The conference softball national rater will be chosen by a majority vote of all member softball coaches and serve as rater for two years.

Transcription

1 SOFTBALL SECTION A SPORTS PROCEDURES LEADERSHIP The coaches will elect a chair every two years. The conference softball national rater will be chosen by a majority vote of all member softball coaches and serve as rater for two years. The national rater is required to seek input and feedback to heart coaches before submitting the conference rating. The oversight committee must be copied on all correspondence with coaches regarding ratings. Oversight Committee 1. Lori Thomas Commissioner heartofamerica71@gmail.com 2. Pat Atwell CSC Athletics Director patwell@culver.edu 3. Paul Gavin Mount Mercy Athletics Director SECTION B SCHEDULING OF GAMES 1. The conference will consist of a North and South division. There will be double round robin play within the division with both a home and away double header and a crossover single round robin with the other division. Heart North Clarke Culver-Stockton Graceland Grand View Mount Mercy Peru State William Penn Heart South Baker Benedictine Central Methodist Evangel Mid-America Nazarene Missouri Valley 2. HEART member institutions that do not play contests on Sunday are Evangel University and MidAmerica Nazarene University. 3. Games may be scheduled at sites other than the designated field of the home team. 4. HEART suggested starting time for Monday through Friday games is 1:00 pm prior to daylight saving time and 2:00 pm after daylight saving time is in effect. Official start time for all games may be adjusted and will be determined and agreed upon by both coaches. a. If an institution has lights, the time may be adjusted if all parties agree. b. Starting times for weekend games may adjust to serve the travel needs of any teams with the stipulation that the Athletic Directors of the involved teams are in agreement. 5. Mondays in April, with the exception of the Monday following Easter, will be left open to make up rainouts of conference games. Games will be made up in the order in which they were rained-out, if possible. 6. The softball assigner will assign officials for varsity contests at conference schools. SECTION C INCLEMENT WEATHER POLICY 1. Must follow a priority order: a) #1 Conference opponents b) #2 Non-conference opponents 2. Rescheduling of contests due to inclement weather:

2 a) Games between teams in the same division cancelled due to inclement weather, unplayable field conditions or other unforeseeable circumstances must be made up. These games must be rescheduled in the order originally scheduled. Tie games halted by weather or darkness shall be completed by resuming play at the point at which the game was suspended b) Teams are required to play 100% of games in divisional play and are required to complete 70% games in the cross divisional schedule in order to be eligible for post-season play. c) Every effort will be made to make up games between teams in opposite divisions cancelled due to inclement weather, unplayable field conditions or other unforeseeable circumstances. If a team makes the trip, they are not mandated to make up the games if they have met the 70% games played rule in cross-divisional play. d) Priority of reschedule for cross-divisional games: e) If common opponents need to make their minimum games, they will reschedule each other. f) If none of #1 are required, reschedule games in order of original schedule. g) Games can be rescheduled with approval of Athletic Directors Regular season ends on the Monday prior to the Conference Tournament at midnight. That Monday ONLY used for rainout reschedule of final weekend of season games. 3. Playing sites or location may be changed in case the host field is unplayable due to weather or field conditions. Neutral sites considered should be other HEART field(s) that may be available. If location is switched from the home site to a neutral site, then the original home team remains the host team for both games of the double-header. If this situation occurs, it is understood that HEART teams involved will not reverse the HEART schedule for the following year. The regularly scheduled home team will remain the host team. a. If a team travels to a host site and gets rained out while at the site in all or part of the double-header, the traveling team must return to complete the game(s) that were in progress. b. If a traveling team returns to complete the rescheduled date (2nd trip) and a third (3rd) rescheduled date is required, the 3rd rescheduled date and trip will be played at a neutral site with preference given to a HEART location considered a half-way distance between the two teams. If no HEART field is available, both teams should agree to meet at any available field in order to complete their HEART game(s). If any field expense is incurred, then both teams split the expense. The original host team would still be the home team and pay umpire expenses and provide game balls. 4. If a neutral or half-way location site is unavailable, then the original home team should travel to the visiting team field, if playable; should this occur the original home team who is now traveling will remain the home team while the visiting team, who is now hosting, pays for umpire expenses and provides game balls. 5. Rescheduling of games must follow a priority order a. #1-HEART division games #2-HEART out of division games #3-NON-Heart games b. All HEART double-headers must be played prior to the HEART Conference Tournament c. HEART rainouts must be rescheduled for make up in order of the original schedule. SECTION D SECTION E GAME ADMINISTRATION 1. No time limit 2. All games are seven innings with run-rule in effect 3. Run rule: eight (8) runs after five (5) innings is a complete game 4. International Tie-Breaker (ITB) is in effect at the beginning of the 10th inning only for regular season games. HEART Conference Tournament does not use the ITB. 5. Official game ball: RAWLINGS NAIA SB. 6. Halted games will follow rules as outlined in the NCAA rulebook 7. A protest committee will be formed by the coaches for the HEART Conference Tournament. Any regular season protest will be sent to the NCAA Protest Committee (per the NCAA Handbook) REPORTING OF RESULTS Institutions must websync game stats and results with Dakstats, following NAIA standards and requirements for reporting scores and stats.

3 SECTION F AWARDS All awards will be ordered through the conference office. All-Conference Team 1. Heart coaches will select 1 st and 2 nd team All-Conference teams consisting of: a. 3 pitchers b. 2 catchers c. 5 infielders d. 4 outfielders e. 1 DP f. 1 UTL g. 4 at-large 2. Any individual who receives a vote that does not make 1 st or 2 nd team will be named honorable mention. 3. The timeline for conference award nominations and voting is the following: a) All-Conference Nominations due by Sunday prior to the start of Conference Tournament. b) Coaches receive entire list of nominations Monday. c) Voting takes place face-to-face the night prior to tournament. d) All-Conference Voting Results will be determined at meeting. e) All conference players recognized on the 1 st day of the tournament. If the post season award nomination and/or voting deadlines are not met, the athletics director will be contacted immediately. 4. Heart coaches have unlimited nominations for All-Conference Awards and may vote for themselves and their student- athletes. 5. The 1st Team All-Conference will mimic the All-American Ballot and will fill the ballot by position. There will be 20 players named to the 1st team by position (mimicking the National Ballot), and then 20 players on the 2nd team and up to 20 players on Honorable Mention (looking only at the best players, not restricted to voting by position.) 6. The Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Freshman of the Year, and Newcomer of the Year nominations shall all come from the First Team All-Conference list. If there are no Freshman or Newcomers on First Team, then those nominations shall come from Second Team and Honorable Mention list will be considered for nominations. Ballots will be made and a revote will occur, with student athletes able to receive multiple awards. (i.e. The same athlete may be voted as Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year.) 7. Newcomer of the Year Award is for new student-athletes competing with the institution for the first time and not eligible for Freshman of the Year. 8. Freshman of the Year nominees may be any student-athlete classified as a freshman (semester transfer, red shirt, etc.) 9. Gold Glove Awards are intended to recognize the best defensive player at each position plus one for a utility player. The criteria for utility player will follow the NAIA All-America guidelines and nominees do not have to come from the pool of players already voted to First Team, Second Team, or Honorable Mention. Each school may choose to nominate one player per position if they believe their candidate is best defensive player at her position in the conference. 10. In the event of ties for Of the Year or Gold Glove Awards, a re-vote between the tied nominees will determine the award recipient. Coaches may motion to have Co-Award recipients in which the re-vote would not be necessary, but a majority vote of coaches would be necessary for this. 11. The Softball chair will compile a list of all nominees provided by coaches in order to supply ballots to coaches for voting via Release of the post-season awards will be made by the conference office once they are official.

4 Trophy and 24 t-shirts awarded to champions of tournament. The trophy will be supplied by the conference; the T-shirts will be purchased from the entry fees. 1. Plaque awarded to tournament runner-up. a. 1 st team all-conference, Coach of the year, Pitcher of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Newcomer of the Year will receive a plaque. SECTION G CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT 1. The conference tournament will be five day tournament on the Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday prior to the NAIA reporting date. 2. Heart conference tournament guidelines and regulations will follow the NAIA national tournament guidelines unless specifically noted in these procedures. 3. All conference regular season games must be started by Sunday midnight prior to the conference tournament. 4. The conference commissioner determines the post season tournament entry fee each year based on estimated budget. The commissioner will manage umpire assignments through Coordinator and will work with the host to fulfill duties related to field prep, personnel on-site, admission. Entry fees will cover all operating costs associated with the tournament including SID help, on-site trainer, umpire fees, championship awards and championship t-shirts. Should additional costs occur; the commissioner will divide the amount among all conference schools and collect said funds. a. Admission is $6/day for adults and $3/day for students/children. 5. The conference tournament will consist of 10 teams (5 teams from each division) Seeds #5 traveling to seeds# 4, in each division, for a one game playoff on Monday. 6. a. All conference game games will be considered in deciding winners and seeding for the conference tournament. b. Teams seeded 1-8 by conference winning percentage unaffected by division. c. All teams play on Day 1 and no team will play more than 2 games per day. d. Teams in winner s bracket will play one game per day with only one game played on championship day. 7. Tie Breaker Criteria i. In Division: a. In division conference game winning percentage b. Head to head c. Record vs. teams in division in descending order of conference winning percentage. d. Record vs. teams in division in other vision in descending order of conference winning percentage. e. Fewest runs allowed in head to head. f. Coin Flip ii. Cross Division: a. Head to head b. Record vs. similar teams in descending order of conference winning percentage 1 st DH only. c. Fewest runs allowed in head to head. d. Coin Flip 8. Game Administration: The tournament committee will consist of the liaison and the UIC. 9. In case the tournament is not finished prior to the mandated NAIA deadline, the highest remaining seed in the tournament that has not already qualified would earn the 2 nd berth. If the Tournament is not able to begin, the top team from each division gets the bids. 10. In the event the #1 seed wins the conference tournament; the #2 seed earns the 2 nd berth to the NAIA national tournament. 11. A proposed budget must be submitted to the commissioner 90 days prior to the conference tournament each year. A final budget must be sent to the commissioner within 30 days following postseason event.

5 12. In the winner s bracket; the top seed will choose home or visitor. In the loser s bracket and if game; home and visitor will be determined by a coin flip. 13. A three-man crew will be used for the conference tournament. The conference chair will also make sure to schedule a UIC for the weekend. The UIC and umpire crew will make a determination on the call-in questions and will be considered final. SECTION H NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP BERTHS 1. 1st berth (conference champion) Highest overall conference game winning percentage nd berth Conference tournament champion 3. If same team 2 nd seed in conference tournament (2 nd highest conference regular season winning percentage). SECTION I CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT FORMAT

6