Wachusett Softball Association Rules 2018 Rules & Coaches Responsibilities Game Score Reporting: The winning team s coach should send an email to the recorders the game results and CC the losing team s coach. Results should be sent within 24 hours of the completion of the game. Game results will be used to rank teams throughout the season as we prepare for playoffs. Minor Division- report game results to Chuck Abdella at chuckabdella@gmail.com Junior Division- report game results to Kori Stuart-Brix stuartkori@gmail.com Senior Division- report game results to Kathy Flaherty at flahertysk@gmail.com General 1. An adult coach must not leave the field until "ALL PLAYERS" have left their practice or game. 2. All volunteers must be CORI cleared. No one who is not CORI cleared may be on the field with the players. 3. It is strongly recommended pitchers must wear facemasks during all game play/practice activities 4. All players shall dress properly for a game with individual league issued attire (shirts, pants, visors, etc). Metal cleats are not allowed. 5. Coaches are responsible for having PLAYERS clean the dugout and surrounding areas after each game or practice. There should not be any water bottles or wrappers of any kind left in the dugout. 6. Home coaches are responsible for helping to prepare the field raking around the pitcher s mound, around the bases, and around home plate before each game. This includes putting out bases and placing pitching mound from the right distance. Please report any unsafe conditions to your league coordinator. 7. Home and visiting coaches must have a home plate meeting before the game to review the rules and make sure everyone is on the same page and all field safety rules are covered 8. Coaches must set a positive example to the player at all times. The players should have fun and learn the fundamentals of the game. 9. Coaches are asked to refrain from using electronic devices (cellphones) on the field during the game. If the need arises, coaches are asked to remove themselves from the field and replace themselves with another individual as needed. 10. It is the home team s responsibility to make the determination in the case of inclement weather. Cancellations must be made at least 90 minutes prior to the start of the game. In the case of a cancellation a make-up game must be scheduled within 1 week of the
cancellation. If two contacts are made with the other team s coach without a response the league president and secretary have the right to declare a forfeit. Rules Pitching distances and ball sizes Instructional coaches may adjust their pitching distance as needed. Use an 11 Softie Ball Minors: 35 feet If a minor league pitcher is struggling at this distance the coach may move her to 30. Please notify the other team s coach if you are moving the pitcher up to 30. During the minor league tournament the pitching distance will be firm at 35. Use an 11 USA Softball Approved Softball Juniors: 40 feet Use an 12 USA Softball Approved Softball Seniors: 43 feet Use an 12 USA Softball Approved Softball Defensive Player Requirement: Instructional: minimum number of player is 4 to complete infield. Infield positions include Pitcher s helper; first; second; shortfield; shortstop; third and catcher. All remaining players will play in the outfield. Minors: Maximum number of players is 10, minimum is 6, 4 players will play in outfield. Outfield players must all be in the grass prior to the pitch being thrown. Infield can only have 4 players excluding the pitcher and catcher. Juniors: Maximum number of players is 10, minimum is 7. The extra player must be in the outfield. Outfield players must all be in the grass prior to the pitch being thrown. Infield can only have 4 players excluding the pitcher and catcher. Senior: Maximum number of player is 9, minimum is 7. Outfield players must all be in the grass prior to the pitch being thrown. Minors/Juniors/Seniors: Defensively all players will play at least 2 innings in the field; offensively all teams will have a continuous batting order. All divisions no outs for short handed teams All divisions: there will not be an out for a player who is injured during the game and unable to continue competing. Game Play Regulation: 1. Batting: a. Minors/Juniors/Seniors will use a continuous batting (all players bat) order and free substitutions.
b. Instructional: all players will hit during their offensive half inning, switch possessions once the full team has batted 2. Drop 3rd Strike a. Drop 3 rd strike is only allowed in the Junior and Senior Division 3. Bunting a. Bunting is allowed at the junior and senior levels 4. Infield fly rule a. Minor Division- no infield fly rule b. Junior Division- infield fly rule is enforced c. Senior Division- infield fly rule is enforced 5. Time limits and number of innings: a. Instructional: No new inning will start after 1 hour and 15 minutes b. Minors: No New inning will start after 1 hour and 30 minutes, full games are 6 innings c. Juniors: No new inning will start after 1 hour and 40 minutes, full games are 6 innings d. Seniors: No new inning will start after 1 hour and forty five minutes, full games are 7 innings 6. Run Limits: a. Minor/Junior/Senior divisions will have a run cap of 5 runs per offensive half inning b. The last inning has no run limit and must be agreed upon by both coaches and the umpire. i. If in the last inning the lead exceeds by 15 at any point possession will be switched. If the visiting team is ahead by 15 going into the last inning of play that team will be limited to the 5 run rule before possession switches. The home team will have no run limit. ii. No regular season game will end in tie, unless the game is called for darkness. In the event of a tie, USA Tie Breaker rules will apply. 1. Each team will start with a runner on 2 nd base. This runner is the last batter of the previous inning. 7. Overthrows and Stealing a. Instructional: no stealing or leading b. Minors i. Overthrows: 1. The batter may not advance to 2 nd base on an overthrow to 1 st base. Players cannot advance on overthrow from catcher. 2. In general, a player cannot advance past the base they are advancing to in the chance there is an overthrow. A runner stealing 3 rd cannot steal home on an overthrow from the catcher 3. There is no limit on a batted ball advance, but once a play is attempted/an overthrown made runners must stop on the base they are advancing to. ii. Leading 1. USA softball rules apply except the player can only leave when the ball crosses the plate (instead of leaving the pitchers hand). When the player leads after the ball crosses the plate they must
retreat to the base when the ball is in the pitcher s circle. There will only be one warning for a player failing to get back to the base when the ball returns to the circle and then the player will be called out. iii. Stealing: 1. Runners may steal 2 nd or 3 rd only. 2. Allowed only after ball crosses the plate 3. Runners may not run through first on a walk 4. If a team is leading by 8 or more runs, the team has to stop stealing until the lead becomes less than 8 runs. c. Juniors/Seniors i. Overthrows: 1. USA Softball rules apply, on a hit runner may advance as many bases as possible including overthrows. 2. ii. Leading: 1. USA Softball rules apply, leading is allowed, meaning players can leave the base when the ball is released from the pitcher s hand. iii. Stealing: 1. USA Softball rules apply. Runners may steal any base including home plate. 2. If a team is leading by 8 or more runs, the team has to stop stealing until the lead becomes less than 8 runs. Game Cancellations: The board members for each town NEED to be aware of all cancellations and game changes. This will allow for the local board member (s) to avoid any unnecessary cancellations especially those that are not weather related. If there HAS to be a cancellation unrelated to weather, Wayne will need a 24-hour advanced noticed. Weather related cancellations need to be determined at least 90 minutes prior to the start of the game. When teams are short players, other players should be pulled from younger teams, teams at the same level of even other towns to make sure the game can still be played. Blackout dates for school related functions should be determined prior to the schedule being made. Cancelled games must be rescheduled within 7 days (1 week); the game does not need to be played within 7 days but a date needs to be set. If 2 contacts are made with the other team and there is no response the league president and secretary have the right to declare a forfeit. If a game is canceled, please notify the following people:
1. Visiting Team 2. League website/scheduler 3. Umpire Coordinator: Wayne Coe wsa.ncmasa@gmail.com Selected USA Softball Rules Equipment All bats and helmets need to be lined up outside of the dugout for inspection prior to the start of the game. Bats must meet softball regulations and helmets must have a face guard properly attached. Lightning If lightning is seen by an umpire or brought to his attention, all play will cease for a minimum of 30 minutes. All players will seek shelter. Umpires will not instruct players and coaches where they should go. Dead Ball Appeal Any coach or infielder with or without possession of the ball, may make a verbal appeal on a runner missing a base or leaving too soon on a caught fly ball. Double 1st Base No play at first base: Runner can touch either color bag Play at first from fair Territory: Runner touches orange/fielder touches white Play at first from foul territory - Runner and fielder can touch either bag Return throws to first - Runner and fielder may touch either bag Injuries During a live ball situation, when a player becomes injured, and in the umpire s judgment requires immediate attention, the umpire shall call "DEAD BALL" and allow or seek first aid. The umpire will award any bases that would have been reached. Hit by pitch
Batter MUST make an attempt to avoid being struck by a pitched ball to be awarded 1st base. whether On a ball or that not hits to award the ground a base. before hitting the batter it is the umpire s discretion Sliding Base runners are strongly urged to slide on a play at a base, to avoid contact at all bases except 1st. Pinch Runner and Courtesy Runners that A pinch has been runner identified may be to used the in umpire the minor, either junior, prior to or the senior start divisions of the game for an or injured during the player game. Courtesy The runners pinch are runner allowed will for be the catcher last out in made. minors, majors, and senior) and will follow the order pinch to runner keep rule the game above. moving (in Note: If the ball hits the plate and the girl does not swing it should be called a ball. Tournaments/Playoff Rules/Standings: 1. Season records will be kept to determine standings for the end of season tournament for the junior and senior levels a. Game results are entered into WSA website and final standings are determined by this program. b. Final standings will be determined via the website data base being used by the league for the current season. Final records will be determined based on runs allowed and runs scored. 2. Minor Division Tournament 2018: a. The minor division will conclude with an end of season tournament. b. The tournament will be held June 1-3, 2018 in Sterling i. All teams should plan on playing a game on Friday night of the tournament weekend. Locations will be announced as it gets closer. c. Until the finals, each game will last 90 minutes and no inning of play will start after 75 minutes of play. There are no ties allowed. The Finals will play 6 innings and have 2 umpires. d. Teams will be seeded and placed in pools based on their regular season performance and will be guaranteed 2 games during the tournament against teams in their pool. e. Seeding for the tournament is based on wins. The WSA board reserves the right to determine a drop-dead date for games to be played for the purpose of seeding and may consider any game played after that date as an exhibition game. f. In the case of identical number of wins, the first tie-breaker is Runs Allowed (lower is better), the 2 nd tie-breaker is Runs Scored (higher is better). If two teams remain tied and the teams played each other during the season, then head-to-head is used to break the tie. g. The top 2 teams in each pool based on tournament play will advance to the quarter finals based on tournament wins, then runs allowed, then runs
scored, then head-to-head. Seeding will proceed based on the same criteria in the same order. If 2 teams are still even, then regular season standing can be used to differentiate between 2 teams seeding for the quarterfinals as a final tie breaker. h. The tournament from the quarterfinals onward is a single elimination tournament. Win and keep playing, lose and be eliminated. i. At the end of each game, all coaches must report their scores to the official tournament score table. j. Each town will designate a town representative who will work with the WSA Minors Tournament Director to communicate announcements and fairly rule on any disputes which may arise. k. Each town must donate a dozen game balls to the tournament and provide volunteers to help Sterling with shifts at the snack shack. l. All players will receive a tournament t-shirt for participating. The champions will receive trophies and the runners up will receive a 2 nd place token. 3. Junior/Senior Division Playoffs a. All teams will make the tournament b. Junior/Senior Division playoffs are scheduled to start June 11 th, 2018 c. The higher seeded team will be the home team for each game played d. Based on the field conditions/availability games may be moved to neutral fields i. In the event of rain-the home field coach must cancel the game and notify the opposing team and umpire coordinator at least 90 min. before the game ii. At the end of each game the winning team s coach must confirm the final score with the opposing team s coach and report the score the necessary person iii. No inning shall start after 1 hour 40 minutes; both coaches and the umpire must declare the last inning PRIOR to the start of the inning. iv. All regular season rules will apply for the playoffs (overthrows, stealing, 5 run rule, etc.) v. Umpires: 1. The first round play-off games will have 1 umpire 2. The championship game will have 2 umpires vi. 3. The WSA league will pay the umpires for all games The winning team of the championship game will receive championship t-shirts 5. All regular season games must be completed by: June 4 th, 2018 6. Playoff will start: June 11 th, 2018