BASEBALL. I. Rule Book. II. Tournament Rules. MLB - Major League Baseball, with APAC exceptions.

Transcription

1 I. Rule Book MLB - Major League Baseball, with APAC exceptions. II. Tournament Rules A. Time limit: In all games, any inning begun within the designated time limit will be completed. No new inning will begin after that time limit has been reached. B. The official time will be held by the Site Manager/Umpire and will start on the first pitch. C. Games will be 7 innings. D. All scheduled matches in an APAC team sport tournament must be played, weather permitting. Request for forfeits may not be entertained. (APRIL 2013) E. The championship game, when possible, will be played over a full seven innings without the imposition of a time limit. (October 2011) F. The semi-final games, where possible, will be played over a full 7 innings or extended time limits. This acknowledges there will be site-specific restrictions for each host. This does not apply to consolation games. (October 2015) G. Walk-Off Rule: If the home team has the lead at the beginning of the bottom of the last inning, the game is over. If the home team takes the lead during the bottom of the last inning, the game is over. (The last inning is determined by 7 innings of play or time limit rule.) H. Time can be stopped only in the event of serious injury and/or weather (flexibility may be required if bad weather persists) I. Each game will have an official scorekeeper. If official score keepers are not available then coaches will score their own games and confer with other coach at the end of each half-inning to confirm the score. J. Tie-Breaker Inning: If the game is still tied after the completion of 7 innings or the game is tied and the time limit has been reached, the team at bat, at the start of the tiebreak inning, will begin with a runner on 2B. That runner will be the last batter in the previous inning. If the score is still tied after 2 extra innings, the next tie break innings will begin with the last batter and second to the last batter of the previous inning placed on third and second respectively. Normal rules and substitutions apply. K. All baseball bats should be drop-3 on less and meet BBCOR standards. (October 2012) 31

2 L. Hurry-up Rules 1. Courtesy runner is permitted for the catcher only when there are two (2) outs in the inning. (October 2012) 2. On-deck batter retrieves all foul balls and passed balls with no runners on base; give to umpire when coming to bat. 3. Warm-up pitches: 7 when pitcher enters game; 4 each inning to be monitored by umpires/officials. This will include the use of spare warm-up catcher who must wear a mask. (APRIL 2016) 4. Limit offensive conferences to three per game, 30 seconds each. 5. Coaches may make one visit to the pitcher s mound per inning; a 2 nd visit will require a pitching change. 6. Batters may take one foot out of batter s box to take signals from coach, return ready to hit. M. Local Ground Rules The host school is responsible for informing all visiting teams of any ground rules applicable to their field. N. APAC will not allow video review, in any sport, for officiating purposes. (APRIL 2013) O. That scheduled games may be moved forward at the discretion of the host tournament director (shotgun format) for the overall good of the tournament. (OCTOBER 2014) III. APAC Travelling Squad 14 players IV. Tournament Format A. Single Round Robin Format: 1. When a single round robin format will be followed, the APAC Tournament Matrix will determine the draw. Home team will be decided based on the draw. 2. At the conclusion of round robin play the teams will be ranked. 3. After the round robin there will be a championship round to determine the final ranking: a) 1 st vs. 2 nd b) 3 rd vs. 4 th c) 5 th vs. 6 th d) 7 th vs. 8 th e) For these games, the higher ranked team will be the home team. (OCTOBER 2014) 32

3 B. Two Pool Format: 1. If more than one pool is used, the teams will be seeded according to the previous year s final ranking. a) POOL A 1 st, 3 rd, 5 th and 7 th place teams. b) POOL B 2 nd, 4 th, 6 th and 8 th place teams. 2. Any guest team, combined JV squad or any new APAC team will be ranked 8 th. 3. Each pool will play a round robin to determine pool rankings. 4. The higher seeded team after pool play will be the home team in all elimination rounds. If equally ranked cross-pool teams meet, home team status will be determined by a coin toss. 5. After the completion of the round robin, an elimination process will be used. See diagram. 6. When health and safety issues are concern, the ⅞ game is optional for the 2 teams involved. If only one (1) team wants to play, the game shall be considered a forfeit. (October 2012) 7. Teams forced into a back-to-back game situation during the transition from the round robin to play-offs are given a 30-minute rest period before the 15-minute warm-up begins. (October 2012) V. Medical Protocol Based on accepted Return to Play Protocols, each host school s head medical personnel (assigned for the tournament) will determine return to play for suspected concussions. This assessment will be binding. (October 2014) 33

4 VI. Sample Schedule (As a Guideline) APAC Baseball Sample Schedule Pool$A Team$1 Team$3 Team$5 Team$7 Pool$B Team$2 Team$4 Team$6 Team$8 Thursday Game Time Teams Field Results 1 8:30 Team 1 vs Team :00 Team 2 vs Team :45 Team 5 vs Team :15 Team 6 vs Team :00 Team 1 vs Team :30 Team 2 vs Team :15 Team 3 vs Team :45 Team 4 vs Team 8 2 Friday Game Time Teams Field Results 9 8:00 Team 1 vs Team :30 Team 2 vs Team :15 Team 5 vs Team :45 Team 6 vs Team 4 1 Cross Over Rounds 13 12:45 3A vs 4B TBD 14 13:15 4A vs 3B TBD 15 15:00 A1 vs B2 TBD 16 15:30 B1 vs A2 TBD Saturday Game Time Teams Field Results 17 9:00 7th Place: Losers of 13 & 14 TBD 18 9:30 5th Place: Winners of 13 & 14 TBD 19 11:45 3rd Place: Losers of 15 & 16 TBD 20 14:00 Championship: Winners of 15 & 16 TBD Saturday Evening Venue 17:00 Banquet 18:00 Awards Ceremony Home team is listed first and uses 3rd base dug out Saturday home teams TBD by highest record/rank or coin toss. Notes$ *$$5$game$schedule.$2$games$Thursday$&$Friday.$1$game$on$Saturday.$ *$Possible$for$sometype$of$cultral$event$ 34

5 VII. Tie-Breakers Final rankings will be based on team records at the completion of round robin play. In the event of a tie between (or among) multiple teams, the following criteria will be used to break ties, in the order listed below: With sport specific tie-breakers, once a team or teams are removed from the original tie, the remaining tied teams are subject to examination with the original order of tie-break procedures. A. Head-to-head results among tied teams B. Among TIED teams, the team with the lowest runs allowed ratio should be ranked higher. This is to discourage running up scores. C. Among ALL teams played by the tied teams, the team with the lowest runs allowed ratio should be ranked higher. D. Among TIED teams, the team with the most runs scored, will rank higher. E. Among ALL teams played by the tied teams, the team with the most runs scored will rank higher. The runs allowed ratio is calculated by determining the total number of runs conceded in applicable games, divided by the number of half innings played on defense by that team. Note: APAC Tiebreaker Procedure 1. Head to head 2. Each sport will have a sport-specific tiebreaker procedure. When head to head results in APAC team sport tiebreaker protocol does not settle a three or more team tie, we do not go back to head to head after a point-differential (or its sport specific equivalent) solution has become evident. (In the event point-differential totals or its sport specific equivalent, are a tie between two schools, head to head results will decide promotion) (APRIL 2014) VIII. Reminders and Clarifications Other than specific rules mentioned above, the tournament will use Major League Baseball rules. The following are listed as reminders and for clarification of those that might differ slightly from MLB rules. A. A pitcher who is relieved of pitching duties but who remains in the game can return to pitching duties once per game. B. All balk, infield fly, fielding, base running rules are in effect. Fielders may not obstruct runners access to bases when there is not a play at their base and that fake tags are not permitted. C. Players must slide to avoid potentially dangerous contact at home plate in a situation where contact is likely. Players who lower their shoulders will be called out, and will be ejected from the game if the umpire deems the violation flagrant. This is a dead ball situation. (October 2011) D. Coaches must present two copies of lineup cards at the meeting just prior to the game, one for the umpire and one for the opposing team. E. Teams leading by 15 runs or more after 3 and ½ innings will be declared the winner and the game will end. 35

6 F. Teams leading by ten runs after five or more innings (4½ if home team is leading) will be declared the winner and the game will end. G. Teams may have one designated hitter to take the place of one of the position players in the batting lineup. H. Starting players may re-enter the game in the same position in the batting order. Once a non-starting player or re-entered starting player leaves the game, he may not re-enter. IX. Awards A. Champion Team: Champion Trophy Team members and coaches - Champion Chevron and Gold Medals See Appendix 2 for quantity B. Runner-Up Team: APAC Runner-up Trophy Team members and coaches - Runner-up Chevrons and Silver Medals See Appendix 2 for quantity C. Third Place APAC Third Place Trophy Bronze medals for team and coaches See Appendix 2 for quantity D. A Sportsmanship Award will be presented. The APAC Sportsmanship Rubric shall be used for all events where Sportsmanship Awards are given. E. All-APAC Selections. Unless otherwise stated All-APAC awards follow APAC Handbook guidelines found in APAC Rules and Regulations, Section V- Sports Formats, sub-sections I and J - All APAC Awards. X. Sportsmanship Award A Sportsmanship Trophy will be awarded. A 14-man ALL APAC team will be selected using the formula for selection of players from participating teams. (October 2011) 36