Greater Keene Men's Softball Association

2025 

GREATER KEENE MEN’S SOFTBALL ASSOCIATION 

BYLAWS

 

***PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION AVAILABLE UNDER "HANDOUTS" TAB***

 

2025 changes are highlighted

 

ARTICLE 1 – RULES

Sec. 1 - The league will abide by the constitution and the by-laws of the GKMSA. Any rules not covered by the constitution and the by-laws of the GKMSA shall be governed by the USA official guide.

Sec. 2 - To be eligible to participate in playoff games, players must have played in a minimum of 50% of their team’s regular season games played since the first time they were added to the roster.

Team games played – Number of games played to be eligible for playoffs:

 

1 team game-1 game needed to play to be playoff eligible 2-1 3-2 4-2 5-3 6-3

7-4 8-4 9-5 10-5 11-6 12-6 13-7 14-7 15-8 16-8 17-9 18-9

1. A game played consists of participating in a game by doing any of the following: batting, fielding, running, or being actively involved or engaged at the game. 

a. In the event of a forfeit, the players on the team receiving the forfeit win will receive credit for a game played. Only present players can receive credit for a game played for the team forfeiting. 

b. For any game removed from the schedule by the league for any reason other than a forfeit, all roster players will receive credit for a game played. 

c. Injured players will receive credit for a game played if the player arrives no later than the start of the third inning and maintains a presence for the remainder of the game. The coach must include the injured player on the bottom of the lineup, and the umpire and/or board member must validate that the player is in attendance at the game.

d. Members of the Armed Forces who are required to serve a deployment will receive credit for any games missed during that deployment. A copy of orders must be supplied to the league board to receive credit.

f. Any questions involving player identity should be addressed immediately to the board member on duty. If a player cannot prove his identity upon the outcome of the game the player has until the end of the last game played on that day to furnish a valid driver’s license, current school photo ID, or passport with photo. Failure to do so will result in his team forfeiting the game played on that date.

2. Any final decisions on receiving credit or not for a game will have to be approved by the league board.

Sec. 2 – Scores and Lineup cards

All teams must turn in lineup cards to a board member or umpire before each game. After the game, the coaches must sign off on the opposing team’s lineup to approve Umpires will then give the game report and lineup cards to a board member at the conclusion of the game. All home teams MUST text scores to the secretary or GKMSA Facebook page immediately following the game. 

Sec. 3 - Free Substitution Rule:

1. Any player may enter/re-enter on defense at any time as long as the act does not cause a delay in the game. Once a person has batted or entered the game offensively, the person must bat or run in that position, as stated in the scorebook.

2. 10-Man Divisions:

a. A 10-man option will be allowed for all divisions. This simply allows teams to play 10 men defensively if desired. The only effect on the free substitution rule will be as stated in Section 2-c below.

EXCEPTION: Snap division will field only 9 defensive players with a 10th batter option. Snap division is metal bat, snap pitch, no crossover over, the pitcher must come square, and no windmill.

b. Teams may begin play with 8 rostered (after the grace period if applicable) players but must list the 9th player in the batting order. When the 9th player is due to bat, an out is declared. Teams may play 10 and bat either 9 or 10 players.

c. A team may finish a game with 8 or 9 players for medical or emergency reasons only. If ejection forces a team to drop from 10 players to 9, or from 9 players to 8 with no available substitutes the result will be a forfeit.

d. Penalty: 10 players to 9. The penalty will be: vacant position in the batting order is a declared out.

e. Penalty 9 to 8. The penalty will be: vacant position in the batting order is a declared out.

f. The lowest metal bat division can bat up to 15 for the regular season only.

Sec. 4 - The GKMSA has the following bat restrictions:

The Executive Board will provide a limited list of legal bats for the upcoming season, to be reviewed annually as bats change.

 

Approved bats for 2025: 

4a. ALL WOOD bats (including bamboo) with a legible ASA/USA stamp. The bat cannot contain any metal/composite component. The following three corndog bats are approved as an exception: the orange and white Demarini corndog, the blue and white Demarini corndog, and the green and white Demarini corndog. The bat must be 2 ¼ inches in diameter. All bats must be approved and stickered by the league before they can be used in-game. 

4b. - Metal bat divisions- Metal BATS must be a one-piece pure single-wall bat with a LEGIBLE ASA/USA stamp (year 2000 or newer). The bat cannot contain any “sleeves” or composite components. All bats must pass a compression test and be approved and stickered by the league before they can be used in-game. All bats that are approved for wood bat divisions, can be also used in metal bat divisions. 

4c. - Any bat that is deemed unusable or unsafe will be pulled and not allowed

4d. - The Senior Division will be allowed to use an expanded bat list in addition to the list outlined in Section 4b. This bat list will be posted prior to the season. Note: No Easton Connexion bats will be permitted.

 

*This bat rule could be changed at any time for any reason if deemed necessary by the Executive Board and Board of Directors.

 

ADDITION: It is the responsibility of not only the board member on duty but also the players and coaches to be aware of the legal bat list and inspect any bats intended for use in gameplay. Coaches/team representatives will be held equally accountable for the use of illegal bats as the offending player. Use of illegal bat(s) WILL result in automatic ejection of the guilty player as well as the coach/team representative and can potentially result in suspension and/or forfeiture of the game. 

 

ARTICLE 2 – FINANCES

Sec. 1 - The entry fee for each team shall be designated at the pre-registration meeting by the Executive Board.

Sec. 2 - Team rosters are due at the February meeting. Rosters must be legible and complete to be accepted.  Team entry fees must be paid in full by the Packet Night Meeting.

Sec. 3 - A $100 binder fee (for Senior Division and Divisions B1-E) and rosters shall be paid at a pre-season meeting in January. Membership fees and final payment are due at the packet meeting. Teams whose fees are not paid in full before the Packet Night Meeting will not be permitted to make any player adds, and may not be permitted to start their season. There will be a new check box added to the GKMSA roster form to declare which players have paid their fees. Player fees need to be paid by game one. If a player’s fee is not paid, they can’t play until they pay. If a player is added, they cannot play until the player fee has been paid.

Sec. 4 - A non-refundable $250 binder fee and rosters shall be paid at a pre-season meeting in January for teams who plan to compete in the Snap Division.

 

ARTICLE 3 – ARBITRATION BOARD

Sec 1 - The President shall preside at all meetings and appoint all committees. 

Sec. 2 - The Arbitration Board shall consist of the Executive Board and the Board of Directors.

2a. The Board of Directors consists of all league Representatives chosen by the league board. The Umpire Representative, voted by the umpires, shall also be a member.

Sec. 3 - No member of the Arbitration Board shall sit in judgment if his division or immediate family is involved. Exception: the Executive Board shall vote on ALL division matters. 

Sec. 4 - The Arbitration Board shall settle all disputes concerned with the protests and suspensions of players, managers, umpires, or any other members of a team.

Sec. 5 - Suspension and penalties are now referenced in the Code of Conduct and the Arbitration board in some circumstances.

Sec. 6 - Umpires must report all removal of players or managers to the Umpire-in-Chief immediately, and written report within 24 hours.

6a. The Umpire-in-Chief shall inform the President of such happening immediately.

 

ARTICLE 4 – TEAM REQUIREMENTS

Sec. 1 - Matching sponsor shirts and hats or at least same-color t-shirts and hats are strongly recommended. 

Sec. 2 - Each team may have an unlimited roster. Rosters must be on file with the Treasurer.

Sec. 3 - There shall be no drinking of alcoholic beverages by any player while his team is playing a game. Any player doing so will be ejected from the game and subject to suspension.

Sec. 4 - Only persons listed on an official roster, scorer, bat person, and sponsor shall be allowed to sit on team benches. Non-player (coach) will be added to the official roster.

Sec. 5 - The Board of Directors will make the best effort to operate the scoreboard for the games on Durling, O’Neal, and Brown (once Brown's scoreboard is updated) fields for at least the 6:00 pm and 7:30 pm games and weekend games.

Sec. 6 - The home team shall have the third base side bench, and the visiting team the first base side. The home team will be required to report the final score to a league board member.

Sec. 7 - All teams will be USA-sanctioned. The sanction fee is included in the league entry fee.

Sec. 8 - The Board agreed that each team will get 1 ball for each home game, to be given to the umpire 15 minutes before the start of the game. For teams who do not have a game ball, a $5.00 fine will be assessed to cover the cost of the ball. The fine will be paid to the umpire before the start of the game. Failure to comply will result in a forfeit to the visiting team.

Sec. 9 - All teams must write player names in the official game book in this format: last name, first initial. If a protest is held and the game book is not written in this way the team will lose the protest.

Sec. 9b - All teams must write player names on the official lineup card in this format: full first name, full last name. 

 

ARTICLE 5 – PLAYER RESTRICTION

Sec. 1 - Due to military or job responsibilities or an emergency, a team may pick up one paid GKMSA player from a lower division roster without any approval.  That player may not pitch.  EXCEPTION: Teams in the lowest division can pick up a player from one division above or the same division. ADDITIONAL: When an emergency player is going to be added for the night, the coach adding the emergency player must report that player to the opposing coach and the umpire before the start of the game. The coach must also text the President before the game starts as we will be keeping a running list of emergency players used by each team during the season. If this is not done, it could result in a forfeit.

Sec. 2 - A player may be allowed to play for other teams during the season, not within the same division. All players are subject to approval by the Executive Board. All rosters must contain 10 eligible players.  The last day to add on a player is July 1st.

*This amendment was made because this issue is addressed during placement as well as when add/drops are voted on.  If approved rosters from lower divisions wish to enter more than 6 or their entire roster in the wood bat division they may do so. Teams may share no more than 5 common players with another roster. 

ADDITIONAL: If you have enough players to play the night you hand in an add-on then the added-on player(s) are not eligible to play on that night.  EXCEPTION: If the player add is paid in full and approved by the Executive Board before the game then the player may play that night.

Sec. 2a - The Executive Board will approve or deny any add-ons for all divisions.

ADDITIONAL: No player can be picked up more than one time for the same team during a single season. Before a player is picked up as an emergency player a second time, he will be required to pay the $75 player fee and gain addition to that roster, pending Board approval. Any non-roster pickup MUST be a paid member of the association or they will not be allowed to step on the field. If a player is used as an emergency by a team for a 2nd time at any time during the regular season then this lineup will be considered illegal and will result in a forfeit.

If a team picks up a non-roster player and a roster player shows up, the team must replace the non-roster player with the roster player immediately.

PLAYOFFS: Only rostered players will be allowed to participate in the playoffs. No pick-ups will be allowed under any circumstances.

 

ARTICLE 6- PROTESTS

Sec. 1 - If only one umpire shows up for a game, no protest can be allowed because the game was played with one umpire.

Sec. 2 - The protesting manager must submit in writing a full account of why the game was protested. A $20.00 fee is charged. The fee will be returned if the protest is upheld. The statement and fee must be in the hands of a member of the Executive Board (it cannot be a member of the protesting team or its manager) no later than 24 hours after the occurrence.

Sec. 3 - Any member of this association or umpire is eligible for suspension and it will be up to the Arbitration Board to take action.

a. For a person to come before the Arbitration Board, a written letter must be submitted to the President or Vice President.

b. Any letter directed toward the Arbitration Board must be acted upon within 7 calendar days from the date received.

Sec. 4 - If a ball no longer used by the league gets placed into a game, it will be removed immediately and replaced by one accepted for current use. This happening may not be grounds for protest.

 

ARTICLE 7 – GAMES

Sec. 1 - Time: games shall start at 6:00 PM; 6:15 PM; 7:30 PM and 9:00 PM with a 15-minute grace period for the 6 PM game only.  ALL games will be played at Durling, O’Neal, Brown, and Jernberg (Gilsum).

**Playoff games may be scheduled to start at 6:30 PM and 8:00 PM on weeknights. **

Sec. 2 - Teams must start play if they have 9 roster men at game time. EXCEPTION: Playoff schedule movement can be made at the discretion of the Executive Board.

Sec. 3 - There will be no infield practice before the game.

Sec 4 - Text notifications will be sent out to cancel or postpone games. Anyone who would like to receive these notifications will have to sign up via the league website. Each team must have at least two contacts signed up for this system.

Sec. 5 - Any team leading by 12 or more runs after 4 innings, or 8 or more runs after the 5th or 6th innings will be declared the winner with no further innings played.  EXCEPTION: Only 8 or more runs after the 5th or 6th innings part of this rule will be recognized in the playoffs.

Sec. 5a. - Tie Breaker Rule. The USA rule shall be used starting with the 8th inning.

Sec. 6 - Teams shall receive one time, date, and place for make-up games. If a team cannot be fielded at the designated time, they must forfeit, unless they are playing a USA-sanctioned tournament. Rescheduled games will be played on any field available.

Sec. 6a. - League games will be suspended if not complete in 4 ½ innings. Games will be picked up from time left off.

Sec. 7 - No Sunday make-up games will be scheduled after 3 PM.

Sec. 8 - Teams that forfeit three games during a season will be eliminated from playoff contention. The next team below them in the standings will take their place in the playoffs if said team has a record that has qualified them for a playoff spot. Teams that forfeit 4 games will then forfeit the rest of their remaining games.

Sec. 9 - One new ball and one old ball are used per game. The home team will receive the worst of the two balls. The umpire will determine the worst ball.

Sec. 10 - Both teams must use the newer ball in the first inning.

Sec. 11 - Orange Bag Rule: Batter will be called out if they are not running to the orange bag on a play at first base (unless the first baseman is occupying the orange bag). The ball remains live, and the other runners can advance at their own risk. 

Sec. 12 - A pitcher MUST throw four pitches to intentionally walk a batter. If you intentionally roll a ball while intentionally walking a batter, it will be ruled an illegal pitch.

Sec. 13 –For snap-pitch divisions, if a batter is hit by a pitch they will be awarded 1st base at the umpire's discretion. If it is determined by the umpire that the batter leaned into the pitch to get hit then the batter will not be awarded 1st base. In any bowling pitching division, you must attempt to get out of the way, which is at the umpire’s discretion.

Sec 14 - If a pitcher hits 5 batters in a game then they will be removed from pitching. Exception: Open pitch divisions will only be allowed to hit 3 batters 

 

ARTICLE 8 – UMPIRES

Sec 1 - Due to the lack of umpires, umpires will be allowed to umpire within their division of play under the judgment of the umpire-in-chief. A best effort will be made to do the bases only, but may umpire from behind home plate if needed. Under no circumstance will an umpire call games for their own team.

Sec. 2 - Fields shall be approved by the plate umpire and an executive board member.  

Sec. 3 - Umpires shall be dressed in proper uniform.

Sec. 4 - Umpires shall be USA sanctioned.

Sec. 5 - The schedule of umpires will be prepared by the umpire-in-chief.

Sec. 6 - The umpires will vote for the Umpire-In-Chief. The Executive Board shall approve/disapprove their selection for Umpire-In-Chief for the league. If the Executive Board denies the selection the umpires must hold another vote for a new candidate. 

Sec. 7 - The Home Plate Umpire will complete a “Game Slip” at the end of each game and turn it in to the Umpire-In-Chief as soon as possible to complete documentation of said game. 

The game slip will be supplied by the UIC and will include:

- Date of Game, and start time of game.

· Field name, and location.

· Team A name

· Team B name

· Umpire #1 name (Home Plate)

· Umpire #2 name (Field Ump)

· Any relevant game notes.

 

ARTICLE 9 – TIES FOR PLAYOFF POSITIONS

Sec. 1 - All playoff positions will be governed by final league standings.

Sec. 2 - Any duplicate, triplicate, etc. records for playoff positions will first be determined via regular season head-to-head competition, determined by wins and losses only. If the tie cannot be broken by head-to-head competition then the position shall be decided by runs scored then runs against then run differential.  Any further or other ties for a playoff position that cannot be decided by head-to-head play shall be decided by run differential. EVEN THE LAST PLAYOFF SPOT WILL BE DETERMINED BY HEAD-TO-HEAD COMPETITION. IF STILL NOT DETERMINED BY HEAD-TO-HEAD THEN A 1-GAME PLAYOFF GAME(s) WILL BE PLAYED

Sec. 3 - In any odd number team playoff, a bye will be awarded based on runs scored

Sec. 4 - The format set by the Board of Directors for all playoff ties cannot be protested.

Playoff Rules:

a. League rules are in effect except in any playoff game. That game must go the full seven innings. The 8-run rule supersedes this rule.

b. In season playoffs, the top-seeded team will be the home team, except in the final winner’s bracket game, where the undefeated team shall be the home team. The ‘if necessary’ game will be decided by a coin flip.

c. There will be a 20-minute grace period given to teams who cannot field a team due to conflicting players. This grace period is 20 minutes from the game start time, not the scheduled game time. Once the 20-minute grace period passes the shorthanded team will forfeit the game.

 

ARTICLE 10 - PLAYOFFS

Sec. 1 - 60% of all teams within each division will qualify for playoffs.

a. If percentages do not fall on an exact number, the next highest team amount in that division will be used, i.e. 9 teams in a division @ 60% = 5.4 teams. There would be 6 teams in the playoffs in this division.

b. In all divisions, there is to be a minimum of 4 teams in the playoffs.

c. See attached table.

NUMBER OF TEAMS IN A DIVISION - NUMBER OF TEAMS IN PLAYOFFS

3 - 3

4 - 4

5 - 4

6 - 4

7 - 5

8 - 5

9 - 6

10 - 6

11 - 7

12 - 8

13 - 8

14 – 9

15 - 9

 

ARTICLE 11- AWARDS

Sec. 1 - Annual awards must be approved by the Board of Directors. Use Sections 1a. And 1b. As guidelines for seasonal playoff awards.

Sec. 1a. - Seasonal Awards (Sponsor and Individual)

2 Teams: 

1st Sponsor

3 and more Teams:

1st Sponsor

2nd Sponsor

Sec. 1b. - Playoff Awards (Sponsors and Individual)

2-3 Teams 1st Sponsor and Individual

4 Teams and Up 1st Sponsor and Individual 2nd Sponsor

Revised and approved by the GKMSA Board of Directors on 12/10/2024