14U Inter-League Regular Season Rules Spring 2008

The official rules of the American Softball Association (ASA) will prevail with the following general exceptions and additions below. In case of conflict between these Inter-League and ASA rules, the Inter-League rules shall take precedence.

Minimum of eight (8) players in order to start or continue a game (loaning players in order to play a scheduled game is acceptable).

Start time: within 15 minutes of the scheduled start time (based upon field availability)

Field Availability: the Home Team is responsible for notifying the visiting team of a postponement, or unplayable field situations.

Postponed games: rescheduling is the responsibility of the Home team

Dugouts - Home team shall use the third base dugout/bench and be responsible for preparing the field before each game.

Only players, managers, coaches and scorekeepers of the teams playing are permitted to occupy the player benches and dugouts.

Playing Lineups:
a) continuous lineup

b) free substitution for all players

c) Short-handed rules do not apply

d) players arriving after the game starts shall be inserted at the end of the lineup. (Exception: Late arriving player whose first turn at bat has not passed).

Game length: No new inning shall begin after the completion of 100 minutes of play; games should end 15 minutes prior to the start of the next scheduled game; games should complete after 120 minutes of play.

Complete game is 6 innings (12U), 7 innings (14U) time limits have precedence.

Tie games are allowed

Defense: ten players maximum, six infielders and four outfielders (no buck-short).

Scores: A half-inning ends if during the first three innings the offensive team score four runs before making a 3rd out. If a team is ahead by 13 runs after four complete innings, the game is over.

The home team is responsible for maintaining the official scorebook for the game

Batters - All rules affecting the batter are governed by ASA: bunting, dropped third strike, batting out of order, etc.

Courtesy Runners - allowed as substitutions for the next inning’s pitcher and/or catcher. The courtesy runner must be announced prior to the substitution and must be the player in the dugout who is the least likely to come to bat.

Injured players, no longer able to play, will be treated as if they had to leave the game early – no out shall be automatically taken. An injured player may reenter the game upon agreement of the opposing Managers and the umpire(s). An injured batter/runner may be substituted with a Courtesy Runner (see above).

Pitching eligibility is by week, Saturday through Friday:

14U - Pitchers are eligible to pitch no more than 10 innings per week. If a pitcher appears in and throws at least one pitch within any inning, a full inning of pitching is charged to the pitcher.

Hit batters - A pitcher must be relieved if she hits 3 batters in an inning or four within a game.

Bats must meet the following criteria:

Bear the ASA approved 2004 certification mark
May not appear on the list of ASA non-approved bats
http://www.softball.org/about/certified_equipment.asp

Double 1st base - shall be used when available; rules for use of a double base are contained in ASA Rules of Softball.

Balls - Cor .40 (Blue Dot) low compression balls are recommended versus higher compression Cor .47 (Red Dot) balls.

These local rules are adopted by PAGS for all 2007 regular season games, and for inter-league recreational play by the associated girls’ softball leagues of Alpine-Menlo-Atherton, Branham Hills, Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos- Saratoga, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Milpitas and Sunnyvale. All games further adopt the general Official Rules of Softball published by the ASA for Junior Olympic girls’ fast-pitch.

Games may be played with as few as eight players in a line-up. No out is taken for the 9th spot in the batting order (No ASA Short Hand Rule applied).
Ten players are allowed in the defense, six infielders and four outfielders.
Players may be openly substituted in the defense without limitation. Umpires do not record defensive changes but must receive a line-up from each team that shows the batting line-up and pitching and catching assignments.
All players on the team are in the batting order. Players appear anywhere in the batting order determined at the beginning of the game regardless of whether the player is a starting defensive player or a substitute.
If a player arrives after the game has begun, add her to the bottom of the order. If a player leaves the game early, skip her at-bat without penalty. In either case, the umpire and opposing team must be notified prior to the added or missing player’s at-bat.
A half-inning ends when the defensive team achieves three outs, or if during the first three innings, the offensive team scores four runs.
A regulation game is 6 innings long. A complete game is at least 4 innings.
If a team is ahead by 13 runs after four innings, the game is over.
Game playing time is 1 hour 40 minutes. Once the game playing time has passed the time limit, no new inning may begin.
Pitching distance is 40 feet.
Pitching eligibility is by week, Saturday through Friday. Pitchers are eligible to pitch 6 innings per week. If a pitcher appears and throws at least one pitch, an inning is charged to the pitcher. Tie-breaking innings do not count against pitching eligibility.
Pitchers who are removed from the defense may return to pitch at any time during the game as long as pitching eligibility is considered.
A pitcher must be relieved if she unavoidably hits 3 batters in the course of an inning. She may return to pitch in later innings, but if she hits another batter that pitcher must be relieved from pitching for the remainder of the game.
If an illegal pitch is committed, a ball is charged and runners do not advance.

Absolutely no arguing with the umpires