TOYS FOR KIDS | JOKER PUB CO-ED SLOWPITCH SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT RULES
The Toys for Kids|Joker Pub Coed Slow-pitch Softball Tournament will abide by NSA rules with the exception of the following:
AGE LIMIT – Participants must be at least 18 years of age and graduated from High School. Toys for Kids reserves the right to ask for ID's if a player's age is in question.
Team rosters must be completed with player’s name, phone number, date of birth and signature. Rosters must be on file with Toys for Kids prior to the first game. Players may be added to the roster no later than the second week of the season. Player’s must be able to provide a driver’s license or other forms of ID to verify eligibility.
Emergency Replacement Clause: In the event a team loses a player by legitimate reasons such as permanent injury or work transfer, a team may petition the League Director for a replacement. This ruling applies only if the team is unable to field a ten (10) person team for play. Added players must not be on a registered team. The decision for replacement will be solely on the judgment of the League Director.
NO METAL CLEATS ALLOWED.
GAME BALL: Men’s – 12”, Women’s – 11” ball.
The home team is designated as the official scorer. The home team will be determined by the bold numbers on the schedule. That team is home team for the first game, and then is the away team for the second game. Note: The home team for the first game will be the Visiting team the second game. The Visiting team shall be responsible for verifying the score after each half inning.
WINNING TEAM MUST SUBMIT SCORES TO SCORE KEEPING TABLE!
The home team is responsible for providing new games balls. Women will use an 11” ball; men will use a 12” ball. The visiting team must provide a good 11” and 12” back up balls.
A full starting team shall consist of ten (10) players – Five (5) men / five (5) women. A team may start and finish a game with a minimum of eight (8) players – four (4) men / four (4) women - no exceptions.
A team may play with more then 5 women, but shall never play with more then 5 men in the field.
A team must start the game and end the game with at least 8 players. There will be no automatic out for teams with less then 10 players in their batting order.
There is no restriction on field positioning of male and female players.
Men and women must alternate in the batting order, even if a team is shorthanded. A female can bat out of order and a male cannot. If a team does not alternate, an out will be given.
Men bat straight away (regular handed) with a regular sized bat. If there is a question about a bat, the bat must be approved by the umpire.
A team may bat all members of their team. This must be stated prior to the start of the game to the opposing coach and umpire. The batting order must remain the same the entire game.
If a team chooses to bat through their entire roster, they may substitute freely with no re-entry restrictions.
If a team is only batting ten (10) players, any player that starts a game and is taken out may be re- entered into the game once but must retain their original spot in the batting order.
Managers may substitute players without limit throughout the game. A player who is substituted for must stay out of the game at least one full inning.
The Courtesy Runner will be the last out. Regardless of gender. One courtesy runner per inning.
TIME LIMIT – NO league game shall last more than one (1) hour and fifteen (15) minutes. No new inning shall begin after one (1) hour and five (5) minutes from the scheduled start of the game. Drop dead at one (1) hour and thirty (30) minutes and game will end with previous inning's score. All league games shall be complete when played under this time limit regardless of the number of innings played.
Toys for Kids will provide Umpires. All games umpired by a UNW umpire will be considered an official contest. If no umpire is present and teams elect to play, the results are official.
All teams will abide by the one ball – one strike ruling. Every batter will start their count with one ball and one strike.
3rd STRIKE FOUL RULING - All teams in all divisions will abide by the 3rd strike NSA foul rule. On the 3rd strike, if the batter fouls, he/she will receive one (1) more chance to hit. If he/she fouls again, he/she is out.
WALKS – If a male takes three (3) balls in a row without any strikes thrown, he is awarded 1st and 2nd base. The female up to bat next has the option to bat or go to 1st base on a walk. If a strike is thrown and the male still walks, it will be treated as a regular walk – the male takes 1st and the female up to bat next must bat.
Coed Program run rule is as follows:
Twenty (20) runs after 3 innings
Fifteen (15) runs after 4 innings
Ten (10) runs after 5 innings
A Team can elect to end their at bat after scoring 5+ runs in an inning.
Any ball hit over the fence is a home run. Balls that bounce over the fence will be a ground rule double. Each team is allowed 3 homeruns per game. Any ball hit over (untouched) after the 3rd will be an automatic out. Teams are asked to please have either a fan or a player retrieve the homerun ball.
Forfeits: All games will have a ten (10) minute grace period. If a team cannot provide enough players to begin a game after the ten (10) minute grace period the game will be officially forfeited. After an additional fifteen (15) minutes, the second game will be officially forfeited.
In the event that both teams have only seven (7) players, the game will be considered a double forfeit.
Forfeits will be recorded as 12-0 with the league.
A fee of $25 will be charged for forfeited games. The team must pay before the next game or it will be another forfeit.
Protests: Protests of a game must be declared by the team manager to the umpire and opposing manager immediately after the protest incident. The umpire must have stopped play and circled the incident in question in the scorebook and signed it. In the event that an umpire refuses to sign the book, the other coach should sign to verify the protest. A protest cannot be made on a judgment situation.
Teams may not protest a judgment call.
Protests must be made in writing and delivered to the League Director by 5:00 PM the day following the game.
The League Director will be in charge of conducting protest meetings.
Unsportsmanlike Conduct shall include, but is not solely limited to:
Use of Profanity
Intentional misuse of equipment
Anything observed by a coach/ player in which is considered poor conduct.
First Occurrence – written warning to coach and player.
Second Occurrence – person involved will be suspended for one (1) game.
Third Occurrence – person involved will be suspended for remainder of season.
Ejection from Game – if a player is ejected from a game for unsportsmanlike conduct, he/she will receive a one (1) game suspension. This will occur when the League Director receives a written Player Ejection Report from the Umpire’s Association. Upon receiving this notification, the League Director will immediately notify the team manager of the suspension. A second ejection in a season will result in suspension from the league for the remainder of the season.
Any player, coach, sponsor or team manager provoking a fight or physically assaults an umpire will be banned from playing or participating in Toys for Kids/Joker Pub co-ed softball tournament for a period of two (2) years.
Criteria regarding ties in league standings and determining seeds for the playoffs: Home team during playoffs will be the team with the best season record.
Record
Head to head
Total runs scored against
Flip of a coin
Alcoholic beverages may not be consumed on District grounds including the parking lot. Teams or players caught with alcoholic beverages will be suspended for a minimum of two (2) games. All District facilities including the ball fields, the dugouts and the parking lot are smoke-free facilities.
NOTE: The team manager is responsible for educating the umpire at the start of each game of the Softball Rules. Toys for Kids Rules supersede NSA rules, but umpires need notification of the rules. Rules agreed to before each game with both coaches and umpire will be upheld during the game. Please keep a copy of the league rules with your team during all games.