deflects or touches a ball before it goes over the fence, it will be considered a four base error and this will not count in the home run limit total for the team. A. Men s Fall Leagues A maximum of 2 homeruns per game for each team. B. Co-Rec Fall Leagues A maximum of 2 homeruns per game for each team. 15) Sportsmanship Profanity and Abusive personal baiting of opponents by players or spectators shall not be permitted. Abusive baiting is defined as remarks referring to the nationality, creed, religion, or physical characteristics of an individual. The umpire shall eject anyone violating this rule from the playing field area and this person will also have to leave the park property. Also the Recreation/Athletic Supervisor and the rules committee has the authority to suspend or put on probation any player or team for inappropriate conduct or behavior to the sport of softball, to the Community Education Department, or the Cities and their parks that are being used. Softball is a recreational sport and all teams must keep all actions involved in the sport in their proper prospective. 1) Team managers are responsible for the behavior of the players and the fans of their team while at the city parks. This is in effect for either when your team is playing its own game or watching other games. For example teams from earlier games are not to harass an umpire or another team and its players during any following games that night. 2) If a player or a spectator is involved in the violation of this rule, the umpire will eject this individual from the park property.

6 3) If an individual is ejected and does not leave the property within one minute, the umpire will stop the game and award a forfeit to the opposing team. 4) If both teams are involved, the umpire will declare a double forfeit. 5) Note: the umpire and the team manager shall report any incident of the aforementioned nature. Preferably this report shall be a written description of the incident, and shall be turned into the Recreation/Athletic Supervisor within two working days of the game. 6) If a player is ejected from any game for unsportsmanlike behavior, that player will receive an automatic (2) two game suspension at a minimum. If the Recreation/Athletic Supervisor and/or the rules committee find the behavior excessive the player could receive a stricter penalty. Also team is subject to losing their conduct deposit. 7) ALCOHOL There shall be NO DRINKING of beer or other alcoholic beverages on the fields and/or team bench areas. Teams will forfeit their games if they violate this rule. 8) Any player or coach who, in the opinion of the Athletics Department staff, is detrimental to the function of the league will be barred from further league participation. 16. Forfeits Teams may play an official game with 8 players (Note: in Co-Rec you can t have more men than women). Less than 8 players will constitute an automatic forfeit. Teams have 5 minutes after the scheduled game-time to field a team (with only rostered players). If teams forfeit at the field and not notify the Recreation/Athletic Supervisor prior to 3:30 pm will have to pay a $25.00 forfeit fee before their next scheduled game. 17. Umpire No-Show If an umpire does not show up for your scheduled game, the two managers have a couple of options which are as follows: A. Have the game rescheduled for a later date (note this could be added on to the end of your schedule or could be held on a Friday or Saturday). B. Agree to play an official game using a fill-in person to act as the umpire. Both managers must agree to this option and to the person who will fill-in as the umpire. The results of this game will be regarded as official. A game scorecard must be signed by both managers before the game and the results are to be turned or called into the Anoka-Hennepin Community Education Adult Athletics Department. (Note: the fill in umpire will be paid) 18. Game Balls - Anoka-Hennepin Community Education Adult Athletics Department will supply teams with one new ball for each game. The official game balls shall be: Men s Leagues Dudley Thunder 12 (.44 cor) Women s Leagues Dudley Thunder 11 Co-Rec Leagues Dudley Thunder 11 & 12 (.44 cor) 19. Protests Protests are only permitted on player eligibility or the league rules. (Rules listed on this document or in the ASA rule book) Protests can not be made on judgement calls - such things as balls/strikes, out/safe, catch/no catch, interference, etc. Procedures for Protests: A) Manager must immediately notify the umpire and opposing manager of the protest. B) The manager must submit a written protest with a complete description of the incident, the rule that was violated (no judgement calls can be protested) and the point at which the incident occurred to the Anoka- Hennepin Community Education Athletic Department the next day after the incident. C) The written protest must be submitted along with a $25.00 protest fee. This fee will be refunded only if protest is honored. 20. Interference Rule (League Rule Only) A. If a runner does not slide or get out of the way during a double play situation, the runner and batter will be declared out if the umpire feels a double play could have been made, regardless if the ball was thrown or not. Note, if an another runner was originally on 2 nd or 3 rd base, he/she will be declared out rather than the batter (the runner closes to home at the time of the interference). B. On a close play at a base that will result in a tag being applied, the runner must slide or avoid making any contact with the defensive player. If the umpire feels the runner didn t make an attempt to slide or avoid contact on a tag play (at any base) the runner will be declared out. These are safety rules that will be enforced by all umpires. Managers please inform all your players that these rules will be strictly followed during league play. 21. No Dig Rule (in the batters box) A batter is not allowed to dig any type of hole in the batters box. Digging is defined as moving dirt out of the batter box and/or actually creating a hole in the batters box. The first offense, by a team, will result in a strike being called on the batter. The second offense, by a team, will result in the batter being called out. The third and any other offense, by a team, will result in the batter being ejected from the game. MANAGERS PLEASE INFORM ALL OF YOUR PLAYERS OF THIS IMPORTANT SAFETY RULE.

7 22. Casual Profanity/ Family Atmosphere Rule Casual profanity pertains to expletives not directed at umpires or opposing players, but uttered by a player, manager/coach frustrated with themselves, a teammate or a fan. (Examples include A player swearing after a popping out, striking out, or booting a ball). This type of casual profanity will be penalized by outs being declared against the offending team. Note if a player swears at an umpire or an opposing player they will be immediately ejected from the game. (An out will not be declared). Penalty If the offending team is at bat and profanity is used, the player is out unless the result of the play is an out in which case the next batter will be declared out. (Note the outs will be treated as delayed dead ball situations) If the offending team is in the field, the first player(s) to bat in there half of the inning will be declared out. It is possible for a team to come to bat with one or more outs already recorded or lose their at bat altogether. Rationale The Casual Profanity Rule provides a lesser penalty for the grey area between accepted conduct and those situations where the offender must be ejected. This rule is meant to sensitize players and discourage them from using words that are considered offensive/obscene. In an ideal world this rule would not be necessary and hopefully it will serve as a major deterrent and reminder not to use unacceptable language. Key Notes to the Rule A) What is considered swearing? Anything you would not want a 2-year-old to repeat. B) Just because the game is over does not give you the right to start swearing. Results in game suspensions for violating players. C) If players make a mockery of the rule, they will have a hearing before the league director, head umpire, and the umpire officiating the game. D) The rule is meant to be so family and friends can come to the game and not be embarrassed or insulted by the players language. **Set examples for children and/or young adults** 23. Special Co-Rec Rules A. Teams may start and finish a game with (8) players, but teams can not have more men than women on the field at any time. Teams can play with more women than men. B. Mixed Couples Batting order rule The batting order must be alternating between men and women. At no time may there be more men then women in the batting order. The batting order must remain in the same throughout the game (no rotating an extra male batter throughout the order). Teams can bat more women than men but this will then cause the women to bat back to back at the end of the order. Any combination of 5 men and 5 women may play on defense. C. If a male walks, he automatically gets to go to 2 nd base, and the female then has the option to hit or take a walk. (This is in effect no matter how many outs there are in an inning). D. Males and females can play any defensive position irrespective of other player's positions. (Don t need a minimum number of men or women in the outfield or infield) E. All outfielders can play anywhere that they want to; there is no outfield line in use this year. F. Players (infielders and/or outfielders) cannot switch positions (unless there is a pitching change or injury substitution) or physically overlap another fielder until the ball is hit. G. No infield player may play in front of the baseline (except pitcher). H. No bunting or chopping the ball is allowed. Batters must take a full swing.

8 MSF and MRPA Fall Post Season Tournaments 2016 Minnesota Sports Federation (MSF) Fall State Tournament Schedule - NSF There are no districts - just state tournaments. Fees are $200. (Note there is also a $10 fee per team that must Be paid by all teams when they check in at each tournament) September Co-Rec State Sauk Rapids October 1 2 Men s State Sauk Rapids No Women s Fall Tournaments are being offered 2016 Minnesota Parks and Recreation Association (MRPA) Fall State Tournament Schedule - USSSA There are no Regions - just state tournaments. Fees for all tournaments are $ October 1-2 Co-Rec C Burnsville Co-Rec D Burnsville October 8-9 Men s Competitive State Edina Men s Recreational State Woodbury No Women s Fall Tournaments are being offered Postseason Tournament Deposit Procedure The following procedure MUST be followed by ANY AND ALL teams interested in participating in any postseason tournaments offered either by Minnesota Sports Federation (MSF NSF) or Minnesota Recreation and Parks Association (MRPA USSSA) 1) Teams interested in participating in post season play must submit cash or a check (for the amount listed below) to the Anoka-Hennepin Community Education Athletics Department by September 1. [Note MSF NSF tournaments cost: States $ (note there is also a $10 fee that all team must pay at the tournament); and all MRPA USSSA all tournaments cost $200.00]. 2) These checks will be deposited (cash deposited) by Anoka-Hennepin Community Education Athletics Department upon receipt. The League (Division) Champions (or League/Division Representative) will have their money refunded after participation in the post season tournament. A. If the league (division) champion doesn t submit their post season tournament deposit, and other teams from the same league (division) have submitted a deposit by the deadline, than the team with the best record at the end of league play will be reimbursed after participating in their post season tournament. B. In leagues or divisions with more than one classification only one paid berth will also be given for these teams. (To either the league/division champ or the next highest finisher who paid the deposit). C. Additional berths will be requested for the leagues in which we receive more than one deposit check. D. Refunds will be issued to teams for which we are not able to secure berths. E. Refunds will not be given to teams that choose not to participate in post season play after they have submitted their deposit check prior to the deadline. F. Teams who commit to playing in a post season tournament, and do not show up, will not be allowed to represent Anoka-Hennepin Community Education in any following years. IMPORTANT NOTE: The checks submitted indicate to us the number of berths we should accept or secure for post season tournaments. Therefore, if you submit a check (or cash), it is your financial commitment to play in the post season tournament. Call Marv Johnson Jr, at , after September 9 th to find out if your team will receive a berth to the Regional/District/State Tournament or if you have any question pertaining to the deposits you have made.