2015 5 Diamonds Fastpitch Tournament Rules and Regulations (** Special 10U Rules can be found at the end of this document!) Admissions May be charged at the gate. Standings Pool play standings will be used to determine seeding for bracket play. Tiebreakers; (1) best overall record (2) winner head-to-head within pool, (3) fewest runs allowed, (4) most runs scored, (5) coin flip. Eligibility The following rules govern player eligibility. Appeals may be made to the tournament director when there are unusual or extenuating circumstances. Age A player s age shall not exceed the maximum dictated by the division of play. The age cut-off will be that which is dictated by ASA rules for youth (Junior Olympic) fast pitch softball. Page 45, letter H of the ASA code, effective Jan 1, 2002 and on the ASA website at www.softball.org/about/asa_code.pdf ; "Junior Olympic Age Qualifications. A player's age as of December 31 determines the age in which the player is eligible to play the following year." Proof of a player s age via a birth certificate may be requested by the tournament director. Forfeits A team that does not field at least 8 players within the 10 minute grace period of the scheduled game time will be assessed a forfeit. A forfeit will be determined a LOSS with forfeiting team showing no runs scored and 10 runs allowed and the winning team showing a WIN with zero runs allowed and 10 runs scored. Warm-Ups Teams should always take the field promptly. Warm-ups for the pitcher will be limited to 5 pitches. No Pre-Game warm ups on the infield. No Soft Toss into any fences.
Length of Games Games shall be six (6) innings with a time limit of one hour and ten minutes. No inning shall start after the time limit except for games ending in a tie (Note if no time is left after an inning has ended and the score is tied it will be scored as a tie in POOL play only. In bracket play a tie will go to extra innings). There will be a drop dead of one hour and thirty minutes for pool play only. In case of a tie after 6 innings or upon reaching time limit in bracket play, extra innings will be played until a winner is declared using the ASA tie-breaker method. Note: The 5 Diamonds tie breaker rule essentially involves the following: Each extra inning begins with an offensive player assuming a position on second base prior to the first batter coming into the batters box. The player on second base was the last official batter in the batting order of the previous inning and who would precede the first batter of the next inning. One out and no count on the batter. All bracket play games will continue to use tie-breaker until a winner is decided. Run Rules 15 after 3 innings, 10 after 4 innings, 8 after 5 innings. The only exception will be for the championship game on Sunday; those games will have these run rules 12 after 4, 10 after 5 Substitution Rules Normal ASA substitution rules will be used with the following exception to the re-entry rule. This exception covers a case in which a player is injured and another player cannot legally take her place as per ASA substitution rules: If, at any point in a game, the only players not in the game (on the bench) are those that have been in the game and were substituted for by other players and an injury occurs to a player in the game that has not substituted for a player presently on the bench and the injury prevents her from continuing to play, a player on the bench may take the injured player s place in the game. The injured player cannot re-enter the game. Appeals Umpires judgment calls may not be appealed. Interpretation of rules by umpires may be appealed only during games by calmly talking to the umpires. Appeals on other matters may be made to the tournament director (such as player eligibility or dismissal of a team from the tournament) in person. Appeal decisions will be made by the Tournament Director or Site Coordinator. Umpires Whenever possible, the tournament will schedule two umpires for each game played. If a 2 nd umpire is not available or does not show, the game shall be played with one umpire. A qualified, sanctioned umpire may be recruited from the spectators and will be
compensated by the tournament. Volunteer, unsanctioned, umpires will not be compensated. NOTE: The approval of both managers is required for a volunteer to umpire a game. Rules of Conduct Spectators, players, coaches and managers will refrain from any unsportsmanlike conduct during games. The following items are prohibited: Laser pens, air horns, whistles, cow bells and any other item used to make excessive noise. The judgment of conduct will be left to the discretion of the Umpire(s) assigned to the game. When, in the judgment of the umpire(s), a coach, player or spectator should be ejected from a game, the coach will not be permitted to coach or instruct their team for the remainder of the game and must leave the field within 1 minute of time of ejection or the game can be forfeit. If the offense and penalty occurs in the first game of day, the spectator, coach, manager or player in question will be also denied participation in the remainder of games for that day. The umpire also has the right to request that a spectator, coach, or manager leave the premises. If the violator does not leave immediately, the game can be declared a forfeit for the violator s team. Further, the umpire may discipline a player who displays unsportsmanlike conduct in the same manner described above. Coaches, managers, or players who are ejected from a game(s) will be reported to the Field Marshal, who will file a report with the Tournament Director. If any spectator(s) exhibit behavior, which in the judgment of the umpire(s), causes disruption of a game, the umpire(s) shall meet with the manager and/or coach(s) of each team and ask them to request these spectators cease their disruptive behavior. If this behavior continues, the umpire(s) shall have the authority to declare the game forfeited against the team(s) with which the disruptive spectators are associated. Line-up Line-ups must be turned into the Tournament Coordinator fifteen (15) minutes prior to game. On-Deck Batters On-deck batters WILL Be allowed opposite their own dugout. With safety in mind, the on-deck batter MUST be positioned at the batters back side. Double First Base (When in Use) When and where safety is an issue, the defensive fielder may use either base, orange or white to record an out depending on the circumstances while the ball is in play. Conversely speaking, the base runner is not restricted to using the colored (orange) base. This situations falls into a judgment category for umpires. It is not mandatory in all cases to use the colored base as a base runner. General Team Rules
The current ASA rules for fast pitch softball will be used for all age groups unless otherwise noted and/or overridden by specific league rules. Home Team For all pool play games home team will be decided by coin flip with team coming from furthest distance calling the flip. For all bracket play games home team will be the higher seeded team. Home team will be responsible for keeping the official score for their game. Roster Signed, preliminary team rosters and waiver forms are due prior to a team s first tournament game. The roster limit is 15 players. However tournament awards will be limited to 13. If additional awards are wanted the team requesting will need to purchase. Final team rosters must be entered, printed, signed and received by the tournament director prior to the start of a team s first game. No additional players can be added after a team has started their first game. Games played without a formal, submitted roster to the tournament director or site coordinator prior to the team s first game will be considered a forfeit. NOTE: Any player entering false information on roster forms or game sign-up forms (i.e. falsifying birth dates or signing under another name) will be dismissed from tournament and all games in which she participated will be recorded as forfeits. Birth certificates will not be collected but should be available for review upon request. Equipment Metal cleats are not allowed except in the 14U age groups and older. Any player warming up (catching) a pitcher on or in the vicinity of a playing field, must wear a helmet and a mask. Players coaching 1 st or 3 rd base must also be wearing a batters helmet. All batters and runners must wear helmets with earflaps. No exceptions. Double (safety) first bases should be used and affixed properly when available. Pitching Mounds Pitching Mounds will be set at 35 for 10U, 40 for 12U and 43 for 14U & 16U. Uniforms Numbered jerseys or tee-shirts are required. Number of Players Nine (9) players constitute an official line-up. However a team may play any portion or all of a game with eight (8) players. The vacated ninth spot in the line-up will be placed in the ninth position in the batting order. An out shall be declared each time the vacated spot in the order comes up. Exception: An out for a vacated ninth position
shall not be declared if there are already two outs in an inning and the batter(s) preceding the ninth vacated spot walked. Extra Player A. An extra player (EP) is optional, but if one is used, it must be made known prior to the start of the game and be listed on the scoring sheet in the regular batting order. If the EP is used, the EP must be used the entire game. If an EP is used and not listed on the line-up the following occurs: 1. If discovered while at bat, the legal batter enters and assumes the count, or 2. If discovered while on base and before a pitch has been thrown to the next batter, treat as batting out of order, the person who should have batted is out, and all play as a result of improper batter is nullified, and person not listed in line-up is removed from the game, or 3. If discovered while the illegal player is on base and a pitch has been thrown to the next batter, remove the illegal player from the base, or if the player has scored, remove the run, and remove the player from the game. B. The EP must remain in the same position in the batting order for the entire game. C. If the EP is used, all 10 on the starting lineup must bat and any 9 of those 10 may play defense. Defensive positions may be changed, but the batting order must remain the same. D. The EP may be substituted for at any time. The substitute must be a player who has not yet been in the game. The starting EP may re-enter. Courtesy Runner A. The team at bat may use a courtesy runner for the pitcher and/or catcher at any time. Neither the pitcher nor the catcher will be required to leave the game under such circumstances. The same courtesy runner may not run for both the pitcher and the catcher in the same half inning or any time during the game. B. In the top of the first inning only, the pitcher and catcher are identified as those players listed on the lineup as the pitcher and catcher. Thereafter the pitcher and catcher are identified as the last players who physically played that position on defense. If a substitute enters in the following half inning, and gets on base, should the pitcher or catcher re-enter, no courtesy runner can be utilized for the pitcher or catcher during that half inning. C. Players who are currently in the game or have participated in the game in any other playing capacity are ineligible to serve as courtesy runners. D. A player may not be a substitute for any player in the half inning that she ran as a courtesy runner. EXCEPTION: If any injury or disqualification occurs and no substitutes are available, the courtesy runner must be used as a substitute, and take the place of the injured player. Should the courtesy runner be on base, and is entered as a substitute, the pitcher or catcher for whom the courtesy runner is running, must run in her place.
E. Once the courtesy runner is designated for that half-inning, the pitcher or catcher for whom she is running may not return to run while that courtesy runner is on base. A courtesy runner cannot run for a courtesy runner. EXCEPTION: Should an injury or disqualification occur to any offensive player, and no substitutes are available, the courtesy runner must take the place of the injured player. In this case, the courtesy runner enters as a substitute and the pitcher or catcher for whom the courtesy runner is running, must run in her place. F. A courtesy runner must be reported to the plate umpire. If courtesy runner fails to report or violates the courtesy runner rule, she is considered to be an illegal runner and shall be disqualified. Rain Outs Games rained out may be rescheduled. If the first day of the tournament is rained out the tournament will be rescheduled for Sunday. All pool games will be played, which will then be followed by bracket play. However the number of pool/bracket games and length of games may be shortened at the Tournament Director s discretion. No refunds will be issued once the tournament has begun. Game cancellations due to weather are under the control of 5 Diamonds. They have the right to cancel games as they see fit. No Refunds once the first pitch of the first game has been completed.
Special 10U Rules 1) 10U games will be played with an 11", ASA Approved softball. 2) The pitching rubber will be set at 35 feet. 3) The tournament will use standard ASA Class A rules for 10U game play. 4) Tournament Rule Adaptations: Every team will use a continuous batting order, batting all players present for the game. Teams will be allowed to make free defensive substitutions at any time during a game. -Courtesy runners will be allowed. -There will be no penalty for a player who leaves the game and is removed from the batting order. Once a player leaves the batting order, she cannot return during that game. -Scoring Limit - 7 run rule: A team that is tied or ahead at the start of an at-bat can only score 7 runs during that at-bat. A team that is behind at the start of an at-bat can only score enough runs to go ahead by 7 runs during that at-bat. Absolutely No carry-ins allowed.