Purpose and Scope of Document

 

The Carver Men’s Softball League shall be conducted as a men’s adult slow pitch softball league and therefore shall be played under those appropriate rules. This league is a USSSA affiliate and shall be governed by the rules set forth in the USSSA rulebook unless otherwise stated in these bylaws.

 

1. GAME RULES

 

1.1 Game Duration

 

a. All regular season games shall be played to nine (9) innings in length

b. A complete game is 5 innings (4 1/2 innings if the home team is leading)

c. Any regular season game suspended prior to becoming a complete game shall be replayed from the beginning as if it was a new game

d. All playoff games shall be completed. Playoff games suspended after 5 complete innings shall be continued from the exact point of termination.

 

1.2 Playing Time

 

a. All players must play at least four (4) innings in the field, unless the player chooses not to

 

1.3 Batting Order

 

a. All players present at the game are required to bat in the batting order. Injured players that won’t be playing and are present must be declared prior to the start of the game

b. Any player present that wants to play and is not put into the lineup will result in the suspension of the team’s coach

c. If a player gets injured or has to leave, he may be scratched from the lineup without penalty

d. An injured player or player that has to leave must be declare to opposing team before the beginning of this player’s teams at bat

e. Lineups to be exchanged prior to the start of the game

f. A team can pick up a 9th players, not on their roster to catch. This player must be in the league and can not bat. The 9th spot in the lineup will be an automatic out.

g. A team can only pick up one player to make nine (9) total. A player can not be picked up to make ten (10)

h. No substitutions are allowed. Everyone plays

        i. All players arriving late must be inserted into the end of the lineup before the last out of the 6th inning is made. No player will be allowed into the lineup after that point.

j. Any player ejected during the game will become an out when their spot in the lineup is up

        k. Any player who is there at game time and decides they are not playing, is unable to be inserted into the lineup at any point.

1.4 Forfeit

A grace period of 15 minutes shall be granted from the listed time of start. A forfeit will result if a team can not field at least 9 players (8 being rostered players) by the end of the grace period.

 

1.5 Slaughter Rule

 

a. Home team (if losing) must have a chance to bat

b. Run rule is 25 after 5 innings, 20 after 6 innings, and 15 after 7 innings.

c. At any paint when a team is winning by 15 or more runs, the umpire may put the “flip flop rule” rule into effect

d. Run rule is in effect in the playoffs

 

1.6 Illegal Equipment

 

Metal cleats are not allowed. Automatic ejection from the game will be enforced. If an injury occurs from a player wearing metal cleats, this player will be suspended for one 1) year.

 

1.7 Altercations

 

a. Any player involved in a physical altercation with an umpire will receive a one (1) year suspension from the league

b. Any physical altercation between team members and/or opposing team players will result in a three (3) game suspension

 

1.8 Foul Ball

 

The count will begin at 1-1 with no foul to waste.

 

1.9 Courtesy Runner

 

a. Two (2) courtesy runners will be allowed per inning

b. The courtesy runner can be any player in the lineup

c. The player taking a courtesy runner will not be limited in number of bases they can take in future at bats

d. If a courtesy runner is still on the bases when it is their turn to bat, they will be out. 

 

1.10 Throwing of Equipment 

 

Any player that throws equipment will be ejected and suspended for one (1) game.

 

1.11 Alcohol

 

a. No alcohol is allowed on the field or in the dugout

b. An umpire shall eject any player if he is send consuming alcohol during their game and an extra one (1) game suspension will be in effect

 

1.12 Pitching

 

a. Pitching distance from the mound to plate should be no loss than 50 feet.

b. Arc is 6-15 feet from the ground (umpire’s discretion)

c. A strike should be declared if the ball hits any part of the plate or mat

d. Pitching with any underhand motion is allowed (backspin/front spin is allowed)

 

 

 

 

2. Playoffs

 

2.1 Prize Money

$1000 will be awarded to the league champion

 

2.2 Top 8 teams make the playoffs

a. Playoff Series are best of 3 until the Championship which is best of 5

b. Highest seed will be the home team for games 1, 3, and 5 

 

2.3 Playoff Tie Breakers

 

a. Head to Head Record

b. Run Differential (If only two teams are tied)

c. Record against all of the teams in the tie

d. Run differential with all of the teams involved in the tie

e. Record against all other playoff teams

f. Total runs against

 

2.4 Field Rotation

 

Round 1 Only: A, B, P - Must play on all three fields if series goes three games

Round 2: A, B

Field Selection of each round will be decided by the teams in order of their seed

2 Games shall be played per day; If a series is tied after two games then game three will be played the following week in non championship rounds.

 

Finals will be played in 2 weeks. 2 games week 1 & 3 games (if needed) week 2.

Teams will re-seed after each round

Home team will chose between field A or B in each championship game

 

3. Ground Rules

 

3.1 Front & Back Field

a. On the front field the fence down the left field line will imaginarily extend to the corner of the building

b. On the backfield the fence down the right field line will imaginarily extend, any ball that hits any tree limbs is a dead ball

c. Any fairly batted ball that lands inside the small fencing where the light poles are will result in a double

d. Any ball that hits the light pole above the fence line will be ruled a home run (umpire discretion)

e. If a batted ball hits a player from the other field, the ball remains live as that player is part of the field. If a player from the other field picks up a batted ball on purpose it is up to the umpire to award bases that would have been earned.

f. If a batted ball from the front field splits the gates in center a home run will be awarded

g. If a batted ball from the back field splits the gate in right center field, a double will be awarded.

 

3.2 Purchase Street

 

a. Dead ball area is over any fencing. The fence down right field and left field will imaginarly extend

b. Any batted ball that lands in the woods in the air or off a player will be declared   home run

c. Any batted ball that rolls/bounces in the woods off the bat or fielder will be declared a double

d. Any ball that is purposefully thrown, kicked, or hit in the woods will be umpire discretion on amount of bases awarded

 

4. Draft Rules

 

4.1 The Draft

a. A team can stay intact no matter the number of returning players as long as a returning player establishes themselves as the coach before the draft

b. If a team has no established coach and less than 5 players that team will fold and all paid registrations will be entered into the draft

c. All league fees for the season must be paid prior to the draft. Any player not selected in the draft or subsequent supplemental drafts will have their money returned

d. If a player leaves a team and goes into the draft, he has the right to not get redrafted by the same team

e. Any player registering for the league must be 18 years of age by April 1st

 

4.2 Rosters

 

a. Each team shall start with at least 15 players on the opening day rosters if there’s enough players

b. No team shall carry less than 13 players during the season, once a team loses players and their roster goes to 12 a supplemental pick must be made

c. Any player may be dropped from a teams roster after missing 3 consecutive weeks without notice or 7 total weeks with/without notice. Player has right to appeal.

 

4.3 Father/Son Rule

 

a. Instead of entering the draft a father/son can be automatically placed on father/son’s team at time of draft (DOES NOT INCLUDE SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT)

b. The father/son must be registered at the registration time and indicate they want to play together

c. There is no limit to amount of father/son pairs a team can have (within roster restrictions)

d. The father/son rule can only be in effect if the father or son has been rostered in CMSL at least 1 full season and played in at least 5 games

 

4.4 Brother Rule

 

a. Same rules apply as father/son rule (DOES NOT INCLUDE SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT)

b. Brothers must have played at least one full season each

c. Brothers must play together on the lower seeded team from the previous season

 

4.5 Supplemental Draft

 

a. Players that were not drafted on draft day or register late will be entered into the supplemental draft pool

b. Registrants must pay $40 that is non-refundable(unless not drafted) to enter the draft

c. Supplemental drafts will take place when 3 or more teams are requesting players. Less than 3 teams will be allowed on an emergency basis.

d. All request for supplemental players should be submitted to CMSL commissioners. It is not the responsibility of the commissioners to reach out to each team to make sure they have enough players.

e. The last supplemental draft will be no later than week 9 of the season.

 

4.6 Injured Reserve

 

a. Each team can have a maximum of 2 players on their injured reserve

b. The player can hold that roster spot for 1 season

c. If a player on injured reserve wants to return during the season, there must be a roster spot available and pay the full entry fee for the year

d. Player coming off IR needs to be declared by week 9.

 

4.7 Hand Pick

 

a. The bottom 4 finishing team will be allowed to hand select any available player with their first selection

b. The order of the hand picking teams will be selected at random

c. The hand pick & brother/brother or father/son can both be used in the same draft if roster spots are available

 

5. Bat Testing

 

a. Bats will be tested at the beginning of the year and once more throughout the season

b. Bats that pass the test can be used during the season and playoffs without retesting

c. Bats that fail will not be allowed to be used

d. A log of all passing bats will be posted on the website

e. Anybody using a bat not on the list will be ejected from the game and suspended for the season (Player has a right to appeal)