Distance from home plate to second base and first to third is 91 feet, 11 inches. 5. Chalk lines will be placed to mark
Softball Tournament Rules I. Sportsmanship A) Sportsmanship: KC Crew, LLC ("KCC") is dedicated to provide a safe and fun sporting environment. All participants should keep this in mind when becoming involved. Although the games may become intense, you still can be competitive while maintaining good sportsmanship. Any behavior deemed unacceptable by the KCC staff may result in suspension and/or ejection from a game or the league. Each game will have at least 1 paid official. Abuse of officials, referees, opposing players and other KCC s taff will not be tolerated. KCC will not tolerate fighting! Fighting will be an automatic ejection from any game and in most cases ejection from the league for the remainder of the season. Any behavior deemed unacceptable by KCC staff may result in a game suspension and/or ejection from the league. Alcohol is not allowed at or on the fields and any participants with alcohol will be required to leave. 1. If a player touches another player physically, inappropriately or with intent to harm, despite who may be "right or wrong", they will be immediately ejected from the game. a. On their second offense they will be removed from the season with no refund. b. On a third offense they will be removed from the season with no refund and banned from the league. 2. Remember, this is for fun. No one is going to become a professional by playing in our leagues. Anyone exuding douchebaggery, rudeness or overwhelming ignorance will be ejected and possibly removed from the league as these actions eliminate fun for everyone else. II. Fundamentals A) Field of Play 1. The entire marked field is considered within play. 2. Lines are considered in play through 1st and 3rd base and extended through the outfield. 3. All bases are approximately sixty (60) feet apart. 4. Distance from home plate to second base and first to third is 91 feet, 11 inches. 5. Chalk lines will be placed to mark foul lines. 6. The pitching rubber is 40 feet from home plate along the home/second base diagonal. 7. All players must sign a waiver before being eligible to play. B) Equipment 1. Men will use a 12" ball and women an 11" Ball, both with .44 core 375 compression 2. Bats allowed based on ASA Standards. Bats not allowed 3. Balls and bases will be provided by KC Crew, LLC C) Teams/Substitutions 1. A maximum of ten (10) players can be on the field for the fielding team a. If 10 players take the field there must be a minimum of 3 females
i. A team that has ten (10) players but is missing the required gender minimum (at least 3 girls) must play short defensively for each missing player b. If 9 players take the field no more than 7 male and no less than 2 females 2. Teams must have at least eight (8) players, with a minimum of 2 females, to begin.
a. If a team does not have the minimum number of player at game time, they will have 10 minutes to have the minimum or they will be forced to forfeit, unless the opposing team agrees to play. b. If a team does not field the required number of players for their game and the opposing team agrees to play, the team that is short will be charged an out at the end of their line-up for every player under the requirement. 3. While fielding, each team must field at least eight (8) and no more than ten (10) players, which must include one pitcher and one catcher at any time during the game. 4. Each team is allowed unlimited substitutions between innings
5. 6. 7. 8.
No more than 2 males may bat consecutively. (Ex: Guy, Guy, Girl, Guy, Guy, Girl)
All players that are present and on the roster must hit unless a player is injured. Not all players have to play in the field. Rosters must be turned in before the start of each game. 9. All players must sign a waiver before being eligible to play.
D) The Start of Play 1. Team Captains will play a game of paper, rock, scissors to determine who is Home and who is Away. 2. In the tournament, the higher seeded team is ALWAYS the home team. 3. Pitchers will be permitted a few courtesy practice pitches each inning. F) In Play/ Out of Play 1. Boundaries are defined as the fence line or will be marked by chalk lines. 2. If a foul ball goes beyond the understood playable distance, the ball is “Out of Play” and that ball is dead. 3. Please be careful of balls going out into street or parking lot areas and watch for trees at unfenced locations. 4. Fair vs Foul: it is where the ball was determined to be at, by the umpire, in regards to the plane of the foul line, not where the defensive players positioning is. 5. If a ball is touched in fair territory it is fair, if a ball is touched in foul territory it is foul. 6. A foul ball that is caught counts as an out and any base runners may advance at their own risk after tagging up. 7. If a ball hits foul then comes back fair before crossing 1st or 3rd it is considered fair. G) Scoring 1. Games are won by a one run advantage. 2. The umpire prior to each inning should announce the inning and score as he/she has it recorded. 3. Teams switch hitting/fielding following each three out rotation in the line-up. 4. Runs are scored when a player has contacted first base, second base, third base and home plate prior to 3 outs. 5. A forced 3rd out always supersedes a fast base runner from third base who may have crossed the plate prior to the forced third out made at another base. 6. All runs will be called at umpire’s discretion. 7. Playoff games will be played until there is a decisive winner. 8. Remember to touch home plate. a. The strike mat is NOT considered part of home plate. H) Pitching 1. Pitcher may make a pitch any time the game is called live and the batter is in the batter’s box. Page | 2
2. The pitcher must pitch from the pitcher’s rubber a. Pitchers may move the pitcher’s rubber forward or backward at their own risk. 3. All pitches must be thrown underhand and have an arc of not less than six (6) feet and not more than twelve (12) feet from the ground. 4. Umpires shall call out “ILLEGAL” or “HIGH” or “FLAT” for pitches out of the approved range prior to the pitch reaching the plate. Players may opt to swing at called illegal pitches but the result shall stand. 5. Players who do not swing at an illegal pitch shall automatically receive a called ball for their count. 6. Any pitch landing on/or before home plate shall be called a ball, unless the batter swings. 7. The strike zone is from the shoulders to the knees for any cleanly pitched ball that also lands on the orange strike mat behind home plate. If the ball goes between 6 ft and 12 ft and hits the orange strike mat, it is a strike. If it does not hit the orange mat, it is a ball. Plain and simple. 8. Four (4) called balls will result in the batter being awarded first base. 9. If a pitcher walks a male with 2 outs he automatically takes 2nd base and if he is followed by a female she has the option to bat or automatically walk to first. . I) Batting 1. Batter will start with a 1-1 count 2. Foul balls are considered strikes and batters can strike out on foul ball on the third strike. Batters are allowed 1 courtesy foul. 3. KCC frowns upon teams actively seeking walk, after walk, after walk, after walk, after walk (get the point?). a. At the umpire’s discretion, he/she may offer a sportsmanship suggestion to swing at close pitches b. In cases where this helpful suggestion is ignored, the umpire has the authority to increase the strike zone to encourage batting action. 4. Batter may step out of the box to slow a quick fire pitcher and the umpire will call time. 5. An umpire will call strikes on any cleanly pitched ball (see Pitching above) that lands on the strike mat. 6. Intentional bunts are not allowed and will be called an out. 7. A swing that results in a dribbler of a hit shall be counted. 8. If a player hits a home run they must retrieve the ball. 9. Only two out of the park home runs are allowed per team. Each homerun after this will be an out unless each team has hit 2 home runs then one more is allowed per team and continues to add one as each team has the same amount of home runs. 10. Any ball hit fair but goes out of play by going under the fence or through a gap is a ground rule double no matter how fast the runner is. 11. Any batter who steps on home plate to attempt to swing at a ball will be issued a warning. Second offense is an out. 12. Any batter who purposely throws a bat will be immediately ejected from the game. J) Base Running 1. Runners must wait until batter makes contact with the ball before leaving the base(no stealing). Warning then out. 2. Runners must stay within a natural base path or they will be called out. 3. Fielders impeding with the runners’ path results in being awarded the base unless it’s attempt on the ball or play a. Runners intentionally knocking the ball out of a fielder’s glove will result in the runner being called out b. Runners intentionally running through a fielder/catcher will result in an out. 4. Any ball thrown inside the field of play shall be considered live and base runners may advance at will 5. Should the played ball be thrown outside of the field of play the umpire shall indicate base runners may proceed to the next base and stop there unless they are half way to the next base(they get that base and the next base).
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6. A base runner may tag-up – The runner can leave the base as soon as a fly ball is touched(caught or dropped) or if off the base, the runner must go back and touch the base after the fly ball is touched before advancing. 7. Failure to properly tag-up shall result in a called out. 8. Pinch Runners are only allowed if the player is injured and will not be playing in the field following that at-bat 9. Injured players that can’t bat are allowed a pinch batter(last out of same sex)but are not allowed back into the game once they miss their turn due to an injury. Meaning they cannot play in any defensive position on the field. 10. If any offensive runner passes a teammate that is running the bases ahead of them, the “passer” is out 11. A force out constitutes a defensive player touching the base where forced player is running to, either with ball in hand or by throwing to a fellow teammate that is covering the base. 12. Infield Fly rule – When there are fewer than 2 outs and there is a force play at 3rd base or the bases are loaded a catchable fair fly ball is a called out by the umpire to prevent dropping and turning a double play a. The umpire shall announce when the infield fly rule is in effect 13. Sliding is allowed into any base. 14. Base blocking by the defense is not allowed. If a base is considered blocked by the umpire, that player will be safe and advance to the next base. 15. If a player does not show intent to round 1st base, they must touch first base again before advancing to 2nd base. III. Game Duration A. Pool Play 1. Games will be seven (7) innings or a time limit of 50 minutes, whichever comes first. 2. A new full inning cannot be started after the 45th minute 3. Once four (4) innings have been completed, the game is considered official. 4. The Referee shall announce the final inning to be played on/around 15 minutes remaining in the match. This announcement may be made during what turns out to be the final inning of play if it is running long 5. The losing team may choose to end the game if down 10 runs or more after 4 innings of play 6. If after 7 innings, or 50 minutes, a game is tied there will be an Overtime a. In overtime the teams will come up to kick with a runner on second and 2 outs. Each team will have an opportunity. i. The last kicker from the previous inning will start on 2nd base. b. Each team will try to score as many runs as they can before they record an out. c. Whichever team has the highest score at the end of the extra inning wins. d. We will continue this until there is a winner. 7. Games will start on the hour or 10 minutes after the prior game is over, whichever comes first. B) Tournament 1. Tournament seeds will be determined by number of wins, then total points scored. 2. All games are to be played as mentioned above, except overtime. a. Overtime: If a game is tied after 7 innings, or 50 minutes, the team that wins the next full inning of play is the winner. IV. Forfeits A) Forfeits 1. Teams have until 5 minutes past the designated start time to field the minimum requirement. a. If a team doesn’t show in time, a win will be recorded to the present team with a score of 7 to 0. 2. If both teams agree to play without the minimum or more than maximum required, KCC Officials must be made aware. 3. If your team is going to forfeit a game, please notify the KC Crew official.
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