South St. Paul Adult Softball Policies and Rules 2018 ADULT SOFTBALL RULES & REGULATIONS 1. All league rules are governed and interpreted by the league director and/or game umpires 2. Play will be governed by official USA Softball Slow Pitch Rules and City of South St. Paul a. General rules of play not outlined here can be found in the current USA Softball Participants Manual 3. The South St. Paul Adult Softball League Director reserves the right to modify/change, add, or remove and rules or regulations during the season a. If changes are made, all team managers affected will be notified PLAYING RULES & REGULAIONS RULE & REGULATION 1: COMMUNICATION & GAME CANCELLATIONS 1. The South St. Paul Adult Softball League Director reserves the right to adjust league format during the season a. Unavoidable game cancellations related to weather, field conditions, and other factors will be rescheduled unless there are prior facility conflicts b. Make-up games may be played on a night different than that of your league, make-up games are not guaranteed to be made up c. Game cancelations will be emailed to team managers once a decision has been determined d. Decision on game cancellations can be obtained by phoning the weather line at 651-366- 6210 (Parks & Recreation) 2. It is the responsibility of each manager to maintain regular communication with the League Director for league information, rescheduling of games, tournament brackets, rulings, and standings 3. League Director is Dallas Apfelbacher, dallasapfelbacher@hotmail.com RULE & REGULATION 2: LEAGUE STANDINGS 1. Standings will be available at www.mnsoftball.com/ssp 2. All teams will be seeded for the tournament based on their regular season record, in the event of identical records the following tie breaker system will be used: a. 1st tie breaker Head to head record b. 2nd tie breaker Better run differential in head to head games c. 3rd tie breaker Better run differential in all regular season games d. 4th tie breaker Better runs for in all regular season games e. 5th tie breaker Better runs against in all regular season games f. 6th tie breaker Coin flip RULE & REGULATION 3: TEAM PROMOTION/DEMOTION 1. The South St. Paul Adult Softball League Director reserves the right to move teams up/down prior or during the season, criteria will be based upon the following: a. League/Tournament winner from previous year b. Score differential amongst games 1
c. Forfeit of games 2. Teams moving to a different league night will receive notice shortly after the season ends in an effort to give players time to adjust their schedules for the following year 3. The League Director reserves the right to modify this rule based on league size and availability RULE & REGULATION 4: PARTICIPANT CONDUCT & EJECTIONS 1. South St. Paul Adult Softball League Director or the game umpire have the authority to issue a forfeit to any game, eject players, captains or fans without warning 2. Managers are responsible for the behavior and actions of their players, coaches, and fans 3. Players who are ejected for behavioral issues must leave the park immediately and may not return to the park for the remainder of the day 4. A player ejected twice for behavioral issues in the same season may be suspended for the remainder of the season and/or tournament RULE & REGULATION 5: ALCOHOL & TOBACCO 1. Any player bringing any tobacco product, vape, or alcohol beverage onto the field of play will be automatically ejected (administrative). 2. If an umpire feels a player has become intoxicated to the point they are belligerent or a safety hazard to themselves or others the player will be removed from the game RULE & REGULATION 6: EQUIPMENT, FIELD, & BENCHES 1. Game balls will be provided by each team. Teams will provide the balls used while their team is on offense. Any.52/300 USA Softball approved softball bearing the following certification stamps may be used 2. Only USA Softball certified bats will be allowed, visit http://www.teamusa.org/usa-softball/play-usasoftball/certified-usa-softball-equipment for information on bats 3. No infield practice is allowed prior to games 4. Players may not remove or disturb any material from the batter's box area, loose material may be spread by a player s foot 5. Only players, coaches, and staff are allowed on the benches RULE & REGULATION 7: TEAM ROSTERS 1. Players must be at least sixteen (16) years old prior to the start of the season, players under eighteen (18) years old must have a guardian sign the roster 2. Each team roster is to be submitted prior to May 21 st, 2018, teams must have between a minimum of ten (10) players and a maximum of twenty (20) players on its roster 2
3. A team may add players throughout the regular season a. Teams wanting to add additional players after the May 22 nd 2018 deadline will need permission from the league director b. No player additions will be allowed during the tournament, all players must be listed on the roster by the last night of the regular season 4. Roster changes must be done on the existing roster 5. Players may not be on more than one (1) roster in the same league 6. All players must carry a photo ID RULE & REGULATION 8: ELIGIBILITY OF PLAYERS 1. Eligibility protests must be made prior to the completion of the game. 2. A team manager may request an eligibility protest of any player during a regular season game or tournament game a. During all games, the player protested will provide the umpire with a valid ID, the umpire will record the name on the ID, and the game will continue under protest, a decision on the players eligibility will be made when the umpire contacts the League Director with the name of the player protested 3. A player is ineligible if: a. The player does not have a valid ID b. The player's name does not appear on the roster c. The player does not meet the age requirements d. The player appears on more than one (1) roster in the same league 4. Penalty for using an ineligible player results in ejection of the ineligible player and the team using the ineligible player forfeits the game, a team repeatedly using an ineligible player may be removed from the league RULE & REGULATION 9: REGULATION GAME & FORFEITS 1. Games will be seven (7) innings long a. No new inning will start after fifty-five (55) minutes, including tournament games 2. If the game is tied at the end of seven (7) innings and the time limit has not expired additional innings may be played a. Additional innings will be used during tournament play until there is a winner 3. Game time is forfeit time 4. A team must have a minimum of nine (9) players to start and complete a game to avoid forfeit 5. If both teams forfeit a tournament game the following will be used to determine the winner a. 1st determination Team with fewer tournament losses b. 2nd determination Team with the better seed 6. Team manager must inform the South St. Paul League Director 24 hours in advance of their scheduled game if they are unable to field a team or they may incur a $50.00 forfeit penalty 7. Forfeits will be scored as a 7-0 loss 3
RULE & REGULATION 10: RUN RULE & SHORTENED GAME 1. Run Rule: All games will be called if a team is winning by: a. 20 runs after 3 innings b. 15 runs after 4 innings c. 10 runs after 5 innings 2. Games shortened by inclement weather or any other reason will be official if: a. The home team is winning after 3 1/2 innings b. 4 innings have been completed c. Forty (40) minutes of game time has been played d. The game will revert back to the last completed inning if the game is shortened and meets one of the requirements listed above RULE & REGULATION 11: PITCHING 1. All USA Softball Pitching Rules apply a. Maximum Arc 10ft/Minimum Arc 6ft RULE & REGULATION 12: BATTING 1. All batters have a 3 balls/2 strike count (no courtesy foul) 2. Teams may bat all players in attendance 3. Any late arriving player may be added to the end of the lineup 4. Home Run Rule: Any player that hits an over the fence home run over the following limits will be ruled out: a. Men's Bronze League Two (2) b. Men's Silver League Three (3) c. Men s Gold League Four (4) then the One Up Rule applies. Home team may go One Up in any inning. d. Women s Leagues (ALL) - Unlimited e. Co-Rec League Two (2) for men, unlimited for women RULE & REGULATION 13: CO-REC MODIFICATIONS 1. When playing defense, the following rules apply a. The catcher and pitcher must be of opposite gender b. There can be a maximum of two (2) men in the infield and in the outfield 2. Batting orders must alternate between men & women a. When there are more men than women, women may fill the gaps between men in the batting order as long as the women stay in the same order 4
RULES & REGULATIONS 14: COURTESY RUNNER 1. Courtesy Runner a. Any eligible player on the official line-up including available substitutes may be used as a courtesy runner. A courtesy runner may be used once per inning. For Co Ed, runner must be of same sex. SOUTH ST. PAUL ADULT SOFTBALL SPORTSMANSHIP AND EJECTIONS A Casual Profanity Rule will be utilized for all South St. Paul Adult Softball Games. Persons violating this rule will be called out. If they are out as the action of the play that is occurring, the next batter in the order will be called out. If the offence happens with on defense, the next batter that will be due up in the inning for the offending team will be called out. Ejections will be categorized and penalized in two separate categories: Administrative an issue where a player violates a rule that is specific to the league/city rules or policies. Penalty Player is ejected for the game in which the violation occurs. Behavioral any action or word used by a player, manager, coach, or fan that promotes poor sportsmanship or would be considered as a violent act against any game participants. Penalty Player is ejected for the night of play, and based on League Director discretion, additional suspension may be imposed. Player must leave the Kaposia Landing development immediately and my not return for that specific night of play. If additional suspension is imposed, player may not return to Kaposia Landing development during any Adult Softball night of play until suspension is complete. Any Behavioral ejection will incur a $50.00 fine to the team conduct fee deposit. All City Rules and Polices attached will also be enforced. 5