United Christian Softball League

2014 Rules

Team Coach(s)

Responsibilities:

1. Each team is allowed one vote on all league matters.  This vote will come thru the team coach or his representatives.
2. To Keep an account for each player’s church attendance.
3. To reschedule unplayable games with league president.
4. To have one qualified umpire present on the night of a scheduled game.

League Rules

The official A.S.A. Slow-Pitch Rules Book will control League play except where the following special rules apply.

1. To vote on league matters, a team representative must be present.
2. Each team will pay an entry fee to be determined annually, before the start of the season.
3. Each team captain must submit a team roster to the Director before league play begins.  Any addition to the roster must be submitted to the league Director 24 hours before the game.  If the Director has not been notified before game time, the coaches must agree before the player can be used.  The player still must be approved they the Director before the next game.  For post-season play, a player must be on a roster 3 weeks (6 games) before the tournament.
4. To be eligible to play, a player must be 13 years old by May 1st of the playing season.
5. To be eligible to play on a league team, a player must attend services at a church three times a month.  The intent of this rule is to allow teams within the league to field a team, but not recruit players from other teams.  A player can only play on one team.
6. The team captains must agree on field conditions, keeping in mind safety and the conditions of the field.
7. A 48-hour notice must be given to the opposing coach to reschedule a game.  A forfeit will result if this notice is not given, unless agreed upon by the coaches.
8. Any game that has to be rescheduled will be done only one time.  The coaches must agree upon the rescheduled date.  If rained out twice, a reschedule can only be made if it does not interfere with a first schedule.
9. A rescheduled game must end 15 minutes before a regularly scheduled game.
10. A team may have any number of players to start a game.  A time limit of 60 minutes from the official start time will be used.  To make play faster, when a tie exists at the 1 hour limit, each team will place a runner on 2nd base (one who made the last out of the previous inning) and two outs will be allowed per half innings.  If the score remains tied after each team bats, then the game will end in a tie.  Only 1 extra inning will be played once the 1 hour time limit has been reached.   If you have played 7 innings and are at least 10 minutes under the 60 minute time frame you can play another full inning, otherwise extra innings rules go into effect.  If at 6:10pm a team is not ready to start play an official forfeit will take effect.  No new inning will be allowed to start after 7:00pm.  Both teams scheduled at 6 and 7 pm will be done and off the field at 8pm no matter how many innings have been officially played.
11. The designated home team of the first game will lead in prayer before the start of games.
12. Any team that forfeits three games during the season or during the post-season tournaments, may be refused entry into the league the following year.
13. Tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, use of profanity, excessive arguing, or abusive language or behavior will result in ejection of that player from the game.  An ejected player must leave the area completely and not remain and watch the rest of the game.
14. Each team member will have corresponding shirts and numbers, if at all possible.
15. Steel spikes will not be allowed.
16. The umpire will control the length of time between innings.  Please keep the game moving along.
17. A base runner must avoid collision with a defensive player.  To avoid a collision. A base runner must slide or run around the defensive player.  A base runner may not go out of the base path in order to avoid a tag.  If the base runner does not try to avoid the collision, he is out and may be removed from the game.  Home plate will be treated like first bass.  A chalk line will be placed 20 feet from home plate on the third base line.  After the runner has advanced beyond this line, he may not return to third base.  The catcher need only touch home plate before the runner arrives for a force out after the runner has passed the 20ft line.  The catcher must not block the plate.  If the catcher does block the plate, then the runner may be called safe by the umpire.  The base runner shall be called safe if he touches the plate or the mat (behind the plate) before the catcher touches the plate.
18. A defensive player may not be in the base path without possession of the ball.
19. After five innings, the 15 run rule will take effect.  The 10 run rule will take effect after 6 innings until the end of the game.
20. The lowest arch of the pitch will be above the pitchers head.  No maximum height will be enforced.  For any pitch to be called a strike it must land in the strike zone which shall be any part of home plate or the mat directly behind home plate.
21. A protest of any nature must be submitted by the team coach.  Protests that cannot be settled with the umpire during the game must be submitted to the league Director within twenty-four hours or it will not be considered.
22. The batting line-up may consist of up to 12 players.  If you use this line-up, you will have to use it the whole game or the position of any player removed from the lineup will be an out.  This rule is an option and may be waived if both teams agree.
23. In the case of an overthrow which stays in bounds, the batter and any other base runners are permitted as many bases as they can get.  In the case of an overthrow where the ball goes out of bounds, all runners get possession of the base after the base they were closest to when the overthrow was made.
24. A player will start each at-bat with a 1-1 count (1-Ball 1-Strike).  A first foul ball after two strikes will be considered a strikeout.
25. We will use A.S.A. rules about re-entry for all games.  This states that a starting player may be replaced once per game and may re-enter the same position in batting order.  If this starter is take out of a game a second time, he is then out of the game.  The player replacing the starter may only enter the game once per game.  This player needs only to appear in any game situation.
26. If a player hits a homerun over the outfield fence, he has the option to just touch first base and all runners may come off their bases safely.
27. A game will be considered complete after 4 complete innings of play.  If the game is called after 4 innings of play, and the current inning cannot be completed, the score at the end of the last completed inning will be used in determining the winner of the game. If a game is called due to poor weather/conditions before 4 innings of play, the game will be rescheduled and replayed from the start. Nothing from the cancelled game will carry over to the rescheduled game.  A game may not be made up if agreed upon by the head coach of each team, in this scenario the winner is decided by the score of the last completed inning.