2010 LIPSA SOFTBALL TEAM RULES

WHERE APPLICABLE, THESE RULES SUPERSEDE THOSE IN THE USSSA HANDBOOK

THIS IS A MODIFIED FAST PITCH LEAGUE.

ALL SKILL LEVELS ARE WELCOME AND ENCOURAGED

AGE 18 AND OVER ONLY. (AGE 17 WITH PARENTAL WRITTEN CONSENT IS CONSIDERED)

THE COACHES OF EACH TEAM ARE THE ONLY PEOPLE ALLOWED TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE UMPIRE REGARDING A MISSED CALL OR DISPUTED PLAY- NO EXCEPTIONS. PLAYERS THAT HAVE AN ISSUE WITH AN UMPIRE MUST REFER TO THEIR COACH

EACH COACH IS REQUIRED TO HAVE AT THE FIELD, FOR EVERY GAME, A BASIC MEDICAL KIT WHICH INCLUDES ICE PACKS, AND BANDAGES AT A MINIMUM

MERCY RULE: IF AFTER 5 COMPLETE INNINGS, ONE TEAM IS AHEAD BY 12 OR MORE RUNS, THE GAME IS OFFICIAL AND ENDED. BOTH TEAMS MUST RECEIVE AN EQUAL NUMBER OF INNINGS AT BAT. THERE IS NO PER INNING MERCY RULE, MEANING AN INNING WILL NOT END UNTIL THE THIRD OUT IS SECURED, REGARDLESS OF THE NUMBER OF RUNS SCORED.

FORFEIT RULE: IF A TEAM IS AWARE THAT THEY CANNOT PLAY A SCHEDULED GAME FOR ANY REASON IN ADVANCE, THEY ARE TO CONTACT THE LEAGUE COORDINATOR AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AND THE GAME WILL BE RESCHEDULED IF POSSIBLE. THE COACH IS REQUIRED TO GIVE THE LEAGUE AT LEAST 24 HOURS NOTICE. IF A GAME IS FORFEITED LESS THAN 24 HOURS PRIOR TO THE SCHEDULED GAME TIME OR FORFEITED AT THE FIELD DUE TO NOT ENOUGH PLAYERS, THE FORFEITING TEAM IS RESPONSIBLE TO PAY THE UMPIRE FEES FOR BOTH TEAMS. IN ADDITION TO PAYING THE UMPIRE FEE FOR BOTH TEAMS, EVERY TIME A TEAM FORFEITS A GAME, THEY WILL BE REQUIRED TO PAY A $60 DEPOSIT IN THE EVENT OF A FUTURE FORFEIT. THIS DEPOSIT WILL BE RETURNED ONCE THE SEASON ENDS IF THERE IS NOT A SUBSEQUENT FORFEIT.

ROSTERS

A COMPLETE ROSTER MUST BE SENT TO THE LEAGUE COORDINATOR PRIOR TO THE FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON, ALONG WITH THE SIGNED LIPSA PARTICIPATION WAIVER FROM EACH PLAYER. PLAYERS CAN BE ADDED AT ANY TIME UP TO JUNE 13TH 2010, AT WHICH TIME A FINAL ROSTER WILL BE SENT TO THE LEAGUE COORDINATOR. THIS ROSTER WILL BE ENFORCED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SEASON AND PLAYOFFS, AND ANY NON-ROSTER PLAYER THAT IS FOUND TO BE PLAYING AFTER THIS TIME WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE LEAGUE WILL BE DEEMED AN ILLEGAL PLAYER AND THE TEAM WILL FORFEIT THE GAME.

PRIOR TO JUNE 13TH, IN A SITUATION WHERE A TEAM IS GOING TO FORFEIT A GAME BECAUSE THEY DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH PLAYERS, AND ONLY IN THIS SITUATION, THEY MAY "BORROW" A PLAYER FROM ANOTHER lipsa TEAM TO AVOID FORFEIT. HOWEVER, AFTER JUNE 13TH, THIS IS NOT ALLOWED, AND ONLY OFFICIAL ROSTER PLAYERS CAN PLAY FOR EACH TEAM. COACHES MAY NOT AGREE AMONG THEMSELVES TO ALLOW ONE TEAM TO FIELD A NON-ROSTER PLAYER AFTER THE JUNE 13TH DEADLINE. ONLY THE LEAGUE COORDINATOR CAN APPROVE THIS REQUEST, AND IT WILL BE GRANTED IN ONLY EXTREMELY RARE CIRCUMSTANCES.

TEAM ROSTERS WILL NOT EXCEED 24 PEOPLE.

IF ANY ILLEGAL PLAYER (NON-ROSTER, UNDERAGE, ETC.) IS FOUND TO HAVE PLAYED IN A GAME, EVEN AFTER THE GAME IS COMPLETE, THE OFFENDING TEAM WILL FORFEIT THE GAME.

THE FIELD
PITCHING DISTANCE IS 45 FEET FROM THE FRONT OF THE PITCHING RUBBERTO THE BACK OF HOME PLATE.
BASE DISTANCE IS 60 FEET
HOME TEAM IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MEASURING THE FIELD AND HAVING THE BASES SET NO LATER THAT FIFTEEN MINUTES PRIOR TO GAME TIME.
BOTH TEAMS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR REPORTING BAD FIELD CONDITIONS TO THE LEAGUE COORDINATOR WITH AS MUCH NOTICE AS POSSIBLE.
A DOUBLE BASE MUST BE USED AT FIRST BASE WITH THE RUNNER USING THE OUTSIDE BAG AND THE FIELDER USING THE INSIDE BAG.

EQUIPMENT
BATS MUST BE APPROVED AND OFFICIAL- REFER TO USSSA HANDBOOK

EACH TEAM WILL BE GIVEN OFFICIAL ISLAND SOFTBALL GAME BALLS AT THE START OF THE SEASON AND WILL HAVE ONE AT EVERY GAME. DO NOT USE THE BALLS

FOR PRACTICE. IT IS STRONGLY ADVISED THAT EACH TEAM BRING SEVERAL EXTRA PRACTICE BALLS TO ECH GAME IN THE EVENT THAT GAME BALLS ARE LOST DURING GAME PLAY.
AT A BARE MINUMUM, CATCHERS MUST WEAR MASKS WITH THROAT PROTECTORS. SHIN GUARDS AND CHEST PROTECTORS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED.

ALL PLAYERS MUST WEAT THE SAME COLOR UNIFORM SHIRT, WITH EACH PLAYER WEARING A DIFFERENT NUMBER ON THE BACK. THE UNIFORM SHIRT MUST BE
WORN BY ALL PLAYERS NO LATER THAN THE THIRD GA OF THE SEASON.

METAL CLEATS ARE STRICTLY FORBIDDEN. THERE ARE NO WARNINGS- IF A PLAYER IS FOUND TO BE WEARING METAL CLEATS DURING A GAME THEY ARE IMMEDIATELY EJECTED FROM THE GAME, AND WILL BE SUSPENDED A MINIMUM OF ONE FUTURE GAME AT THE DISCRETION OF THE LEAGUE COORDINATOR.

PITCHING
IN A PITCHERS STROKE, WHEN BRINGING THE BALL BACK, THE HEIGHT MAY NOT EXCEED THE SHOULDER HEIGHT.
PITCHING STRIDE- BOTH FEET MUST BE PLACED ON THE PITCHERS MOUND, OR THE LINE DRAWN BY THE UMPIRE AT THE START OF THE GAME.

INTENTINAL WALKS ARE ALLOWED. THERE ARE NO LONGER ANY SPECIAL RULES REGARDING WALKING SOMEONE OF A SPECIFC GENDER. FOR EXAMPLE, INTENTIONALLY WALKING A MALE TO GET TO A FEMALE BATTER DOWS NOT GIVE THE MALE BATTER THE RIGHT TO GO TO SECOND, OR THE FEMALE BATTER THE OPTION TO WALK, OR ANYTHING ELSE. AN INTENTINAL WALK ONLY RESULTS IN THE BATTER BEING AWARDED FIRST BASE; THERE ARE NO OTHER SPEICAL CONSIDERATIONS.

BATTING 
THERE IS NO BUNTING
A BATTER HIT BY A PITCH WILL BE AWARDED FIRST BASE AS LONG AS THE BATTER MAKES A REASONABLE ATTEMPT TO GET OUT OF THE WAY.
A STANDARD THREE STRIKES, FOUR BALLS COUNT WILL BE USED, AND THERE ARE NO FOUL OUTS.
STANDARD INFIELD FLY RULE WILL BE IN EFFECT.

LINEUP

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS A LINEUP ALLOWED TO INCLUDE THREE PEOPLE OF THE SAME SEX IN A ROW, INCLUDING THE LAST AND THEN THE FIRST BATTER. NO MORE THAN TWO MEN TO TWO WOMEN MAY BAT IN A ROW, EVEN DURING THE GAME AFTER SUBSTITUTIONS HAVE BEEN MADE. THIS CREATES A SITUATION WHERE, DEPENDING ON THE LINEUP, SOME PLAYERS MAY ONLY BE ABLE TO BE SUBSTITUTED OUT FOR A PLAYER OF THE SAME GENDER. COACHES SHOULD PLAN AHEAD FOR THIS.

IF A LINEUP INCLUDES THREE MEN OR THREE WOMEN IN A ROW, AN AUTOMATIC OUT WILL BE RECORDED AFTER THE SECOND PERSON TAKES THEIR AT-BAT.

FOR EXAMPLE, IT TWO MEN BAT IN A ROW, AN OUT WILL BE RECORDED (IN THE FEMALE SPOT) IS THE NEXT PLAYER IN THE LINEUP IS ALSO A MALE. THIS INCLUDES THE SEX OF THE LAST AND THEN FIRST BATTER.

A NEW PLAYER MUST FIELD BEFORE THEY ARE ALLOWED TO HIT, EXCEPT WHEN REPLACING AN INJURED PLAYER. ( EXAMPLE: SOMEONE HURT RUNNING BASES)

THE BATTING ORDER DELIVERED TO THE OPPOSING TEAM MUST BE FOLLOWED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE GAME, UNLESS A PLAYER IS REPLACED BY A SUBSTITUTE WHO MUST TAKE THE BATTING ORDER SPOT OF THE PERSON THEY ARE REPLACING.

IF A PLAYER COMES TO BAT BEFORE PLAYING IN THE FIELD, OR AS THE THIRD PERSON OF THE SAME GENDER IN A ROW, OR OTHERWISE BATS OUT OF ODER, THEY ARE DEEMED AN ILLEGAL BATTER. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE OPPSING COACH, OR THEIR SCOREKEEPER TO CALL FOR TIME AND BRING THIS TO THE ATTENTION OF THE UMPIRE.

EACH TEAM IS ALLOWED ONE EXTRA PLAYER (DH) PER GAME, AND THEY CAN BAT ANYWHERE IN THE LINEUP.