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4. |
The Managers and/or coaches from both teams
are responsible for putting away all bases, any other softball equipment
and tools at their field following the last scheduled game of the day
on that field. |
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| II. SAFETY RULES |
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1. |
For all league play youth players
MUST wear an approved batting helmet while on the field of play. Removal of the helmet
while on the field of play by an offensive player shall result in an
out being charged to the offense. (NOTE: Under this rule it is
possible for the offense to be charged with two outs on one play. i.e.
A batter strikes out and removes her helmet while returning to the
dug-out.) |
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2. |
No jewelry of any kind (necklaces,
earrings, nose jewelry, finger rings, cloth friendship bracelets,
barrettes, etc.) will be allowed to be worn during games. Tape on a player’s ears,
nose, etc is considered a visible sign that they have jewelry beneath. Removal
of jewelry is considered a safety issue, the only exception is a MEDIC
ALERT item may be worn, but must be taped firmly to the body with medical
information visible. |
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3. |
The double first base (safety base) will be used in all games. |
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4. |
Any youth warming up a pitcher within
the Salmon Creek Sports Complex shall wear a catcher's mask. Both pitchers and
catchers warming up in violation of this rule may be subject to an
immediate one game suspension. No first warning is required. |
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5. |
All players shall have their jerseys
tucked in while they are on the field of play. Refusal to comply
may result in player ejection. |
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6. |
No child with an arm, wrist, hand
or leg cast will be allowed to play without a written verification
from her physician that the child can play fastpitch softball. The
cast must be sufficiently padded, per ASA rules. |
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7. |
If a player throws a bat they may be called out, and
a warning will be issued to both benches by the umpire. Any subsequent
infractions will result in an out being called, and the offending player
may be ejected. |
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| III. GAME RULES |
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1. |
a. |
Games shall begin promptly when
scheduled. There
will be a ten (10) minute grace period allowed for the purpose of fielding
a team. At the end of the grace period, the team in default shall
forfeit the game, 7-0. |
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b. |
Games forfeited because of too few
players may be played as practice games if the "short-handed" team borrows player(s) from
the opposing team. Each team must be able to field eight (8)
players. The grace period will count as playing time. Teams
with more than 8 players must field at least 9. |
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2. |
A pregame conference
will be held with the umpire(s) prior to the start of each game. The conference will
be attended by managers, coaches and may include Team Captains. One
item that will be covered is the application of the “Mercy Rule” (see
Rule 6 below). Unless both teams specifically agree that they
desire to play the full one hour and forty minutes, the “Mercy
Rule” will be in effect. |
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3. |
TEAM COMPOSITION |
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a. |
For league play, Training League, 10U, 12U, and 14U may
field ten (10) players on defense. |
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b. |
For T-Ball a full team consists of all players
present at the game on defense. The opposing team shall also field
all players that are present on defense. The defense shall
consist of seven (7) infielders, the remainder of the players are
to be placed in the outfield. |
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4. |
TIME LIMITS |
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a. |
For 10U through 18U Leagues, one hour and forty
(1:40) minutes shall constitute a regulation game. No new inning shall be started
after the one hour forty (1:40) minute time limit. An inning
in progress shall be completed unless the home team is at bat and is
winning. If inclement weather, darkness, or other factors should
shorten the game, then five (4) innings is considered an official game
(three and one-half [3 1/2] innings if home team is leading). |
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b. |
For Training League, one hour and forty (1:40)
minutes shall constitute a regulation game. No new inning shall be started after the one
hour and forty (1:40) minute time limit. An inning in progress
shall be completed unless the home team is at bat and is winning. If
inclement weather, darkness, or other factors should shorten the game,
then three (3) innings is considered an official game (two and one-half
[2 1/2] innings if home team is leading). |
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c. |
For T-Ball League, one hour and fifteen (1:15)
minutes shall constitute a regulation game. No new inning shall be started after the one
hour and fifteen (1:15) minute time limit. An inning in progress
shall be completed unless the home team is at bat and is winning. If
inclement weather, darkness, or other factors should shorten the game,
then three (3) innings is considered an official game (two and one-half
[2 1/2] innings if home team is leading). |
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5. |
TIED GAMES - For league play, games in all age divisions
may end in ties. |
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6. |
Once either team is
ahead by an insurmountable number of runs, the game is considered
unwinable. (Insurmountable number of runs equals 16 runs after 4
innings, 11 runs after 5 innings, 6 runs after 6 innings.) Unless
rescinded at the pre-game conference the “Mercy Rule” shall
apply and the game will be stopped. |
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7. |
Teams will be limited to the following number of runs
per time at bat. |
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T-Ball --- See rule V-6
Training - See rule V-6
10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, and 18U - five (5) runs per at bat. |
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8. |
The distance between bases and the distance
from the apex of home plate to the front of the pitching plate shall
be as follows: |
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a. |
T-Ball and Training League: Bases at forty-five (45) feet and pitching
plate at thirty (30) feet. |
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b. |
10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, and 18U -- ASA regulation distances. |
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9. |
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The visiting team is assigned the
first (1st) base dugout and the home team is assigned the third (3rd)
base dugout. Teams
participating in double headers shall remain in their originally assigned
dugout for the second game regardless of their home or visiting team
status. |
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10. |
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Teams are allowed pregame practice
only in the area outside the 1st & 2nd and the 2nd & 3rd
base paths following the completion of field preparation. |
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11. |
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Open substitution and re-entry will be allowed only for
those teams who bat their rosters. |
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12. |
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The "Designated Player Rule" is
permitted only for 14U age division and above. |
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13. |
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For league play 12U, 10U, Training
and T-Ball coaches must bat their entire roster. For all other
age classes, coaches may elect to bat their entire roster at game
time during the pre-game conference. |
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14. |
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During league play all eligible
players must play in not less than two (2) full innings in a 4/5 inning game, or three
(3) full innings in a 6/7 inning game. Managers and/or coaches
not complying with this rule may be suspended at the discretion of
the board. |
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15. |
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All Official Protests must reach
a VGSA Executive Board member within twenty-four (24) hours of the
game, accompanied by a signed letter of protest with a full explanation,
and a five dollar ($5.00) protest fee and the scorebooks from both
teams (photo-copies preferred). The protest fee may be refunded at the board discretion. The
board's review and decision on the validity of the protest is final. |
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| IV ADDITIONAL
RULES FOR 10U PLAY |
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1. |
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Once the pitcher has control of
the ball and is inside the pitcher's circle, the ball becomes
dead, and all base runners not over half the distance to the next
base shall return to the last touched base. The lead base runner
(if more than one runner is on base) is the controlling runner for
determining the half way mark. |
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2. |
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Offensive teams will bat their entire
roster, including substitutes. If the third out is obtained
before the five (5) run limit is achieved, the inning is ended and
the offensive team resumes the batting order where it left off, their
next at bat. |
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3. |
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Until the mid-point of the season, the following pitching
rules apply. Pitching will occur in all games with the standard
amount of pitches per batter. Per ASA rules, up to six pitches
- 3 balls, 3 strikes; 4 balls, 2 strikes (more if fouled off). |
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a. |
three (3) strikes will be out. |
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b. |
In each inning, a youth pitcher can only walk two batters. The next
batter to receive ball 4 (after the initial two walks), that
batter's coach will pitch a maximum of three (3) additional pitches
from the pitching plate. Any strikes on the batter will
carry over to the coach's pitches. |
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c. |
If the batter strikes out or fails to put the ball into fair play
during the coach's three additional pitches, the batter is out. |
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d. |
Only those batters struck by a pitch from a youth player shall be
awarded first base. |
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e. |
There will be no base coaching from the pitcher's
circle when the batter's coach pitches the additional three
pitches. |
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f. |
After the mid-point in the season, standard
ASA pitching rules may apply, at the League Coordinator’s decision. |
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V. ADDITIONAL RULES FOR T-BALL
AND TRAINING LEAGUE |
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1. |
Once the pitcher has
control of the ball and is inside the pitcher's circle, the ball
becomes dead, and all base runners not over half the distance to
the next base shall return to the last touched base. The lead
base runner (if more than one runner is on base) is the controlling
runner for determining the half way mark. |
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2. |
Offensive teams will
bat their entire roster, including substitutes. If the third
out is obtained before the five (5) run limit is achieved, the inning
is ended and the offensive team resumes the batting order where it
left off, their next at bat. |
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3. |
Pitching will occur
in all games with the standard amount of pitches per batter. Per
ASA rules, up to six pitches - 3 balls, 3 strikes; 4 balls, 2 strikes
(more if fouled off). |
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Three (3) strikes will be out. |
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b. |
In each inning, a youth pitcher
can only walk two batters. The next batter to receive ball 4 (after
the initial two walks),
that batter's coach will pitch a maximum of three (3) additional pitches
from the pitching circle. Any strikes on the batter will
carry over to the coach's pitches. If the batter strikes out
or fails to put the ball into fair play during the coach's three additional
pitches, the batter is out. |
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c. |
Only those batters struck by a pitch from a youth
player shall be awarded first base. |
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d. |
There will be no base coaching from
the pitcher's circle when the batter's coach pitches the additional three
pitches. |
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4. |
OFFENSIVE ATTEMPTS |
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a. |
For Training League, each batter will receive
four (4) attempts to hit the ball. The coach will pitch three pitches to each of his
batters. If a batter fails to hit one of the three pitches, they
may choose to either hit off the tee or receive one more pitched ball
for their final attempt. Any pitch hit into fair territory is
considered a ball in play. For a ball hit off the tee to be considered
in play, the ball must be hit on or beyond the 10 foot arc. If
the ball is not put into play on the fourth attempt the batter is out. |
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b. |
For T-Ball, each batter is allowed four (4)
attempts at a ball on the Tee. If the ball is not put in play on the fourth attempt
the batter is out. The ball must travel on or beyond the ten
(10) foot arc to be considered in play. |
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5. |
The offensive team
will bat the entire line up in each inning. Scorekeepers will count runs to the same number
of batters. A teams "At Bat" is over when the last batter in
the line up has batted and the catcher has touched home plate to end
the inning. |
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6. |
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A player must play two different
positions per game. No
player is to play one position for more than two complete innings. A
complete inning is when every offensive player batted.) Once
a girl has played one position she may not re-enter that position unless
there are no other players available to fill that position. The intention
of this rule is for all girls be exposed to a variety of infield and
outfield positions. |
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7. |
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Coaching must be done from a team's
assigned side of the field and dugout, unless time is called to go
onto the field. When
a team is on the field , a coach, manager or parent may not go over
to the opposing teams fence line and coach from that position. There
will be no base coaching from the pitcher's circle when the batter's
coach pitches. |
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END OF VGSA RULES |
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| Below is listed VGSA’s
policy concerning UNSPORTSMANLIKE
CONDUCT/BEHAVIOR. It is being provided here as an
informational item only. As policy it will be rigorously adhered
to, especially in light of events surrounding incidents that have
occurred recently at youth sporting events. We know each of
you appreciates this and we rely upon you for your full co-operation
and compliance. |
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UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT |
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During the playing season: any coach,
player or fan who is ejected from a ball game or asked to leave the
complex because of un-sportsmanlike conduct or behavior shall be
subject to the following:
For 1st infraction: they will miss the remainder of that game and
be disqualified from the next game.
For 2nd infraction: they will be suspended from that game as well
as the next game AND routinely may not participate in any subsequent
games until after they have appeared before the VGSA Board of Directors
for a hearing concerning their behavior.
For 3rd infraction: typically, in addition to the first infraction
penalty, ejection for a 3rd time results in the offender being restricted
from involvement in *any* VGSA functions (including: auctions, meetings,
tournaments, etc.) for a period of one calendar year.
The decision of the VGSA Board of Directors is final. |
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