Bentonville Youth Softball League League Rule and Procedures

Bentonville Youth Softball League League Rule and Procedures

Table of Contents Fast Pitch Rules 3 Ejection Policy..4 Protest Policy...4 League Tie Breaker Rules...5 Age Groups.... 5 Player Eligibility... 6 Draft Up Procedures 7 6U League Rules..8 8U League Rules..9 10U League Rules...10 12U League Rules....12 14U and 16U League Rules...13 League Draft Procedures...14 6U League Draft Procedures.15 Assistant Coach Policy..16 BYSL All-Star Program...17

BYSL LEAGUE RULES It is the intent of this organization to follow USSSA softball rules as much as possible so any rules NOT mentioned below will be governed by the USSSA rule book. However, because we are a recreational organization dedicated to serving the needs of all girls that choose to participate in our league, we have implemented the following unique league rules: INJURED PLAYER: This rule applies to ALL leagues Because Bentonville Youth Softball League bats in a complete rotation (all players bat) there are no substitutes available for an offensive player. If a player is already on base and is injured during a play, then you may substitute a player to complete that inning (the last player to either have scored a run or to have made an out). If the injured player is not capable of batting on her next rotation an out will be charged if there are less than 9 players remaining in the lineup. LENGTH OF GAME: 6U League Games will be 60 minutes. When the hour is up, the game is over. 8U League Games will be 60 minutes. No new inning will be started after time expires. All other leagues will play 1 hr and 10 minutes. No new inning will be started after time expires. For 8U, 10U, 12U, 14U, & 16U Leagues the following rules apply after time has expired: If either team is ahead by more than 6 runs the game will be over. Otherwise the inning will be played until a winner is determined. If, at the end of the inning, the game is tied there will be a 1 inning tie-breaker played. The USSSA Tie Breaker rule will be enforced with the exception that teams will only be allowed to score a maximum of 3 runs in their half inning. If the game is tied at the end of the tie-breaker inning, the game will remain tied for standings purposes. METAL CLEATS ARE NOT ALLOWED!

EJECTION POLICY Coaches OR Players who are ejected from a game will NOT be allowed to participate in the next scheduled league game. Coaches OR Players who are ejected from a game for the second time within a season will result in their removal as a coach or player for the remainder of the scheduled season. Anyone who is ejected from the stands/fields, etc., by an umpire OR are asked to leave the fields by a board member or city representative will NOT be allowed to attend the next game if they have a child playing at the time of the ejection. A second offense will result in the person being banned from the fields for the remainder of the season. NOTE: It is the expectation of the board that ALL coaches, players, parents and umpires will honor the city code of conduct posted at the East and West entrances to the softball fields. Failure to abide by those codes of conduct can result in removal from the area where games are being played. PROTEST POLICY Umpire judgment calls can NOT be protested! If, in the coach s opinion, the enforcement of a league rule or USSSA rule has been misapplied by the umpire, the following process must be followed in order for a protest to be heard: 1) The plate umpire must be informed of the protest before the next pitch after the play has ended where, in the coach s opinion, the rule was enforced improperly. Once a pitch has been delivered a protest cannot be made. 2) Within 24 hours after the game has been protested, the coach must provide a written, detailed explanation of the situation, the call, and the reason for the protest along with $50. 3) If the protest involves a local league rule, the board will review the protest within 48 hours and if, in their judgment, the league rule was improperly enforced, the $50 fee will be refunded to the coach and the game will be resumed from the point of the infraction at a later date to be determined by the board. 4) If the protest involves a USSSA rule, the board and the league UIC will review the protest within 48 hours and if, in their judgment, the rule was improperly enforced, the $50 fee will be refunded to the coach and the game will be resumed from the point of the infraction at a later date to be determined by the board. 5) If the protest is not upheld, the $50 fee will be forfeited by the coach and the results of the game will stand.

TIE BREAKERS FOR END OF SEASON (1) Winning Percentage (2) Winner of head-to-head game(s) (3) Fewest runs allowed head-to-head (4) Fewest runs allowed in all games (5) Most runs scored head-to-head (6) Most runs scored in all games In case of a three-way tie, tie breakers will be used until one team is out, and then the two remaining teams go back to tie breaker #1 and start over, in order to break their tie. AGE GROUPS USSSA follows the academic calendar (meaning their new year begins in August following all World Series events and the year completes in July once all World Series events have concluded). Therefore August is the date all players will move up to their proper age groups for that upcoming year (see below for age groups). The age calculation date is December 31 of the current USSSA calendar year. Therefore, if the date is August 31, 2017 the Age calculation date would be December 31, 2017. Also, if the date is February 24, 2018 the age calculation date is December 31, 2017. This is due to December 31 being the age calculation date for the entire season (starting in August and running through July). An age calculation date is the date that determined the player s age for that given year. For example a player may be 10, but must play in 12U during the fall due to turning 11 prior to December 31. Conversely, a player may play 12U in the spring if they re 13 (as long as they were 12 on December 31, due to turning 13 afterwards). The Child's age as of December 31 in current USSSA year Age Division Pitching Method Can they Play Up? 3 Lil' Sluggers N/A NO 4 Lil' Sluggers N/A IF they turn 5 by 12/31 5 T-Ball Tee YES 6 T-Ball Tee YES 7 8U Machine Pitch YES 8 8U Machine Pitch YES 9 10U Kid Pitch YES 10 10U Kid Pitch YES 11 12U Kid Pitch YES 12 12U Kid Pitch YES 13 14U Kid Pitch YES 14 14U Kid Pitch YES 15 16U Kid Pitch Highest Level 16 16U Kid Pitch Highest Level 17 Ineligible Kid Pitch N/A

PLAYER ELIGIBILITY Playing on Tournament or Open vs Recreational Teams Girls who participate in the BYSL league may NOT participate on any other non-rec team other than the high school during the regular BYSL season. Note: Non-rec is defined as, but not limited to, other recreational leagues, USSSA class A, USSSA class B, USSSA Class C, USSSA open, non-usssa (i.e. ASA, USFA, etc) or any other tournament team. Girls that play for the high school are governed by the Arkansas Athletic Association (AAA) and may not participate in BYSL games until they are released from their high school team in accordance with AAA rules. Since this is a recreational league, and our teams play a limited number of games, we want the girls that choose to play in this league to be able to maximize their playing time and not share time with other players that will play a lot more tournament games in a summer. We encourage our rec teams to participate in local and post season tournaments and we want to ensure there is no possibility for conflict which could impact their ability to participate in those tournaments if they so choose. We want girls that are committed to their rec team. Note: This rule is NOT intended to penalize girls that want to advance their skills via a traveling team. We encourage those that can, and want to, participate on traveling teams to do so. For those that can t, for whatever reason, this rule IS intended to support them and ensure they can enhance their skills and maximize their playing time in a recreational environment.

DRAFT-UP PROCEDURES You must have a minimum of 6 players in order to be eligible to draft. If you have less than 6 of your own team players it will be considered a forfeit. Draft must take place prior to the game starting or before the first completion of the batting order for the team that needs to draft. The maximum number of players that may be drafted is 2. If you have 6 or 7 of your own team players then you may draft 2 players. If you have 8 of your own team players then you may draft only 1. The drafted player must come from the league directly below the league you are playing in order to play for your team. Players drafted to the 8U League must come from the 6U League. Players drafted to the 10U League must come from the 8U League. Players drafted to the 12U League must come from the 10U League. Players drafted to the 14U/16U League must come from the 12U League. You may not draft a player and then bench one of your own for any reason. A consent form must be signed by a parent, the coach drafting the player, and at least 1 BOARD MEMBER or Bentonville Parks and Recreation field representative. The form must include who the opposing team is, the date and time which the game is being played and who the umpire is. The umpire must be notified of this drafted player prior to the player going into the game. A player being drafted up cannot have a game with her own team immediately following the game she is being drafted for. Players MAY NOT be drafted from an OPEN league team to a REC league team in any division. Any coach that violates these procedures WILL FORFEIT the game that the illegal player participates in.

6U LEAGUE RULES (5 & 6 YEAR OLDS) Game time limit is 1 hour. Innings will not be played out. When the hour is up, the game is over. No score will be kept. All players will bat from a tee. After 4 or 5 attempts the coach may help. ALL batters must wear helmets with approved facemasks attached. Catchers must wear helmets with approved facemasks attached when playing on defense. The entire team will bat through their roster, and then the teams will switch offense and defense. Bases will be cleared after 3 outs Coaches will be allowed to demonstrate corrections for player on offense and defense. Demonstrations must not be excessive so as to disrupt or delay the game. All players play defense regardless of the number of players. Normal positions will be filled (pitcher, catcher, 1 st base, 2 nd base, 3 rd base, short stop, left field, center field, and right field). The remaining players must be in the grass. Coaches will go out to the field with their teams to help coach but must stay back unless they are demonstrating a correct play. The play will end when the ball is thrown into the circle around the pitcher s mound. If a runner is halfway to the next base, they will advance to that base. If they are not halfway, they must return to the previous base. If a player stops advancing, the play will end even if the ball has not yet reached the circle. Batting will be done from a T for the first half of the season. The 2 nd half of the season will be coach pitch. Please keep in mind that this league is to introduce the girls to softball and should be fun and instructional - not competitive.

8U LEAGUE RULES (7 & 8 YEAR OLDS) USSSA rules will be used along with the following: Pitching Machine Rules: Game time limit is 60 minutes. No new innings will be started after time has expired. If the 5 th pitch is fouled off the batter will be allowed up to 3 additional pitches. o If they foul off the 3 additional pitches, the batter is out. o If they don t swing at one of the 3 additional pitches it will be considered a swinging strike and the batter will be out. There will be a limit of 6 runs per inning with NO continuation. The ball may be ruled dead and TIME called when it is clear that a player in the infield has secured the ball, and base runners cannot advance. When all defensive players are in proper position, the umpire shall call PLAY BALL, and the next player takes her turn at bat. All players play defense regardless of the number of players. Normal positions will be filled (pitcher, catcher, 1 st base, 2 nd base, 3 rd base, short stop, left field, center field, and right field). The remaining players must be in the grass. Base coaches must stay inside the coach s box at all times when the ball is in play. The runner is automatically out if touched or assisted by a coach. (High fives are fine). If a team has 8 players or less for a game, players can be drafted from the 6U league following the Draft-Up procedures.

10U LEAGUE RULES (9 & 10 YEAR OLDS) USSSA rules will be used along with the following: Game time limit is 1 hour and 10 minutes. There will be a limit of 6 runs per inning with NO continuation. If a team has 8 players or less for a game, players can be drafted from the 8U league following the Draft-Up procedures. If a team plays with only 8 players there will be an automatic out for the 9th batter. If a team has less than 8 players and does not, or cannot, draft enough players to field a team, that team will forfeit the game. The game may still be played for practice if both teams are there but when the game time has expired the game will end. The infield fly rule will NOT be in effect. All teams will bat their entire roster. Free substitutions may be made and any player may re-enter the game more than once. Each player must play 6 outs on defense if the game lasts 5 innings. If the game lasts less than 5 innings and a player does not get their 6 defensive outs in, that player must start the next game. ALL defensive substitutions MUST be reported to the scorekeeper the inning the substitution is made. NO dropped 3 rd strike NO stealing home o Runners can steal all the way to 3 rd (no limit of 1 base at a time) o If a runner attempts to steal home and is tagged out between 3 rd and home the runner will be ruled out. If the runner safely reaches home, then at the end of the play she will be returned to 3 rd base. If 3 rd became occupied by another runner on that play, then the affected runner will be moved back one base. After 1 walk in an inning, on any subsequent walk the following rules take effect: o An offensive Coach will pitch up to 2 pitches to the batter. If the ball is not put in play during the 2 pitches the batter is out Base runners cannot steal when a coach is pitching Coaches must pitch with 1 foot on the rubber The coach pitching is NOT allowed to coach the batter-runner OR any runners on base if the ball is put in play The coach pitching must get out of the way of the play as quickly as possible once the ball is put in play.

If the coach while pitching interferes with the defense OR if the coach instructs any of the offensive players on the field while a play is in progress, the coach will be warned 1 time. Any subsequent violations will result in an immediate dead ball, the batter will be called out, and any other runners will be returned to the base occupied when the ball was put into play. NOTE: Warnings will be removed starting the 2 nd Monday in May. This is strictly to allow the coach to adjust to the new process If the ball hits the coach, while pitching, the following rules go into effect: If, in the umpire s judgment, the coach, while pitching, could not get out of the way of the batted ball the ball is dead and the batter is awarded 1 st base. All other base runners are only allowed to advance, if forced (same as 8u) If, in the umpires judgment, the coach, while pitching, could have gotten out of the way of the batted ball, the ball is dead, the batter is out, all other base runners must return to the base occupied at the time of the pitch

12U LEAGUE RULES (11 & 12 YEAR OLDS) USSSA Rules will be used with the following exceptions: Game time limit is 1 hour and 10 minutes. There will be a limit of 6 runs per inning with NO continuation. If a team has 8 players or less for a game, players can be drafted from the league immediately below the team s league following the Draft-Up procedures. If a team plays with only 8 players there will be an automatic out for the 9th batter. If a team has less than 8 players and does not, or cannot, draft enough players to field a team, that team will forfeit the game. The game may still be played for practice if both teams are there but when the game time has expired the game will end. All teams will bat their entire roster. Free substitutions may be made and any player may re-enter the game more than once. Each player must play 6 outs on defense if the game lasts 5 innings. If the game lasts less than 5 innings and a player does not get their 6 defensive outs in, that player must start the next game. ALL defensive substitutions MUST be reported to the scorekeeper the inning the substitution is made.

14U & 16U LEAGUE RULES (13, 14, 15, & 16 YEAR OLDS) USSSA Rules will be used with the following exceptions: Game time limit is 1 hour and 10 minutes. There will be a limit of 6 runs per inning with NO continuation. If a team has 8 players or less for a game, players can be drafted from the league immediately below the team s league following the Draft-Up procedures. If a team plays with only 8 players there will be an automatic out for the 9th batter. If a team has less than 8 players and does not, or cannot, draft enough players to field a team, that team will forfeit the game. The game may still be played for practice if both teams are there but when the game time has expired the game will end. All teams will bat their entire roster. Free substitutions may be made and any player may re-enter the game more than once. Each player must play 6 outs on defense if the game lasts 5 innings. If the game lasts less than 5 innings and a player does not get their 6 defensive outs in, that player must start the next game. ALL defensive substitutions MUST be reported to the scorekeeper the inning the substitution is made.

DRAFT PROCEDURE FOR LEAGUE TEAMS Each coach will come in and draw a number. This number represents the order in which he/she will draft his/her new team. If there is a new team to be drafted or a team returning with 2 or less players, these teams will get 2 draft picks before the normal draft will begin. (EXAMPLE: New team coach drew #3 and returning team coach with 2 or less players drew #7 - they will each get 2 draft picks before the start of normal draft done like this: #3 picks, #7 picks, #7 picks, #3 picks - then the normal draft begins. The first order will rotate through in ascending order. The second round will rotate back in descending order. o (EXAMPLE: 1st Round: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-2nd Round: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) A coach's daughter must be drafted in the 3rd round and the assistant coach's daughter must be drafted in the 4th round. If this is a returning team then the team will get a draft pick in the 3rd and 4th rounds. If there are siblings playing in the same league the first sibling may be chosen in any round and the second sibling would then immediately be placed at the bottom of the draft order for that same team. She becomes a protected draft pick but doesn't have to be picked up until the last round for that team. Players who do not go to any of the tryouts but still want to play will be drawn from a hat after all tryout players have been drafted. Teams with a returning Pitcher may NOT draft another pitcher in the 1 st round of the draft Teams with a returning Catcher may NOT draft another catcher in the 1 st round of the draft. Draft order and draft picks (including hat picks) may NOT be traded at any time. Draft order and picks are final. NO EXCEPTIONS!

DRAFT PROCEDURE FOR 6U LEAGUE Each coach will come in and draw a number. This number represents the order in which he/she will draft his/her new team. The first order will rotate through in ascending order. The second round will rotate back in descending order. o (EXAMPLE: 1st Round: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6-2nd Round: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) A coach's daughter must be drafted in the 3rd round and the assistant coach's daughter must be drafted in the 4th round. If there are siblings playing in the same league the first sibling may be chosen in any round and the second sibling would then immediately be placed at the bottom of the draft order for that same team. She becomes a protected draft pick but doesn't have to be picked up until the last round for that team. *****When a 6U player moves up to the 8U League she must go through tryouts with the exception of the children of coach and assistant coach. There will be no teams moving up together from the 6U League.

RULES FOR CHOOSING AN ASSISTANT COACH It is the goal of the board to provide a fair and equitable method for all teams to have equal access to the girls that choose to play in our league. The following rules are intended to govern how/when a person can be selected as an assistant coach for a team. Since it is not possible to cover every possible scenario that might arise, the board reserves the right to approve/reject the choice of an assistant coach for a given team. Existing Team, same head coach, assistant coach is unable to assist in the current year but their daughter remains on the team OR Existing Team, new head coach, assistant coach or assistant coach s child remains on the team o Coach can only get a new assistant coach from their existing team, the parent of a child chosen in the draft or a coach with no children in the league Existing Team, same head coach or new head coach and the assistant coach and child leave the team (no longer playing in the league) OR New Team, New Coach o Coach can choose a parent of a girl moving up from lower league as long as they are not on an existing team that is being allowed to stay together. o The choice MUST be made prior to tryouts! o Coach can choose a parent of a girl from a team that was disbanded by the board due to lack of players. This includes coaches of the team that was disbanded If a team is a "bubble" team, the coach may not choose a parent from the bubble team as they may stay together. o Coach can choose a parent from new players to the league The choice MUST be made prior to tryouts! o Coach can NOT choose a parent from any team whose daughter has chosen to re-enter the draft. The daughter must first be drafted by the coach and then the parent can assist. Note: This rule does not apply if the team the girl played on is disbanded by the board. Note: In all cases, the new assistant coach s daughter has to be taken as the 4 th round pick of the draft.

BYSL ALL-STAR PROGRAM It is the goal of the board to provide another opportunity for players to advance and represent their league and their city in a state tournament setting. The following rules are intended to govern how/when all-star teams will be managed for each age group. Since it is not possible to cover every possible scenario that might arise, the board reserves the right to amend, add, or negate any new rules in an effort to benefit the softball program. There will be one All-Star team per age division provided there is enough interest. Tournament fees will be partially funded by BYSL and the remainder covered by the players through dues or donations. Coaches and player's families are responsible for their travel and related expenses. Coaches are strictly voluntary status and will cover their own expenses. The head coach will be from the highest ranking team, from regular league play, who accepts the responsibility. The head coach will pick the assistant coaches from a list of coaches who would like to make the commitment. The head coach will pick the assistant coaches from a list of coaches who would like to make the commitment. Participating in tryouts does not guarantee that a player gets selected to make the team. The coach will hand pick a team from the players who registered and participated in the tryouts. The All-Star team will represent BYSL in the C class or Rec/All-Star class AR State Tournament and 1 other. o USSSA Arkansas Regional Qualifier o USSSA Arkansas C State o USSSA National Championships