STO-ROX FALL CO-ED SOFTBALL RULES

For 2015 season there will be 11 teams. The top 6 will make the playoffs. The playoffs are single elimination. Team 1 will get a bye and play the winner of Team 4 vs Team 5. Team 2 will also get a bye and play the winner of Team 3 vs Team 6. The winners will play for the championship. The higher seed will be the home team in the playoffs.

There are no uniform requirements. There are also no roster requirements. However a player must have participated in at least two games to be eligible for the playoffs. Players cannot play for more than one team during the season.

Only single wall and noncomposite bats will be permitted for all males. Females can use any bat. Any player using an illegal bat will be ruled out. The ball of choice will be the AD Starr Tattoo. AD Starr Spirit and Trump will be the back up balls.

Games are 9 innings. There is a 10 run rule after 7 innings and a 15 run rule after 5 innings for the nine inning games.

There is a ten minute grace period for teams to have a minimum of nine players including two women. You must have at least nine players to finish a game. Your batting lineup must include at least two women and up to eleven batters. If your batting lineup has three or more women you may bat up to 13 batters. There will be free substitution this year, meaning you may have players playing the field who are not in the batting lineup. A team can make substitutions in the batting order during the game. Any starter who is hit for can reenter the batting order once but must go in the same spot in the batting lineup. If this occurs the player who was the substitute batter can no longer bat. If a player is injured or ejected and there are no players available to replace that player in the batting lineup that spot in the batting lineup will be an out. If a female is injured or ejected and no other females are available that spot in the batting lineup will be an out and this will not cause a forfeit. However that team can only have nine players in the field.

Bases are 70 feet. The pitching distance is 50 feet. There will be a 6-12 pitching arc. Batters will start with a 1-1 count. With two strikes on the batter the next batted ball must be fair or the batter is out. Runners cannot leave the base til the ball is hit. If a runner is off base on a swing and a miss the runner will be out. Also if the runner leaves the base before the ball is hit the runner will be out.

Courtesy runners will be permitted, within reason. Each team shall declare before the game any player who will need a courtesy runner. The runner will be the last same sex batted out. If a player is injured during the game a courtesy runner may be used. A batter using a courtesy runner is eligible to advance to second, third, or home on a batted ball, but must run for him/herself in this case.

If a male batter receives a base on balls with a female up next the male batter shall advance to second base. Any forced runner will also advance one base. For example if there was a runner on first base that runner shall advance to third base. If there were runners on first and second then the runner on first advances to third base and the runner on second will score. If the bases were loaded then two runners will score. If there are two outs and the male batter receives a base on balls with a female on deck the female batter will then have the option to advance to first base or she may bat. In either case the male batter advances to second base.

When a female is batting the outfielders may not be positioned within fifteen feet from the infield grass at Sto-Rox and an equivalent distance at Cornell, at the discretion of the umpires.

There is not a mandatory slide rule, however runners must avoid contact or may be called out, and if it is deemed malicious contact the runner may be ejected as well. If a runner is coming into home trying to score and the catcher does not have the ball and there is contact this will not constitute an out. If the catcher has the ball and the player does not slide and there is contact the runner will be out.

No metal spikes are permitted. If a player is caught with metal spikes that player will be ejected if he has entered the field as a batter or a fielder.

Playoff tie-breakers will be as follows: 1) head to head competition, 2) least runs allowed amongst tied teams (if a team won or lost by a forfeit then it will be a percentage of runs allowed), 3) strength of schedule (winning percentage of their opponents), 4) coin flip. In the case of a coin flip, if both teams agree a one game, seven inning game, may be played.

Home team will be decided by a coin flip in the regular season. Each team shall clean their dugouts and benches after each game. There is no smoking at Cornell or Sto on the field of play. Also please have pregame warm up tosses in the outfield and not on the infield.

The league champion shall receive a payout of $_____ and the runner up shall receive a payout of $_____. Each team will pay an entry fee of $______, payable before your first game, unless prior arrangements were made, and will be given strip tickets to sell. 200 tickets will be distributed evenly.