ROSTERS, PLAYERS and ELIGIBILITY

1. Completed rosters must be submitted to RWSA President by Friday, May 30th. Any team that has not handed in a completed roster by May 30th will take automatic losses in any game after May 30th until a roster is handed in.

2. Any roster changes must be made by contacting the RWSA Secretary at least 24 hours before said change may go in effect.

3. Rosters may be changed until June 30th at which time rosters will be frozen for the rest of the season.

4. Players must be at least 18 years old.

5. If a team is found to be playing with an illegal player, any game in which that player has played will be counted as a loss and the player will be suspended for the rest of the season.

6. Each team is to keep a scorebook for each game. Each team is to inform the other team of any substitutions made during the game and of any players who were either at the game ready to play, but did were not put into the game or any players that were at the game and unable to play do to injury. At the conclusion of each game, each team will hand in a copy of their players, including those aforementioned and the other team’s players including those aforementioned to the umpire.

A record will be kept as to the number of games each player “played”. At the end of the season, there will be a list given to each captain of every RWSA player that is eligible to play in the playoffs.

7. Teams must wear the same color shirts. Coordinating themes are acceptable as well.

GAMES

1. All games will start at the designated time, unless otherwise authorized by Mike Bedini.

2. Teams must have at least nine players to start and finish a game. An injured player must report to the umpire immediately upon injury. Any player not notifying the umpire will be forced to bat or called out when her time at bat occurs.

3. In the event a team is not adequately represented by any scheduled game time, a fifteen-minute grace period will be granted. A team having nine representatives at the originally schedule game time may use the fifteen minute grace time to wait for the tenth player. If a tenth player does not arrive at the end of the fifteen-minute grace period, a team must start the game with at least nine players. If a team does not have at least nine players by the end of the fifteen-minute grace period, the game will be forfeited to the team with at least nine players. If both teams do not have nine players after the grace period, a double forfeit shall be declared.

If a team has 10 players by scheduled game time, the game will start on time.

4. The umpire’s watch is the official time.

5. All games cancelled due to inclement weather will be rescheduled by RWSA Secretary. The decision to play the game will be made by the Mike Bedini by 4:00PM. Every effort will be made to contact the team managers. If it rains after 4:00PM go to the field where the umpire will make the decision.

All rainouts will automatically be rescheduled for the first open rain date and the first open rain date only. Rain dates are considered game dates, so if a team can not field a team on a rain date, they can use their one reschedule game allowance or forfeit. If neither team can field a team on a rain date, and they have both used their one reschedule game allowance, the game will be considered a double forfeit.

Any games that could not be played due to rain and no open rain dates, will not be included in the standings.

6. If a team can not field a team for any scheduled game, including scheduled rain dates, that team will take a forfeit. (In other words, no games are to be rescheduled with the exception of those cancelled due to weather.) Forfeiting teams are to call both Mike Bedini and the captain of the opposing team no later than 24hours before the scheduled game.

RULES All A.S.A. rules are in effect EXCEPT:

1. Maximum of three courtesy runners allowed per game. Runner(s) must come from last batted out(s).

If a team has already used its three courtesy runners, and an injury occurs to another player preventing this player from running, an exception can be made to allow additional runners only at the umpire’s discretion.

2. A 12 excess run rule is in effect after five complete innings or 4 ½ if the home team is leading.

3. Base runners must remain on the bases until batter makes contact with the pitched ball. Any base runner that steps off the bag before contact is made or when no contact is made will be an automatic out. If that out is the 3rd of the inning, that same batter will lead off the next inning.

4. Maximum number of batters is 11 (10 fielders + 1 EH or 9 fielders + 2 EH). But if a team starts the game with 10 batters, that team can not add any extra hitters once the first pitch has been thrown to that team. If a team starts with 9 batters, a 10th batter can be added to the bottom of the lineup at any point during the game.

5. No pinch hitters allowed.

6. If a batter has two strikes and hits a foul ball, that foul ball counts as a third strike and the batter is out.

7. On all close plays at any base and home plate the runner must slide or “give themselves up” / submit. Failure to slide may result in the runner being called out if the umpire feels the runner interfered with the fielder attempting to field the ball.

8. Prior to each game, the umpire and a designated player from each team, preferably the captain, will perform a bat check of all game bats for both teams, for eligibility (see Equipment #6). Umpire’s say is final.

If a bat shows up late to a game, in between half or full innings only, that bat must be checked by the umpire and opposing team’s captain for eligibility.

Under no circumstances is an unchecked bat to enter a game.

If a bat deemed eligible during the pre game bat check is found to be illegal after the game starts, the bat in question will be removed from the game with no penalty to the player or team.

If a batter steps into the batter’s box with a bat that did not go through the pregame bat check and / or with an illegal bat that did not go through the pregame bat check, it is an automatic out and that player is out of that game.

If a team is caught using (“using” begins with stepping into the batter’s box) with the same illegal bat two times, that team is out of the playoffs.

If a team is caught three times using (“using” begins with stepping into the batter’s box) any illegal bat, then that team is out of the playoffs.

If a player is caught using (“using” begins with stepping into the batter’s box) any illegal bat more than once, then that player is suspended from the league for 5 games, heading into the next season if necessary. SEE APPENDIX A FOR A SUMMARY OF SOME ASA RULES

EQUIPMENT

1. Umpire will provide bases.

2. Home Team will provide all softballs.

3. Players will be ineligible to play in any game if they are wearing a shirt the same color as the opposing teams’.

4. No metal or plastic removable spikes allowed.

5. Masks must be worn by catchers.

6. The following bats are illegal:

- Titanium
- All 100% composite bats
- Any bat that exceeds 1.2 BPF
- Any bat not marked 1.2 BPF or BPF 1.2
- Any bat not marked “Official Softball”
- Any “Painted Bat” or significantly “worn” bat where the graphics are unreadable
- Any Multi Wall, Double Wall, Exterior Shell Technology (EST) or Dual Chamber bat.

Otherwise ASA rules will be followed: - LEGAL: metal, plastic, graphite, carbon, magnesium, fiberglass, ceramic. (So, titanium, ILLEGAL)
- Any NEW COMPOSITE CONSTRUCTION bat must be reviewed and approved by the ASA. (Anything not made of the above, not legal yet.)
- Bats can be NO MORE than 34 inches long and can not exceed 38 oz. in weight. -Must be marked "official softball" by the manufacturer.

Umpires have the final say.

Visit ASA website for specific bat information.

PROTESTS

1. All protests are to be made by the team manager, or acting manager only!

2. A rule must be protested before the next pitch, and both the umpire and opposing manager must be informed the game is being played under protest.

3. A manager must then file a written protest with RWSA Secretary within 24 hours of the protested game.

4. A $25.00 fee, cash or check, must accompany the written protest. If the protest is upheld, your fee will be returned. Should you lose the protest, the fee will not be returned.

5. Teams may not protest a judgment call by the umpire. RWSA will not consider these protests.

PLAYOFFS

1. To qualify for playoffs, a player must have attended and / or played in 6 regular season games.

2. If a team is found to be playing with an illegal player in the playoffs, any playoff game in which that player has played will be counted as a loss and the team will be eliminated from the playoffs.

3. Playoff seeding will be determined by win/loss record. If more than one team has the same record, then their record verse one another will be the tie breaker. If their record verse one another is also a tie, then the team that scored the greater number of runs in games where the two tied teams played one another will break the tie. If the runs are the same, a coin will be flipped.

4. Prior to each playoff game, the umpire and a designated player from each team, preferably the captain, will perform a bat check of all game bats for both teams, for eligibility (see Equipment #6). Umpire’s say is final. No late bat entries will be accepted for playoff games. If any batter steps into the batter’s box with a bat that did not go through the pregame bat check and / or with an illegal bat that did not go through the pregame bat check, that team will take an automatic loss for that game.

OTHER

1. Parking is NOT allowed anywhere on the grass and the Old High School field or along the sides of the roads at the Veteran Park fields. Anyone parking on the grass at the Old High School or along Market Street or Governor Street will be subject to ticketing by the Ridgefield Police.

INJURY

1. RWSA & Ridgefield Parks & Recreation Department will not be responsible for personal injury, or property loss, or damage sustained by those involved in the softball program. Each manager must inform her team of this prior to players participating in the league.

All managers are expected to understand these rules and educate their teams as to all of the league rules.

APPENDIX A

SUMMARY OF SOME ASA RULES

ASA DOUBLE FIRST BASE RULES:

- Regarding a batted ball, white portion is fair, colored portion is foul.
- When a play is being made at first on the batter, defense must use the white portion of the base, batter must use the colored portion. If runner touches only the white portion of the base while a play is being made at first and NO COLLISION occurs, runner is out PROVIDING THE DEFENSIVE TEAM APPEALS THE PLAY BEFORE THE RUNNER RETURNS TO FIRST BASE. Once the runner returns to the base no appeal can be made.
- If on a force play at first the runner touches the white part of the bag and COLLIDES with the defensive player, interference is ruled, ball is dead, and other runners return to the base last occupied at the time of the interference.
- On any force out attempt from the foul side of first, or an errant throw pulling the defense into foul ground, the batter and the defensive player can use either the white or colored portion of the base.
- When there is no play being made at first, runner can touch either the white or colored portion of the base.
- Tag-ups must be from the white part of the base.

ASA SLOW PITCH SUBSTITUTES, DHs, EPs RULES: - An extra player (EP) is optional, but if used must be used for the entire game. All 11 players in the starting line up must bat, any 10 of those 11 can play defense. Batting order must remain the same at all times; defensive positions can be changed.

NEW 2008 ASA RULE A batted ball which goes directly from the bat, regardless of height, to the catcher's hand(s) or glove is now an out regardless of the count.