OMRO ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION Est. 1971 MEN S and WOMEN S SLO PITCH RULEBOOK OAA / ASA GUIDELINES
OAA Slo-Pitch Softball Face book - oaasoftball@hotmail.com Men s and Women's Local Ground Rules Omro Athletic Association will be the governing body. ASA Rules Book will be the official playing rules, except for these local ground rules that have been adopted. The Umpires will have complete authority on the playing field. Players participate at their own risk. The City of Omro, the OAA, Officers of the OAA, and participating Officials will not be held liable for any incidents. ALCOHOL IS NOT ALLOWED ON THE FIELD OF PLAY DURING GAMES. OAA Monthly Meeting: The first Wednesday of June, July and August, the OAA Board and League Commissioners will meet at 6:30pm at OAA Field for the purpose of discussing/reviewing the past month and upcoming events. Commissioners will give a report of their league and may at this time bring issues and protests to the table for discussion. This is an open meeting, all Team Managers or a team representative is welcome to attend. OAA Eligibility: Players must be 14 years of age, entering High School at the start of the season.(as of OAA rules 1972 Charter) Player Registration: Players will pay a $10.00 Player registration fee with an 18 player roster. Players may be added at any time up to 18 max. All added players will pay the $10.00 player fee prior to participating. League Commissioners or an OAA Board member can approve the addition or deletion of a player from a team s roster. If a team has 18 players on their roster, they must drop a player before adding the new player; there will be no refund to players being dropped from a roster. Player eligibility will be determined by the Omro Athletic Association. Rosters will be frozen as of July1. Team Entry Fee OAA Men s and Women's Summer Leagues is $300.00. *Entry fee Includes 1 Box of 12 Game balls* OAA Men s Fall League Entry fee is $175.00 Unsportsmanlike Conduct will not be tolerated. Any detrimental conduct, poor behavior and/or language directed at Opposing Players, Umpires, or Fans that is deemed inappropriate or intended to incite or provoke reaction will result in ejection from the game, and the park premises, profanity is forbidden, this includes both players and fans. 2.
Ejection for Unsportsmanlike Conduct: 1 st Offense Player is ineligible for the rest of the Game, and the next scheduled game. 2 nd Offense Player is ineligible for the rest of the Game, and the next scheduled game(s). The player must appear before the OAA board with the Team Manager for reinstatement. 3 rd Offense Player is ineligible for the rest of the Game, and Banned for the rest of the Season(s). No Reinstatement. *****Fans asked to leave the OAA Ballpark because of behavior will be reported to the Omro Police Department. Ball Restrictions 12 softball, 40/375, 40 core / 375 compression, ASA Marking and stamp legible. Balls may be purchased from the OAA. Balls: All Teams supply their own ball to hit for both League and Tournament Games. Bat Restrictions Base Distance See Posted ASA approved Bat list 12 inch ball / 65 feet (ASA) 16 inch ball / 60 feet (ASA) Pitcher s Mound Distance 12 inch ball / 50 feet (ASA) 16 inch ball / 38 feet (ASA) No Metal Spikes or detachable Spikes allowed. Umpires will make final decision. Unlimited Arc: Min. 6' from ground w/perceptible arc, 3 Balls 2 Strikes w/mat. Any Foul ball is a Strike. Limited Arc: Min. 6' from ground, Max 16' from the ground, aprrox. the height of the home plate backstop) 3 Balls- 2 strikes W/Mat. Any Foul Ball is a Strike Balls & Strikes: Any Legal Pitch making any form of contact with the Plate/Mat is a Strike. (Umpires Judgment) 3.
Time Limit - League: A 50 minute game clock will be utilized to assist in moving games along.. No new full inning will start after 50 minutes of Play. (Exception Extra Innings). A new inning begins when the third out is recorded in the previous inning. The Game Clock will start with the first pitch. The Umpires will have the jurisdiction over the Game Clock. The Umpires may stop the game clock for Injury if deemed necessary to care for the injured player. TIME LIMIT WAIVER- LEAGUE GAMES: Leagues with 6 teams or less may waive the 50 minute clock rule by Unanimous vote by all teams in that league. This is a year to year rule which needs to be voted on prior to the schedules being printed. Time Limit will be 1 hour kept by the Umpires. Time Limit - Tournaments: A 50 minute game clock will be utilized (see Time Limit - League) The game clock will be waived for MONEY games. Game Time IS Start Time. Lineups are to be submitted 5 minutes before game time. The Home Team shall take the field as soon as possible. The Visiting Team will be ready to bat. The Game clock will start with the first pitch. A Team must have a Minimum of 8 Roster Players to Start the Game. A Team may add players (Up to 10) as they arrive. Game Time Scheduling: Based on 8 Team Leagues and the 50 minute clock, game start times will be scheduled as follows: Game 1. 6:30pm Game 2. 7:20pm Game 3. 8:10pm Game 4. 9:00pm Open Roster: A Team may bat an Open Roster, (More than 10 batters), but must declare so before the start of the game. Free Defensive Substitution: If batting Open Roster, players may freely substitute on defense. FOUL TIP- MODIFIED ASA GUIDELINES: Any foul tip caught will be declared an OUT. Intentional Walks may be issued by asking the Home Plate Umpire. 4.
No Arguing Balls & Strikes. Excessive challenges will be just cause for Ejection. Each team may be given 1 (one) warning. (ASA Rule) Run rule: OAA League and Tournament Games 10 Runs after 5 Innings 13 Runs after 4 Innings 18 Runs after 3 Innings *Losing team must have batted through their roster. Batter making contact with the ball (at any time) while out of the Batter s box ASA requires that the ball must be hit into fair territory to be called an out. Complete Game as per ASA Rules (Rain Game): 4 ½ Innings must be completed for a game to be deemed a completed Rain Game. Games that do not complete 1 complete Inning will be rescheduled as a new game. All games that complete 1 or more Innings will be postponed and picked up at the time of the interruption. Home Run Rule (Unlimited Arc); Following the fifth (5) Home run, all other Home Runs will be declared an OUT. This rule applies to both OAA Summer League and Tournament Games. Home Run Rule (Limited Arc); The 5 home run rule applies, Players hitting homeruns must touch 1 st base to complete the play. No Leading Off. Any runner who fails to keep contact with the base during the pitch and the return of the pitch. (IE with the intent of advancement) will be declared out. Exception: Swinging Strike. Courtesy Runners. One courtesy (designated) runner will be allowed per inning. The last player declared out will serve as the Courtesy Runner. Courtesy Runners will only be allowed from 1 st Base only. Exception: Injury: If a second batter/runner is injured while running the bases. Double First Base. On Infield Plays, the First Baseman will use the Inside Base and the Runner will use the Outside Base. The Batter/Base-runner may use either base in all other instances. The First Baseman must always use the Inside Base. 5.
Point of Interest for Defensive Catchers Prior to the pitch- All Defensive catchers must position themselves in the general area of the Catchers box. Plays at Home Plate: on Plays at Home plate, the Defensive Catcher must position themselves in front of Home Plate. Slide Rule: There is no Mandatory Slide Rule. However, it is greatly encouraged to slide at any time deemed practical. The Umpires will use their discretionary judgment and enforce the ASA playing Rules. (Rule 8, Sections 7, Q) When a defensive player has the ball and the runner remains upright and crashes into the defensive player, the runner will be declared OUT. Incidental Contact or an Errant throw drawing the defensive player into the path of the runner is NOT INTERFERENCE. ANY Malicious/Intentional contact or interference will be just cause for ejection (within/or outside the spirit of the rules). NOTE: Do Not Put the Umpires in the Position to call Interference or Obstruction. SLIDE League Game Scheduling: Men s and Women s League games will be scheduled by the OAA Scheduling Coordinator. Rain Games: Rain games will be rescheduled by the OAA Scheduling Coordinator with the League Commissioners for all Mens and Womens Leagues. Rain dates will be preset on the schedule. Sundays will remain an option. Tournament games: Tournament games and brackets will be scheduled by the OAA Tournament Director and/or his designee, IE: Asst. Tournament Director. If Tournament Director is playing in a game: The home plate umpire assumes the Tournament Director responsibilities during that game. Umpires: Head Umpire: The Head Umpire will schedule/coordinate the Umpires for both League and Tournament Games. All OAA League Games will have 2 paid Umpires. Tournament Games will have one paid Umpire until MONEY games, at which time 2 paid Umpires will be utilized. Until the Money games, to keep cost down, the winning team will supply a Base Umpire for the next game played. No alcohol will be allowed on the field while umpiring. 6
Protests: Protests will be filed through the League Commissioners; they will communicate with the OAA Board for decisions at the Monthly meetings. Protests can only be for an Interpretation of a rule and how a rule is applied. Umpires judgment is not cause for a protest. Protests should be filed at the time of the rule infraction, misinterpretation, application or at the end of the game. Umpires & Scorekeeper should be properly notified and informed of what is being Protested. COED Rules: Coed games will be played with 5 Male and 5 Female players, alternating in the batting order. You may bat the order if you have more than 10, alternating M/F. Players do not have to alternate positions in the field. If the male batter is walked, the Female batter following will also be awarded first base, moving the male batter up a base. If a base is open, a team cannot score on a walk, they must be pushed. A line will be placed in the outfield dictating where the outfielders must START behind on each pitch until the ball is hit. 375/40 core balls will be used. Female players may use the bat of their choice; OAA may supply the bats for the male players for competition purposes. League Game Rain out Call Process In the situation the Omro Ballpark field is deemed unplayable, the OAA will cancel games a minimum of 1 hour prior to the start of the first game. IE: 6:30 start, 5:30 cancel time. The groundskeeper for that day preparing the field will contact the OAA President by 5:00pm for a 2 nd opinion if needed. Once the decision to cancel games is determined the following notifications will be made; 1. The Groundskeeper or OAA President will contact the Sec./Treas. To notify the Concessions staff 2. The Sec/treas or Groundskeeper will contact the League Commissioner and inform them the nights games have been canceled. 3. The League Commissioner will contact all Team Managers of teams playing that night with a courtesy call notifying them of the game cancellations in 7.
4. the order of games played that night, if no contact is made a voice mail will be left. 5. The OAA President or Sec/Treas will contact the Umpires scheduled for that night notifying them of the game cancellations. *If game cancellations have been determined earlier than 5:00 pm, contact calls will be made as soon as possible. Prize fund payout: Distribution of League payout funds are based on 8 team Leagues. Pay out are as follows: Summer Leagues Men and Women Men s Fall League 1 st Place $300.00 1 st Place $300.00 2 nd Place $200.00 2 nd Place $200.00 3 rd Place $150.00 3 rd Place $100.00 In the case of a tie prize money will be combined and divided equally among the tied teams. Head to Head competition does not have any bearing on placement, overall record counts. Teams with fewer than 8 teams will have the prize money prorated. Date Rules approved: OAA Signatures: 8
INDEX PAGE Monthly Meetings 2 Eligibility 2 Player Registration 2 Sponsor Fee 2 Unsportsmanlike Conduct 2 Ejection 3 Ball Restrictions 3 Balls 3 Bat Restrictions 3 Base distances 3 Pitcher s Mound 3 Metal Spikes 3 Unlimited Arc 3 Limited Arc 3 Balls/Strikes 3 Time Limit / League 4 Time Limit Waiver 4 Time Limit Tournament 4 Game Time / Scheduling 4 Free Substitution 4 Foul Tip Guidelines 4 Intentional Walks 4 Arguing Balls / strikes 5 Run Rules- League / Tournaments 5 Batter Making contact 5 Complete Game / Rain 5 Home Run rule (Unlimited) 5 Home Run rule (Limited) 5 No Leading Off 5 Courtesy Runners 5 Double First Base 5 9.
PAGE Defensive Position Prior to pitch / Catchers 6 Plays at Home Plate Catcher Positioning 6 Sliding Rule 6 Contact / Interference 6 Game Scheduling 6 Rain Games Scheduling 6 Tournament Dir. Playing 6 Umpires League 6 Umpires Tournaments 6/7 Protests 7 Coed Rules 7 Rain Out Team Notification Process 7 Prize Fund Payout process 7 10.