June 15, 2014 Greetings softball enthusiasts, and Happy Father s Day to all the dads out there! Hard to believe we ve almost reached the midpoint of the season already! Included below are a number of topics that need our immediate attention. Please read carefully and let me know any questions. Thank you, and I hope everyone s season is going well! Communication Between Umpires and Schools This is an area that simply must improve. I have received more reports of miscommunication or no communication between schools and umpires in the first three weeks of the 2014 season than I had in the previous five years combined. No later than 48 hours prior to game, the umpires and athletic director or his/her designee need to communicate game location, number and level of games being played, umpire arrival time, and start time. It makes no difference who initiates the communication the key is that it happens. If one party receives an email, voice mail, text, etc., please acknowledge receipt of that communication with the sending party. If game time, date, location, etc. changes, the umpires must be informed! We have experienced way too many instances of umpire no shows and conversely, umpires showing up to a game site where no game being played. This has lead to significant frustration by all involved parties that is easily avoidable if appropriate communication would have occurred. We must make it a priority to do a better job of communicating!!! Media Boxes NFHS Softball Rule 1-1-7 states, Media shall be prohibited from being in live-ball area, unless marked. The home team or game management shall designate a lined area for the media. As such, by NFHS Rule, a media box is required. This season, we simply added guidelines in the form of an adaptation, as we received a number of questions about specifications for the media areas. Our softball adaption now states, A media box shall be lined in foul territory down the third base line for all varsity contests. The minimum dimensions of this box shall be 5 feet wide by 3 feet deep. An additional media box down the first base line remains optional. We continue to have a handful of schools that refuse to comply with this rule. The remedy is simply the varsity game will not begin until a media box is lined on the field. It matters not whether a school has media regularly attend their home games. If a team has no left-handed batters, we still chalk the left-handed batter s box, because it s required by rule and the visiting team may have lefties. The same holds true for visiting team media that may be in attendance. Those media personnel have the right to cover their teams from the media box on the field if they so choose. Additionally, some schools were choosing to allow media in their dugouts, while others were not. This was causing friction with some media outlets. NFHS rules now define team personnel as all school representatives located in the team dugout, including but not limited to coaches, managers, certified athletic trainers and scorekeepers. Because only team personnel are permitted in the team dugout, media are no longer permitted in the dugout by rule. Rule 5-1-1o states "that a ball becomes dead immediately when a batted, thrown, or pitched ball touches in an occupied designated media area (a ball that passes through a dead-ball area in flight is not considered dead)." The key here is occupied designated media area. If a media area is unoccupied, the area is simply treated as foul ground. The media box is required to be placed somewhere in foul territory down the third base/left field line. The vast majority of venues will place this box against the fence in left field foul territory. We didn t designate an exact location so schools would have the latitude to place the box where it works best for them in their facility.
Batter s Box Dimensions Please review the NFHS batter s box dimensions included below. The batter s boxes should extend four feet toward the pitcher s plate and three feet toward the backstop (seven feet total length) when measured from the center of home plate. We have a number of fields that are only extending the batter s boxes three feet toward the pitcher s plate. Please get this corrected! Umpires, if you discover an incorrectly marked batter s box in your pregame field inspection, ensure the host coach redraws the boxes with the correct dimensions before the game begins.
Music Between Batters It is permissible for a PA person to play music prior to and after the game, between innings prior to the first batter appearing, and during a pitching change. However, it is not permissible to play music between batters. Generally this is done only for the home team and is perceived as an intimidation tactic or to be a distraction to the pitcher. Again, once the game has started, no music is permitted between batters, only between innings or during a pitching change. Team Huddles Between Innings Team huddles are permitted but must take place with NFHS rules. A team could have a team huddle outside the dugout provided the huddle takes place prior to the defense beginning their infield warm-up. Huddles after the defensive team begins warm-up should take place in the dugout for safety reasons. Team huddles may not delay the start of the inning. At the beginning of each half-inning or when a pitcher relieves another, no more than one minute may be used to deliver no more than five balls to the catcher or to another teammate. The one-minute time limit begins from the third out of the previous half inning. The penalty for not being ready for play is a ball awarded to the batter. During the game team huddles between only players on the field are never considered charged conferences. Huddles are permitted provided they do not violate any game rules - one minute between innings or the 20 seconds the pitcher has to pitch after receiving the ball. Gloves with Optic Yellow Markings 1-4-1c states that gloves/mitts shall not have an optic-colored marking on the outside or inside that gives the appearance of the ball, as the Play Pic below illustrates. Permanent marker works well to modify any illegal optic markings in order to make a glove legal. Umpires shall not permit an illegal glove to be used in a game. Earrings, Nose Rings, Tongue Rings, Etc. Bottom line, if you can see it - even if only for a second - it's illegal. If you're observing warmups and it is obvious that jewelry is present, the player must remove it. A player obviously cannot enter the game with jewelry and may not cover jewelry with tape. Umpires need not look under tape to see if there is jewelry, as the head coach will verify in the pre-game meeting that his/her team's players are legal in reference to the equipment and uniform rules. Players also may not use a plug, string, spacer, straw, retainer, etc. in lieu of the actual ring, as the plug, string, spacer, etc. is also considered jewelry.
Suspended Games A game called for any reason where a winner cannot be determined by NFHS rule or any game called at any time for mechanical failure (i.e. artificial lights, water systems, etc.) will be treated as a suspended game. NFHS Rule 4-2-2 states, If weather or darkness interferes with play so that the game is called (ended) by the umpire it is a regulation game: (a) if five full innings have been played, or if the home team has scored an equal or greater number of runs in 4 or four and a fraction turns at bat than the visiting team has scored in fiver turns; or (b) if play has gone beyond 5 full innings and is called when the teams have not had an equal number of completed turns at bat. The score shall be the same as it was at the end of the last completed inning; unless the home team, in its half of the incomplete inning, scores a run (or runs) which equals or exceeds the opponent s score, in which case, the final score shall be as recorded when the game is called. In either of these cases it is a regulation game and is considered final. If a suspended game is to be completed it will be continued from the point of suspension, with lineup and batting order of each team the same as the lineup and batting order at the moment of suspension, subject to the rules of the game. Suspended games count as one of the 40 allowable games even if not completed. If a coach wishes to make changes to his/her lineup prior to the resumption of the contest they may substitute provided the substitute is permitted by rule. If a game is suspended in the early innings you don t just start over the game begin where you were when it was stopped. If a date cannot be found to make up the suspended game, by mutual agreement of the administrators of both schools, game score at the time the game was suspended may be determined to be the final score and the game will be considered a complete game at the point of suspension (one team is credited with a win, one with a loss). If no agreement can be reached and no date can be found it will not count as a win or a loss for either team, but it does count as one of the 40 allowable contests since the game was started. DP/Flex Significant confusion remains among some coaches and umpires regarding the DP/Flex rule. Keep these fundamental points about the rule in mind, review the rule in the book, and you will get the hang of it. - The DP must remain in the same position in the batting order throughout the entire game and can only bat/run for the flex no one else. - The flex may remain in the 10th position for the entire game, or may assume the DP s position in the batting order and bat/run for herself no one else. - The DP may go in and out of the game for any player (including the flex), at any defensive position, any time and any number of times without it counting as a substitution for anyone except the flex. When the DP plays defense for the flex, the flex has left the game and must use her re-entry if she returns to the game. This movement in and out of the game must be reported to the plate umpire to avoid an unreported substitute violation. Consider this example: The DP is listed in the 4 spot in the batting order. She plays defense for the pitcher listed in the 7 spot in the batting order. The DP is still batting in the 4 spot and is now pitching. The previous pitcher, listed in the 7 spot, HAS NOT LEFT THE GAME. She is now playing offense only. No re-entries are used in this example. If the pitcher in the 7 spot returns to pitch, the DP goes back to offense only, and still no re-entries are used. - The flex may go in and out of the DP s position in the batting order any time and any number of times. However, remember that when the flex replaces the DP on offense, the DP has left the game. The DP must use her re-entry to return to the game. - The DP may be substituted for at any time, either by the flex or by a pinch hitter/pinch
runner off the bench. If replaced by the flex, the number of players in the game is reduced from 10 to nine. If the DP does not re-enter, the game may legally end with nine players. - The flex may be substituted for at any time, either by the DP or by a player off the bench. If replaced by the DP, the number of players in the game is reduced from 10 to nine. If the flex does not re-enter, the game may legally end with nine players. - The starting DP, once replaced offensively, may re-enter (return to her original position in the batting order) one time. If she does re-enter, she must bat/run for the flex. She may just play offense for the flex or, at the same time that she plays offense, she may either play defense for the flex or play defense for another player in the batting order. - If the DP re-enters and the flex was batting in her spot, the flex can: Return to the 10 th position in the lineup and play defense only, anywhere on the field; Leave the game and let the DP play defense for her; or Leave the game and let a player come off the bench to become a substitute flex. Pay Recommendation for Weather-Shortened Contests I have received a number of questions regarding pay for contests affected by inclement weather. Here is the suggested MINIMUM policy: If the contest of a doubleheader has begun and is not half completed (3 innings), 50% of the contract plus mileage should be paid. If the first contest is half or more completed (beyond 3 innings), the entire contract should be paid. If the official arrives at the contest site and no contest will be played, the official should be paid mileage for his/her travel. Pitcher Stepping on Pitching Plate with Hands Together The pitcher may NOT legally step onto the pitching plate with her hands together. In order to throw a legal pitch, the pitcher s hands must be apart when she steps onto the pitchers plate. Therefore it is an illegal pitch according to Rule 6-1-1a. Regional Softball Pairings/Umpire Assignments Regional softball pairings will be released on Monday, June 23. Regional umpire assignments will be released on Arbiter on Monday, June 30. Thank you, and I ll be in touch again next week. Best, Joel Oswald Assistant Director