RULES / EXTRAS | THE LEAGUE

" THE LEAGUE" Wednesday Nights Sacramento Softball Complex

PRACTICE GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP IS RULE #1

NCS SOFTBALL 4 SENIORS RULES ARE FOR PLAYERS – BY PLAYERS. WE WELCOME YOUR SUGGESTIONS.

44/525 ZN’S WILL BE USED AS THE OFFICIAL SENIOR BALL OF NCS AND THE LEAGUE

COURTESY RUNNERS 3 PER INNING + PITCHER CAN HAVE CR AT ANY TIME AND WILL NOT COUNT AGAINST THE 3 ALLOWED = ANYONE AT ANYTIME AS LONG AS THEY ARE ON TEAM ROSTER.

HOME RUN LIMITS = 5 PER GAME – EXTRAS HIT ARE JUST OUTS!

PITCHERS/PITCHING – MUST WEAR A HELMET – PITCHERS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO ALSO WEAR SHIN GUARDS AND CHEST/HEART PROTECTION. INFIELDERS -IT IS ALSO HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO WEAR THE SAME AS THE PITCHER AND ENCOURAGED TO PLAY DEEP IN THE INFIELD.

WE USE PITCHING SCREEN:
THE FIRST BATTED BALL THAT HITS THE SCREEN WILL BE CONSIDERED THE SAME AS
A FOUL BALL. THE 2ND BATTED BALL THAT HITS THE SCREEN IS AN OUT. THROWN
BALLS FROM DEFENDERS THAT HIT THE SCREEN REMAIN LIVE.
THE EDGE OF SCREEN MUST BE INSIDE OF PITCHING RUBBER ON PITCHER’S GLOVE SIDE AND
CAN BE PLACED UP TO 3 FT DISTANCE IN FRONT OF THE PITCHING RUBBER IF PITCHER CHOOSES.

PITCHING BOX SHALL BEGIN FIFTY FEET FROM HOME AND EXTEND EIGHT FEET TOWARDS SECOND BASE THE WIDTH OF PITCHING RUBBER.

NO METAL CLEATS -

BASE DISTANCE SHALL BE 70’

HOME PLATE STRIKE ZONE MAT SHALL BE USED 21’ X 36’ AT A MINIMUM (PLAN ON A BIG MAT WITH NCS SENIORS)

SCORING LINE SHALL BE IN LINE WITH THE FIRST BASE LINE AND SHALL BEGIN 6 INCHES FROM OUTSIDE EDGE OF HOME PLATE TOWARDS BACK STOP. A PLAYER SHALL BE OUT IF THEY CROSS THRU BATTERS BOX UNLESS AVOID A COLLISION AT HOME.

BATTERS BOX SHALL BE 3’X 7’. BATTER MUST HAVE ONE FOOT IN THE BOX PRIOR TO PITCH & ONE FOOT MUST BE IN THE BOX WHEN STRIKING THE BALL OR THE PLAYER WILL BE CALLED OUT.

COMMITMENT LINE SHALL BE 30 FEET FROM SCORING LINE TOWARDS THIRD BASE.

BASE RUNNING –

AVOIDING COLLISIONS AT 2ND AND 3RD BASE – WHEN A PLAY IS IMMINENTAN ADVANCING RUNNER MUST MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO AVOID COLLIDING WITH OPPOSING PLAYERS WHILE RUNNING THE BASES - Get far outside or inside the bases. IF A RUNNER MISSES A BASE TO AVOID A COLLISION, THE RUNNER MIGHT NOT BE CALLED OUT (UMPIRE’S JUDGMENT). AN ADVANCING RUNNER WILL BE CALLED OUT IF THE RUNNER CREATES A COLLISION. IF THE DEFENSIVE PLAYER CREATES A COLLISION BY MOVING INTO THE RUNNER’S PATH, THE RUNNER WILL BE CALLED SAFE. RUNNERS MAKE SURE WHEN HEADING HOME DO NOT COME CLOSE TO THE BATTERS BOX AS YOU CAN BE CALLED OUT!

NO SLIDING WHILE ADVANCING BUT CAN DIVE/ SLIDE BACK TO A BASE.- WE DO ALLOW RE-TOUCH AT 1B/3B

GAME PLAY-

ALL PLAYERS MUST ATLEAST BAT THE ENTIRE GAME UNLESS INJURED. PRIOR TO PLAYOFFS COACHES PLEASE MIX IN ALL PLAYERS AS BEST AS YOU CAN ON DEFENSE.

BATTERS WILL START WITH A 1 & 1 COUNT. WITH NO WASTE FOUL.

PLAYERS ARRIVING LATE CAN STILL BE ADDED TO THE BOTTOM OF THE LINE UP AND PLAY WITH NO PENELTY.

(DO NOT HAVE TO USE AS A SUB)

CAUGHT FOUL BALLS IN THE FIELD OF PLAY SHALL BE CONSIDERED LIVE AND PLAYERS MAY ADVANCE AFTER CATCH.

PLAYERS MAY ONLY RETREAT TO A BASE ON A CAUGHT BALL OR IN A RUN DOWN. PLAYERS RETREATING IN A FORCE OUT SITUATION WILL BE CALLED OUT.

INFIELD FLY RULE. CATCHABLE BALL AT UMPIRE’S DISCRETION.

SUN IN PITCHER’S EYE, UMPIRE’S DISCRETION. PITCHERS MAY MOVE UP TO 3 FEET WITH THE SIDE OF THE BOX. MUST PITCH THE ENTIRE INNING FROM THAT POSITION ONLY.

ALL PLAYS AT THE PLATE WILL BE FORCE OUTS ONLY. (NO TAG PLAYS)

WE WILL BE USING 44/525 ZN’ AS OFFICIAL BALL

SENIOR BATS CAN BE USED

PLEASE HELP WITH SHAGGING BALLS (HR & FOUL BALLS)

PITCHING NET – THE NET MUST BE IN CONTACT WITH PITCHINF RUBBER - HOME TEAM OF OUR LATE GAMES ARE REPONSIBLE TO TAKE THE NET TO THE UMPIRE ROOM.

SPONSOR JERSYS MUST BE WORN THE ENTIRE GAME OR TEAM WILL LOSE A RUN

PITCH/BATTER RULES -

NO INTENTIONAL INFIELD HITS/POOPIES/BUNTS – WILL RESULT IN A CALLED OUT!

PITCHING ARCH WILL BE A MINIMUM OF SIX FEET AND A MAXIMUM OF TWELVE FEET FROM THE GROUND. PITCHERS HAVE 8 FEET BEHIND RUBBER TO PITCH FROM.

PITCHERS MUST PRESENT THE BALL THEN IN ONE UNDERHAND CONTINUOUS MOTION DELIVER THE BALL TO THE PLATE. PITCHERS CAN PITCH FROM NO MORE THAN 8 FT BEHIND RUBBER

ONCE BATTER IS SET IN THE BOX AND THE PITCHER IS SET, THE PITCHER HAS 5 SECONDS TO DELIVER. BATTER HAS 5 SECONDS TO GET SET IN THE BOX!

PITCHER/BATTER WILL HAVE A BALL/STRIKE CALLED IF EXCEEDING RULE ABOVE.

EACH TEAMS WILL GET A MAXIMUM OF 3 OFFENSIVE AND 3 DEFENSIVE TIMEOUTS PER GAME OF UP TO THIRTY SECONDS.

PITCHERS MUST FACE FORWARD WHILE DELIVERING PITCH.

BATTERS WILL START WITH A 1 & 1. NO FOUL TO WASTE ON THIRD STRIKE

MANAGERS TIME OUT. 3 PER GAME ON OFFENSE AND DEFENSE NO MORE THAN 30 SECONDS IN LENGTH.

CATCHERS MUST HAVE AT LEAST ONE FOOT WITHIN THE WIDTH OF THE PLATE AND STAND NO CLOSER THAN ONE FOOT BEHIND THE BATTER’S BOX.

DEFENSIVE PLAYERS –

UP TO 10 PLAYERS.

TEAMS MAY START A GAME WITH 8 PLAYERS AND CAN GET SUBS FROM ANY OTHER OF OUR DRAFT LEAGUE TEAM- (SUBS CAN’T PLAY MIDDLE INFIELD = SS,5MAN,2B) / (SUBS OVER THE FENCE HOMERUNS COUNT AS A SINGLE ONLY, ALL OTHER HITS STAND AS IS)

TEAMS MAY NOT COMPETE WITH LESS THAN EIGHT PLAYERS AT ANY TIME.

TEAMS MAY BAT UP TO ANY AMOUNT OF PLAYERS ON A GAME CARD/ROSTER.

A PLAYER WILL BE DEEMED ILLEGAL IF NOT ON AN OFFICIAL CARD/ROSTER AND BE CALLED OUT WHEN CHALLENGED BY THE OPPOSING TEAM. TEAM MAY ALSO HAVE TO FORFEIT THE GAME.

IF A PLAYER IN BATTING ORDER LEAVES THE GAME AND THERE IS NO REPLACEMENT HIS NEXT AT BAT WILL BE AN OUT.

BATTING OUT OF ORDER MUST BE CHALLENGED PRIOR TO THE FIRST PITCH OF THE NEXT BATTER. PENALTY BATTER WILL BE CALLED OUT.

SAFETY BAG AT FIRST BASE MUST BE USED UNLESS TO AVOID COLLISION. UMPIRES DISCRETION. PLAYER OUT.

REENTRY RULE – A STARTING PLAYER REMOVED FROM THE LINEUP MAY REENTER THE GAME ONE TIME. A SUBSTITUTE MAY NOT REENTER THE GAME AFTER BEING REMOVED.

FLIP FLOP: WILL BE INVOKED IN GAME WHEN THERE IS A 10-RUN DIFFERENTIAL IN FAVOR OF THE VISITING TEAM AT THE START OF THE “OPEN INNING.” IF THE VISITING TEAM IS AHEAD BY TEN OR MORE RUNS, THE HOME TEAM WILL REMAIN AT BAT. IT WILL BE AN OPEN INNING. IF THE HOME TEAM FAILS TO TIE OR GO AHEAD OF THE VISITING TEAM, THE GAME ENDS AND THE VISITING TEAM WINS. IF THE HOME TEAM TIES OR GOES AHEAD, THE VISITING TEAM TAKES ITS TURN AT BAT.

RUN RULE: 15 AFTER 5 – DOES NOT NEED TO REACH OPEN INNING

TIE GAME: TIE GAME – EXCEPT FOR PLAYOFFS & CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

UNIFORMS: PLAYERS AND COACHES MUST WEAR THE SUPPLIED LEAGUE JERSEY SO THEY ARE EASILY IDENTIFIED AS A TEAM/OFFICIAL PLAYER OF THE LEAGUE . IN THE COLD SEASON THIS RULE MAY NOT BE MANDATORY.

LINE-UPS: TEAMS MUST TURN INTO SCORE KEEPER AT LEAST 15 MINUTES PRIOR TO GAME START TIME.

BENCH AREA:

PLAYERS & COACHES ARE THE ONLY INDIVIDUALS ALLOWED IN THE BENCH AREA.

ALL PLAYERS MUST STAY IN DUGOUT OR OUT OF PLAY AREA - 1 ON DECK HITTER

NO ALCOHOL, SUNFLOWER SEEDS OR SMOKING OF ANY KIND IN THE DUGOUT OR FIELD OF PLAY

NO DISRUPTIVE MUSIC: LOUD, VULGAR, ETC. DEFINITION, ONE PERSON OR STAFF MEMBER COMPLAINS.

IF DEFENSIVE TEAM HAS A PLAYER OR BAT OUTSIDE DUGOUT AND GETS HIT BY THROWN BALL THE BALL IS DEAD AND ALL RUNNERS ADVANCE ONE BASE

IF OFFENSIVE TEAMS PLAYERS OR EQUIPTMENT GETS HIT BY A THROWN BALL THE CLOSEST RUNNER TO HOMEPLATE IS OUT

TEAMS MUST CLEAN UP THE DUGOUT AFTER EACH GAME (REMOVE GARBAGE ETC.)

POOR SPORTSMANSHIP WILL NOT BE ALLOWED! NO F BOMBS NO THROWING THE BAT NO TAUNTING NO BS!

FORFEIT TIME: GAME TIME IS FORFEIT TIME. TEAMS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO START A GAME ON TIME!. TEAMS ARE REQUIRED TO BE READY TO PLAY UP TO 15 MINUTES EARLY.

GAME LENGTH:

60 MINUTES + OPEN INNING

PLAYOFFS 65 MINUTES + OPEN INNING

CHAMPIONSHIP 75 MINUTES + OPEN INNING

EXCEPTIONS ON LEAGUE FORMAT, GUARANTEED GAMES AND GAME TIMES MAY BE ALTERED DUE TO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES (IE WEATHER, FIELD RESTRICTIONS,TIME CONSTRAINTS, EMERGENCIES, CITY ISSUES ETC).

INFIELD PRACTICE: NO INFIELD PRACTICE WILL BE PERMITTED ONCE THE GAME STARTS. WARM-UP IS ALLOWED IN DESIGNATED AREAS ONLY. TEAMS MAY WARM-UP IN THE OUTFIELD GRASS IF TIME PERMITS.

SEEDING FOR PLAYOFFS/1ST HALF CHAMPIONS

BEST RECORD

HEAD-TO-HEAD

RUN DIFFERENTIAL

RUNS ALLOWED

RUNS SCORED

COIN FLIP

PROTESTS: THE LEAGUE COMMITTEE WILL DECIDE ALL PROTESTS. AS MANAGER, PLEASE BE FAMILIAR WITH THE RULES OF THE GAME INCLUDING PROPER PROTEST PROCEDURE. ANY PROTEST OF AN UMPIRE’S RULE INTERPRETATION MUST BE MADE BEFORE THE NEXT PITCH IN THE GAME. ONLY MANAGERS MAY ADDRESS UMPIRES OR DIRECTORS, ALL OTHERS WILL BE REQUIRED TO STAY IN DUGOUT OR DEFENSIVE POSITION.
EJECTION RULE: MANAGERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR TEAM CONDUCT. PLAYERS, MANAGERS AND SPECTATORS MAY RECEIVE ONE WARNING TO STOP UNSPORTSMANLIKE BEHAVIOR (IE QUESTIONING CALLS, PITCH, LANGUAGE, ETC.). SECOND OCCURRENCE OF UNSPORTSMANLIKE BEHAVIOR WILL RESULT IN THE OFFENDING PARTY BEING EJECTED FROM THE GAME. THIRD OCCURRENCE WILL RESULT IN MANAGER AND OFFENDING PARTY BEING REMOVED FROM THE GAME AND TEAM WILL BE ACCESSED AN OUT FOR OFFENSIVE TEAM, DEFENSIVE TEAM WILL BE ACCESSED AN OUT AT NEXT AT BAT.
GAME DELAY / MAKE UP WE WILL DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO COMPLETE EACH GAME INCLUDING MODIFYING GAME TIME LENGTH, PITCH COUNT, FORMAT, FINISH GAME ON A FUTURE WEDNESDAY ETC. STALLING IF DIRECTOR OR UMPIRE FEELS YOUR TEAM IS INTENTIONALLY STALLING THEY CAN MINUS RUNS FROM YOUR TEAM OR CALL BALL GAME IF EXCESSIVE ! (SPORTMANSHIP IS KEY WITH NCS)LATE WITHDRAWS WILL NOT GET ANY SORT OF REFUND!
UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT

NCS/ THE LEAGUE HAS THE RIGHT TO SUSPEND ANY PLAYERS AT ANYTIME FOR ABUSE OR ANY UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT! WE ALSO HAVE THE RIGHT TO SWITCH A PLAYER OR 2 FROM ANY TEAM TO ANOTHER TO BALANCE OUT TEAM NUMBERS AND OR STRENGTH.

*PLAYER SUBSTITUTION INFO

*IF YOU ARE SHORT PLAYERS FOR SOME REASON ANY TIME THOUGH THE REGULAR SEASON – YOU ARE ONLY ALLOWED TO PICK UP PLAYERS FROM REGISTERED TEAMS THAT ARE IN OUR LEAGUE. CALL JAY OR MARK IF YOU NEED HELP WITH THIS. NO SUBS ALLOWED DURING PLAYOFFS UNLESS YOU HAVE UNDER 10 PLAYERS AND THEY ARE APPROVED BY THE LEAGUE (MARK SWEENEY/JAY ZETZ)

SUBS MUST BAT LAST AND CAN’T PLAY SECOND BASE, SHORTSTOP, 5MAN OR PITCHER. ALL HITS BY SUBS COUNT AS WHAT THEY ARE EXCEPT OVER THE FENSE HR’S WILL BE SINGLES ONLY.