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U.S. House
Softball League
Guidelines, Rules
and FAQ's
Scheduling Games
On Monday, April 2nd, teams can begin scheduling games.
The League will send out an e-mail to all coaches with
e-mail addresses for every coach in the League.
You can use these to ask other teams to schedule games.
However, after initial scheduling and during the season,
coaches are encouraged to use the
Scheduling Message Board
to ask for games during the week and not inundate
everyone with mass e-mails every day. REMEMBER,
TEAMS MUST RECORD RESULTS FROM AT LEAST 10 GAMES TO BE
ELIGIBLE TO PLAY IN THE TOURNAMENT.
Game Rules
For regular season games, teams are encouraged to follow
the tournament rules
to the extent possible. However, there are no
umpires and no called balls and strikes (unless both
teams decide otherwise). In addition, due to often
mitigating circumstances, coaches should agree upon
general rules before the game begins, such as:
Whether
females/males can strike out on three missed swings
Rules
specific to the fields (trees, benches, objects in the
fields of play, etc..)
If a
team is short on players/women, how to proceed
Any other
unforeseen issues that should arise....
Remember, at the end of the day, teams just want to be
able to play and we are out there to have fun. So
coaches are encouraged to come to an arrangement to
allow the games to proceed, even if that means agreeing
not to report the results of the game.
Also, teams are permitted to use strike mats if agreed
on by both coaches. These are the guidelines
coaches should use if they choose to do so:
1) Each
batter will start out with a one ball-one strike count.
The calling of additional balls and strikes will be done
by the home plate
umpire (a
member of the team at-bat) with the use of a pitching
mat behind home plate. A strike will be any pitch,
within a six-foot
minimum and
12-foot maximum arc,which lands on any portion of the
mat without hitting any portion of home plate. Any
pitch that 1)
does not hit
any portion of the mat, 2) hits any portion of home
plate, or 3) does not have a 6-12-foot arc, will be
called a ball by the
home plate
umpire. An illegal pitch is one that does not have a
minimum of a 6-foot arc, and a maximum of a 12-foot arc.
Note:
If a batter puts (or attempts to put) a ball in play
that does not have the required 6-12-foot arc, the
result of the batter�s action will
stand
(strike, foul, home run, single, etc.).
2) Batters
will be called out on strikes when the strike count
reaches three. Batters will have one courtesy foul ball
with two strikes and will be out on the next foul ball
or strike. Walks will be issued to any batter attaining
four balls. If with two (2) outs a male batter is
walked,
and the next batter in the batting order is female, the
female batter has the option of either taking a walk or
hitting. If the female chooses to hit instead of taking
the intentional walk, the male batter only gets 1st
base. A female batter may not automatically receive a
walk if there are less than two outs.
a) If a player has two strikes but a courtesy foul
remaining, and he/she tips a foul ball into the
catcher�s glove it is not considered to be an out UNLESS
the foul ball goes over the batter�s shoulder (shoulder
height determined by BATTING STANCE). All foul tips
must go over the batter�s shoulder to be an out.
3) The
pitcher's motion must begin with at least one foot on
the pitching rubber while the pitcher is at a complete
stop and NOT as part
of any motion
that begins from behind or in front of the rubber (i.e.,
no �stepping up and pitching�). The pitcher must have at
least one
foot touching
the rubber when the ball is released.
4) Strike Mat
Dimensions
Tournament Qualifying
As noted, the top 48 teams in the standings at midnight
on August 31st will advance to the League Tournament on
September 15th. The Tournament will be seeded
based on those rankings. In the event of a tie,
the team with the better winning percentage will be
seeded higher.
Recording Game Results
It is the responsibility of the winning team to record
the results of a game through their team page on this
site. There are no
forfeits or ties. While having an opponent cancel on
you at the last moment is never fun, you can always
check the Scheduling Message
Board for a replacement opponent. In addition,
recording forfeits/ties would only skew the RPI standings.
However, those results will be posted on team pages.
Teams are prohibited from
canceling on their scheduled opponent and playing
another game the same night. Teams doing so will
take a forfeit for their original game.
A game is considered a regulation game after the
completion of four innings in case a game should be
concluded due to weather or darkness.
2008 Forfeit Policy
a)
Coaches must have notified their opponents prior to 2pm
on game day that there could be an issue fielding a
team, and must notify that they are canceling no later
than 4pm on game day. If your team does not give your
opponent a heads up but cancels by 4pm, that will still
be counted as a forfeit if they choose to enforce it.
b) Weather conditions do not apply to this policy. When
there is rain in the forecast, the coaches must make a
decision on whether to continue or not - the
notification policy does not apply here.
c) All protests must be registered with the league no
later than 2 days after the game.
d)
Forfeited games should be recorded as 7-0.
League Disputes
Any disputes should be reported to the League via e-mail
(housesoftball@gmail.com)
no later than 2 days after the
game. Any unresolved situations will be discussed and voted on
by the League Commissioners. All rulings are
final.
Where do we play?
When scheduling games, the teams decide amongst
themselves where and when they will play their games.
There is no set location. Some teams obtain
permits for fields through the National Park Service of
DC Parks and Recreation Department. Locations that
are often used include Anacostia Park, the Washington
Monument Grounds, the National Mall, East/West Potomac
Park, etc...
Our opponents just canceled on us
Please visit
http://www.housesoftball.com/bulletinboardhome.asp for
the Scheduling Message Board. There may already be
another team looking for a game, or you can advertise
for a game. Remember, there are no forfeits in
this League. If an opponent cancels and you cannot
find a replacement opponent, you do not record a
forfeited score.
Inclement Weather
It is up to the joint determination of team coaches
whether or not to continue with a game as scheduled
depending on their assessment of the weather.
I would like to play, but don't have a team
Please visit http://www.housesoftball.com/bulletinboardhome.asp - this
will give you access to the
Free Agent Message Board. Some teams may already
be looking for players, so check here first.
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