RICHLAND/CHAMBERS CREEK BASEBALL and SOFTBALL ASSOCIATION BY-LAWS 2012

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1 RICHLAND/CHAMBERS CREEK BASEBALL and SOFTBALL ASSOCIATION BY-LAWS 2012 Article I. Name The name of this organization shall be Richland/Chambers Creek Baseball and Softball Association, hereinafter referred to as the organization. The organization shall be a non-profit entity composed entirely of voluntary individuals who shall receive no pay or enumeration for their services. Article II. Purpose The purpose of the organization shall be to initiate and administer on an on-going basis a comprehensive baseball/softball program for boys and girls. It is expressly intended to teach and develop baseball/softball skills along with promoting good character development. Article III. Government A. The organization shall operate under the general auspices of it s membership and shall have the following officers: President, Vice-President of Baseball, Vice President of Softball, Secretary, and Treasurer. Officers shall hold office for one year and are eligible for reelection. B. Roberts Rules of Order shall be observed at all meetings. C. The government shall be under the direct supervision of the officers. Together with a representative from each member town in the organization, they shall make up the Executive Committee. D. The annual organizational meeting shall be held no later than the third Sunday in March to determine and elect officers for the coming year and the culmination of all reports and business for the preceding year. (All local rule changes or exceptions to the Texas Teenage Rulebook must be established at this meeting). E. All matters of policy and/or league regulations shall be decided by majority vote of a quorum of the Executive Committee, managers and represented towns present. A majority of the Executive Committee constitutes a quorum at any meeting. F. All expenditures of funds shall have prior approval of the board. Article IV. Membership A. Any person meeting the requirements as to age and residence as set forth in the official rules and regulations of Texas Teenage Baseball and of this constitution and by-laws shall be eligible for participation. B. Parents or guardians of players, team sponsors and other contributors, coaches and other volunteers shall be eligible for membership. The defined boundary of the organization is that area outside of the city limits of Corsicana which include the following city associations: Blooming Grove, Dawson, Mildred, Wortham, Rice, Palmer, Ferris, Italy and Kerens. The specific boundaries within the organization will follow school district maps. Article V. Protests A. The protest committee shall consist of one representative from each town. They shall select a chairman who will preside at protest meetings. B. Elected league officers will also serve on the committee, but only vote in the event of a tie; beginning with the President, if his town is not involved. The Vice-President shall break a tie vote if the Presidents town is involved in the protest. The Secretary shall break a tie vote if the Presidents and Vice-Presidents towns are involved in the protest. C. A protest, which may arise from the interpretation of playing rules, will be made by notifying the umpire-inchief and the coach of the opposing team at the time of the occurrence that the remainder of the game is being played under protest. The protest shall then be submitted in writing along with a $25.00 fee to the President of the organization within 24 hours after the game in question. D. The President shall call a meeting of the Protest Committee as soon as possible and a ruling made on said protest as quickly as all facts can be determined. Rulings of the Protest Committee shall be final. E. No protests will be accepted after twenty-four (24) hours or on judgment calls. If the plaintiff wins the decision, the $25.00 protest fee shall be refunded.

2 Article VI. Affiliation A. The organization shall apply each year for application of membership in Texas Teenage Baseball. Article VII. Conformation A. All divisions will conform to TTA and local rules and regulations. Division age guidelines: BASEBALL (all ages as of April 30) HIGH SCHOOL ELIG up to 18 SOPHOMORE 13, 14 FRESHMEN 11, 12 SR. MIDGETS 9, 10 MACHINE PITCH 7,8 T-BALL under 6 SOFTBALL (all ages as of January 1) JUNIOR 13, 14, 15 FRESHMEN 11, 12 MIDGETS 9, 10 MACHINE PITCH 7,8 T-BALL under 6 B. League games shall be determined by the Executive Committee with any conflicts resolved by the organization President. The matter shall be determined by the end of April each year by the Executive Committee. C. Universal umpires fees: Boys T-ball: $20 (only one certified required) Coach Pitch/Machine Pitch: $20 (only one certified required) Midget/Senior Midget: $25 Freshmen: $35 Sophomore boys: $40 Girls T-Ball: $20 (only one certified required) Coach Pitch/Machine Pitch: $20 (only one certified required) Midget: $25 Freshman: $25 Junior: $25 Article VIII. Local Rules and Regulations TTA rules govern unless otherwise stated for local league play ONLY! A. The home team will be responsible for having the field ready so that both teams have their infield warm-up completed by game time. Game time is forfeit time. B. The home team will be responsible for providing two umpires for the game. Umpires shall be approved by Richland/Chambers Creek Baseball Association and are required to attend at least one sanctioned clinic. Forfeiture of game will result if these requirements are not met. The only exception to this rule is for T-Ball and Machine/Coach pitch where it is permitted to have only one sanctioned umpire. All TASO and ASA certified umpires are permitted. C. All wet ground postponements will be played on the first day available, subject to the approval of the organization President. Wet ground postponements shall be mutually agreed upon by the coaches involved with notification of such to the organization President. At no time shall a make-up game conflict in any way with a regularly scheduled game. D. No game shall be postponed unless there is some uncontrollable circumstance, such as death in the family or power failure to the baseball facility. School activities such as graduation and special events are also considered as legitimate reasons for postponement.

3 E. All regularly scheduled games shall start and be played according to the official schedule unless approved and/or postponed by the organization President. Games canceled for any reason will be rescheduled by the town President with notification given to the RCC Association President. Games will be rescheduled at the earliest date feasible for each team, after the 2 nd attempt the date will be set by the town President and RCC President. Any team that cannot make the 3 rd date will result in a forfeit. F. The following time limits will apply Boys Girls T-ball 1 hour 1 hour Coach/Machine Pitch 1 hr 15 min 1 hr 15 min Sr Midgets/Midgets 1 hr 30 min 1 hr 15 min Freshman 1 hr 45 min 1 hr 30 min Sophomore 1 hr 45 min Junior 1 hr 30 min (Regardless of the time limit, Juniors will play a minimum of four innings). If any time remains after the last out in the bottom of an inning, a new inning will commence and be played to its completion. This applies to all divisions. G. The following runs per inning rules apply: Boys- T-ball, 7; Machine Pitch, 7; Senior Midget, 10; Freshman and Sophomore, none. Girls- all divisions 7. All T-ball, a 15 run lead after 3 innings or 8 run lead after 4 innings will be considered a run-rule victory. Up to Freshmen boys and girls, a 10 run lead after 3 ½ or 4 innings will be run-rule, and 4 ½ or 5 at the Junior girls and Sophomore boys levels. There will be no ties. H. A re-entry rule is allowed in all age groups of TTAB (not softball). Any of the starting players may be substituted and re-entered once, provided players occupy the same batting order whenever in the line-up. Refer to TTAB rulebook. I. Each manager will be responsible for the conduct of himself, assistant coach, bat boy, fans and team members and will be expected to ensure that the conduct displayed will reflect nothing but a good image of himself, his team, and his town. All managers and coaches will have to pass a background check (no convicted felonies). Background checks must be conducted by town Presidents prior to approving coaches ( J. Only the manager/coach, players, and bat-boy or girl will be allowed in the dugout area or on the playing field. (If bat boy or girl is not an adult, they must wear a helmet.) The manager is responsible to evict unauthorized personnel from the dugout area. K. The home team will be responsible for keeping the official score book. Line-up cards are due to the official book five minutes before game time. Following the game, both coaches will sign the game record indicating their agreement. The umpire-in-chief shall also sign the official score book. L. In all divisions, all players shall play at least one full inning in a game or the player(s) shall start in the next game and play at least one full inning. Exception: T-Ball shall bat all players listed on lineup. This will wave the one inning rule. M. Blood Rule: A player, coach, or umpire who is bleeding or who has blood on his uniform shall be prohibited from participating further in the game until appropriate treatment can be administered. No visible blood on skin or uniform is considered appropriate. N. 8 player ruling - A team may start/finish a game with only 8 players for any age group. An out will be taken automatically for the 9th position. O. Playoff seeding will be determined by: Best records in each division (i.e. American, National) will advance to the playoffs. In the event of a tie, HEAD-TO-HEAD record among the tied teams will be the first tie-breaker, followed by the BEST OVERALL record. A one-game playoff is next, followed by a coin flip. P. All teams of 8 and under boys and girls will bat the line up in regular season games. Q. Girls T-ball and Machine Pitch may play 10 players in the field. R. Sr. Midget and up teams may have extra hitter for a total of 10 in the batting line-up during regular season. This does not apply post season. Article IX. General Rules and Guidelines A. Bats: Refer to TTA rule book. B. Helmets: Must be worn by batter, runner, on-deck batter, and bat-boy/girl. Helmets must have ear protection. Catcher must wear hockey-style helmet or helmet with mask, ear protection and throat protector.

4 C. Spikes: rubber only (no metal). Player will be ejected for using metal spikes. Metal Cleats Permissible in High School Girls. D. Baseline: three feet each side of foul lines and three feet each of imaginary line from first to second and from second to third. E. Running lane: last half of the distance from home to first base, from foul line to 3 feet outside of foul line. F. EJECTION: manager or player shall leave immediately (manager must leave park) or game will be forfeited! G. EJECTION: deliberately thrown bat or helmet! H. EJECTION: fake tag! I. EJECTION: maliciously running into a fielder for any reason! J. EJECTION: profane language! K. Intentional walk: notify plate umpire (dead ball). Do not call time. L. Charged conferences: defensive - 3 per game. 4th - pull pitcher (each additional conference after 4 will require the pitcher to be removed). 2 in one inning with the same pitcher, the pitcher must be pulled. Attending an injured player is not a charged conference. One per inning is allowed for extra innings. offensive - 1 per inning. No more will be granted by umpire. Umpires should notify coaches of each charged conference and tabulate conferences. M. Any person warming up the pitcher must wear a mask. N. Playing tight bases: when pitcher is in contact with the rubber, batter in the batters box, and catcher is in catchers box ready to receive the pitch, base runners shall not leave base until the ball reaches the batter. If a runner leaves base early and the ball is not hit, the runner will be returned to his base. The ball is dead and no runners may advance. The pitch will be counted either as a strike or a ball. If a runner leaves base early and the ball is hit fair or a base on balls or a hit batter, the runner who left early is out (Live ball and in play). Article X. Player Selection System A player selection system has been drafted and duly incorporated into the organization. These guidelines for player selection are provided by a standing committee appointed by the Executive Committee. A. A returning coach or team manager shall retain (if he chooses) players from the previous season that are eligible for play in the same division. See Article X section C for protected players. B. In the event that a team manager leaves his division by moving up or down among divisions or retires from coaching, an assistant coach has the option to assume his team without penalty according to the statutes set forth for returning coaches. C. Each team shall protect a maximum of 3 players, mandatory manager s and coach s protect their child/children. Protected players remain protected as long as they remain on a roster in that age division. Players must be named each year on the official Team Roster. D. To ensure that every child who signs up for the baseball program is afforded the opportunity to participate, if there are at least 20 to sign up for any division, it will require the formation of two teams. If there are at least 30 to sign up for any given division, it will require the formation of three teams. High ethical standards and good judgment are expected when dealing with these decisions. E. Player trades and agreements will be final before regular season play. Player trades include and are limited to be within the individual town associations within the organization. In all cases it shall mutually benefit the teams and the players involved. F. Player drafts will be conducted according to the current (each season) conditions. Towns with one team in a division with no possibility of forming another team will absorb all drafts. In cases where a new team(s) will form in a division, new coaches will draft players until he has equaled the number of the players of the existing team(s). Once the teams are equal, it reverts to a fair and open draft. G. When two teams are in a division, draft order will be established by a coin flip. For three or more teams, drat order should be pulled (Ex: Numbers out of a hat, ping pong balls, deck of cards). The draft will be conducted in SERPENTINE fashion. (Ex: Round 1: 1. Team A, 2. Team B, 3. Team C; Round 2: 1. Team C, 2. Team B, 3. Team A; Round 3: Team A, 2. Team B, 3. Team C ) H. Each team will be allowed one head coach or team manger and one assistance coach. The bat boy may be a team parent selected off the team once it has formed but not before.

5 I. Exception to this article are: 1) A coaches child or children shall have the right to play on his team as a protected player. 2) A child from any age group (including to an existing team) may enter the draft by consent or preference of his parent(s). Player selection and player trade agreements must be approved by local affiliates.