INDEPENDENT SENIOR BASEBALL LEAGUE

2017 LOCAL RULES & REGULATIONS

The Independent Senior Baseball League will follow Major League Baseball Rules and Regulations except as modified herein.

1.   The Board shall consist of the General or Team Manager of each Independent Senior team.  Each individual team gets one vote as a member of the Board.  If a manager-member of the Board is absent, an authorized coach may vote instead.  No proxy votes shall be permitted.  League meetings shall be held on an as-needed basis during the year.  A quorum shall consist of at least one-half of those teams eligible to vote.

2.   A protest committee will oversee protests and decisions pertaining to the rules of the league.  The protest committee will consist of the league commissioner, the umpire assignor and one individual voted on by the league board prior to the season beginning.

3.   Independent Senior Baseball is open to all players born on or after January 1, 1998 and on or before December 31, 2002.  This league shall serve players 15 to 19 years of age.  For a 19 year-old player to be league-eligible, the player must have been on the previous season’s roster and may not be dual-rostered on any other Senior team.  No team may roster more than four 19 year-old players.

4.   Teams may roster a maximum of twenty-one (21) players with no more than six dual-rostered Senior players.  Any team that has cut players within their territory is not permitted to roster players from outside their assigned territory, unless an approved waiver has been obtained.  Team rosters must be submitted for verification before the first game of the season.  Failure to comply will result in the forfeit of eligibility for league playoffs.

5.   The game schedule may be altered for the following reasons ONLY; weather, field availability, school graduations, post season school playoffs or for safety reasons.  Reasons must be approved by the Commissioner.  League games will take precedence over non-league games.

6.   All postponements must be rescheduled within 48 hours by the home team notifying the league assignor and commissioner with the rescheduled game date.  This rescheduled game date should be the following Sunday or the earliest open date available.  If the home team does not reschedule within 48 hours, the league commissioner will reschedule the game.

7.   Weeknight game time will be 6:00 PM.  Weekend game times will be dictated by field availability and be agreed upon by each team.  The Home Team shall take the field for pregame warm-ups 30 minutes before the game time.  The Visiting Team shall take the field 15 minutes before game time.  If there is less than 30 minutes, the time should be divided evenly.

8.   Forfeiture time is 15 minutes after scheduled game time unless extenuating circumstances exist and have been approved by the Commissioner.  However, you must begin play if you have nine available players.  The non-forfeiting team may choose to waive the 15 minute rule and play the game provided that each team is able to place nine players on the field.  Once the game becomes official, the forfeit is waived and the outcome of the game stands.  If the game is not official, the forfeit stands.

9.   A game shall be forfeited to the opposing team when a team is unable to place nine players on the field.  The forfeiting team is responsible for paying both umpire fees.  All outstanding umpire fees must be paid before teams are eligible for league playoffs.  Any team that forfeits two games in one season shall be suspended for the remainder of the season.  Suspended teams shall be required to apply for re-entry into league the following season.

10. If an injury to a player occurs at any point during the game, and the injured player is unable to continue, the injured player’s team shall be permitted to re-enter a player not then currently in the game.  If the injured player’s team does not have available uniformed players to enter the game, the game will be immediately stopped and the injured player’s team will forfeit the game.  No team may finish a game with less than nine (9) players.

11. A tenth player may be added to the game lineup to be used as an Extra Player (EP).  This player will be used in the same manner as any other position player.  He shall be listed as an EP in the lineup and will be eligible to play any fielding position at any time.  The use of the EP is optional, that is teams may elect not to use an EP.  However, once a team elects to use an EP, they must use it throughout entire game.  If a player is injured or ejected and there are no available substitutes, an out will be assessed when that position in the batting order is reached.

12. Any starting player may withdraw and re-enter once provided such player occupies the same batting position whenever he is in the line-up (a starter and his substitute may not be in the game at the same time).  A substitute who is withdrawn may not re-enter.

13. The umpire fee is $75.00 per umpire, per game.  The Home Team is responsible to pay the plate umpire and the Visiting Team is responsible to pay the base umpire.  In the event that there is only one umpire available, each team will pay that umpire $45.00.

14. Games are regulation when they are called due to rain / darkness / 10 run rule after 5 completed innings (4½ if the home team is winning) or tied.  A regular season game that is not a complete game as outlined above when called is considered suspended and will continue from the exact point where it was stopped and played to completion as soon as possible.  A playoff game that is called before 7 innings, and is not a 10 run rule situation, will be a suspended game.  It will be picked up from the exact point where it was stopped and played to completion as soon as possible.  All other playoff games will be pushed back until the suspended game is completed.

15. All team members, players, coaches, and managers, must be in uniform.  Only uniformed personnel are permitted on the playing field.  During the course of the game, if in the umpire’s opinion, blood on a player’s uniform causes a potential safety issue, the player may wear something other than his official uniform to complete the game.

16. Coaches must wear a helmet when in the coaching box.  Players who are in the coaches’ box must wear a double flap helmet.  Adults may choose to wear a single, double, or no-flap helmet.  A coach without a helmet may not remain on the field.

17. All fields should be properly prepared and lined before each game whenever possible.

18. The official baseball for league games shall be the Diamond D1 or Wilson A1010.

19. The use of metal bats is prohibited during the game.  All bats must be wood and in good condition.  Any wood bat that is split or cracked will be removed from the bench and/or on-deck area.

20. The following pitching rule will apply. No player may pitch more than a total of twelve (12) innings or make more than four (04) appearances during any consecutive three-day period.  One (01) pitch will constitute one (01) inning pitched and one (01) appearance.  It is suggested that the number of pitches thrown will be limited to 120 pitches thrown during one game.

21. Courtesy runners are permitted. A courtesy runner may be used for the pitcher and/or catcher and must be inserted before the first pitch to the next batter.  The courtesy runner may be any player NOT in the batting order at the start of his team’s at bat in the inning during which the runner would be utilized.

22. The League will utilize a 10 Run Rule after five innings, unless the home team is ahead by 10 runs or more after four and one half innings.

23. All protests must be made in writing within 24 hours to the league commissioner.  The protesting team must cite the rule that the protest is based upon.  The protest committee will review and rule on the issue within 48 hours of receiving the written protest.

24. Team standings will be monitored to determine the regular season champion and seeding for the playoff tournament.  Standings will be determined by a point system, with teams receiving four points for a win, two points for a tie, one point for a loss, and minus one point for a forfeit.  The playoff format will consist of a double elimination tournament to decide the league champion.  If a team is suspended due to multiple forfeits, all games that team played will be eliminated.  Any player who does not participate in at least 50% of the regular season games will not be eligible to participate in any playoff games.  The exception to the rule is for injury or illness to that player.  The higher seeded team will be the home team throughout the playoffs until the Championship Game.  The Winner Bracket winner will be the home team in the Championship Game.  If the Loser Bracket winner wins the Championship Game, they will be the home team for the If-Necessary Game.

25. In the event of a tied regular season record, the first tiebreaker will be the number of wins.  The second tie breaker will be the head-to-head record of the teams in question.  The third tie breaker will be the number of completed games played.  The final tiebreaker will be a coin flip executed by the League Commissioner.

26. Both teams will be responsible for emailing in the scores and pitching records to the league website within 24 hours of the completion of the scheduled game.

27. Any player, manager or coach who is ejected from a game must leave the field of play immediately.  In addition, the ejected player, manager or coach will also be suspended from the next scheduled game and may be subject to further disciplinary action at the discretion of the League Commissioner.  In the event that a manager or coach is ejected and the team does not have another coach in uniform, the game shall be forfeited and the game will stop immediately.  A report from both managers and the umpires in charge of the game will be submitted to the league commissioner within 24 hours of the incident.

28. Force-Play-Slide Rule.  The intent of the force-play-slide rule is to ensure the safety of all players.  This is a safety as well as an interference rule.  Whether the defense could have completed the double play has no bearing on the applicability of this rule.  This rule pertains to a force-play situation at any base, regardless of the number of outs.

1.   On any force play, the runner should slide on the ground and in a direct line between the two bases. It is permissible for the slider’s momentum to carry him through the base in the baseline extended.

Exception: A runner need not slide directly into a base as long as the runner slides or runs in a direction away from the fielder to avoid making contact or altering the play of the fielder. Interference will not be called.

a)   “On the ground” means either a head-first slide or a slide with one leg and buttock on the ground.

b)   “Directly into a base” means the runner’s entire body (feet, legs, trunk and arms) must stay in a straight line between the bases.

2.   Contact with a fielder is legal, and interference shall not be called if the runner makes a legal slide directly to the base and in the baseline extended.

3.   Actions by a runner are illegal and interference shall be called if:

a)   The runner slides or runs out of the base line in the direction of the fielder and alters the play of the fielder (with or without contact).

b)   The runner uses a rolling or cross-body slide and either makes contact with or alters the play of the fielder.

c)   The runner’s raised leg makes contact higher than the fielder’s knee when in a standing position.

d)   The runner slashes or kicks the fielder with either leg.

e)   The runner illegally slides toward or contacts the fielder even if the fielder makes no attempt to throw to complete a play.

PENALTY for a-e:

1.   With less than two outs, the batter-runner, as well as the interfering runner, shall be declared out and no other runner(s) shall advance.

2.   With two outs, the interfering runner shall be declared out and no other runner(s) shall advance.

3.   If the runner’s slide or collision is flagrant, the runner shall be ejected from the game.

CLARIFICATION: If the bases are loaded with no outs, a double-play attempt is made and interference is called, all other runners must return to their original bases.