ABNER DOUBLEDAY SOFTBALL LEAGUE RULES

#3 - PLAYOFF ROSTERS: Each team captain must submit a playoff roster to the league commissioner no later than 4 weeks before the seasons last scheduled game date. The playoff roster must include all team members who intend to play for their team during the playoffs. No player can be included on more than one teams playoff roster. Only those players listed on the team's playoff roster will be allowed to play in that team's playoff games. The Commissioner will provide the playoff rosters of each team prior to the playoffs. The team captains will be responsible for comparing the opposing team's batting order for each playoff game against the opposing team's playoff roster. Violation of this rule by any player will result in forfeiting the playoff game by the team of said player. If the team captain notices a discrepancy between the opposing teams batting order and playoff roster, the team captain should make the opposing team aware of said discrepancy and provide an opportunity to fix that discrepancy prior to the start of the game. Opposing captains may ask for ID. Forfeits will be decided by the Commissioner based on evidence provided by the team captains.

#4 - TEAMS/CAPTAINS: Each team is required to have a team captain from the PTO.  At each game, designated FIELD captains will meet prior to the game to establish ground rules.  The field captain will be the contact person throughout the game for disputes, line-up changes and the like.  Team players must be associated with the PTO, but may include spouses, relatives and friends.  See Rule 17 for league sportsmanship rules.


SCHEDULE RULES:

#5 – GAME TIME: Games start at the time noted on the schedule and each team must have a minimum of 8 players to officially start the game. At game time, if a team does not have 8 players, the opposing captain can choose to accept a forfeit win or play the game against a team with less than 8 players.

#6 – OFFICIAL GAMES: Games have a 7-inning duration, if time/schedule/daylight allows. Shortened games due to time, weather, field conflicts, or darkness are considered official when the losing team bats four times. If the game is canceled prior to being official, the make-up game will start from the beginning. If an official game is tied and one team feels that it is too dark to continue playing, the game will be considered a tie (see rule 7.)

#7 - RAINOUTS/CANCELLATIONS: Call the rainline for field availability (703-883-4699.)  If there is lightening or heavy rain at game time, the game will be rained out. Rainouts should be rescheduled as quickly as possible. In the event of a cancellation, the field coordinators will provide a make-up date to the league.

Incomplete games may be called on account of weather (mud, rain, lightning) or time conflicts. In this event, the last full inning will count towards the final score (see rule 6 for official games.)

For games on fields without lights, if one captain wants the game called due to darkness and the other captain does not, each of the outfielders, in their normal positions, will hold up their throwing hand with or without a ball and the captain who wants to continue playing will determine which outfielders have balls in their hands from home plate. If the captains can't see which outfielders(s) have the ball(s), the game will be called on account of darkness.

FIELD RULES:

#8 – FIELD POSITIONS: Each team may field 10 players and substitute freely in the field. Each team must field at least 8 players or be subject to forfeit (see rule 5.) If during the course of the game, a player is hurt, a team may play with less than 8 players. Teams with 9 players must supply a their own catcher. The opposing team will supply a non fielding catcher for teams with 8 or fewer players.

#9 – CO-ED TEAM RULES: Each team must have at least one woman fielder at all times. If a team does not have at least one women fielder, the team will only be allowed to use a maximum of 9 fielders including a catcher. The team will also be assessed an automatic out each time through the batting order. The automatic out will be assessed before the first batter in the batting order. The opening inning will start with one out due to the automatic out assessed before the first batter. If the woman fielder arrives late to the game, she will be placed in the last position of the batting order and following that at-bat, no further outs will be assessed before the first batter. If the one woman fielder is injured during the game and another woman fielder is not available, a player may not be substituted in the field for the injured woman player. The batting position of the woman player will be assessed with an out in the batting order and the injured woman may not bat. The injured woman may not return to the field if her turn in the batting order is missed.  Each team must include one male.  The same rules apply.

#10 – BATTING ORDER: The captain of each team must provide a copy of their batting order to the team captain of the opposing team prior to the beginning of each game. Each team captain shall notify the opposing team captain of changes in the batter order prior to the change being made. All players not starting in the field, but who plan to bat are included in the batting order. Late arriving players must be placed at the end of the batting order. When an early leaving player is removed from the batting order, their spot in the batting order will be skipped for all future times through the batting order. The opposing captain must be notified of all changes in the batting order or a batting position will be considered out of order and the batter will be called out. The lineup is considered out of order once a pitch is thrown to the batter out of order.

#11 – INJURIES: Injured players may be removed from the batting order and may not return to the game. An injured player will only be allowed to bat if they are capable of running to at least first base. Upon the conclusion of the play, a substitute runner can be provided for the injured player. No substitute runners from home plate are allowed. The substitute runner will be the person making the last out. When an injured player is removed from the batting order, their spot in the batting order will be skipped for all future times through the batting order. See RULE 9 for injuries to female players.

#12 – UMPIRES/DISPUTED CALLS: The Abner Doubleday Softball League has no umpires. In the case of disputed calls, the final decision on all disputed calls will alternate between the team captains of the two teams with the visiting team captain having the first final decision and the home team captain having the second final decision. Further disputes will be settled in the same, alternating manner. The captain must notify the opposing captain of an officially disputed call. (also see Rule 16.)

#13 - OVERTHROWS: A "live ball" is one that is in play on the field and a "dead ball" is one that leaves the field. If the ball is live, the runner may advance bases at their own risk. If the ball is dead, the runner is awarded the base they are heading to plus one more base.

If a fielder overthrows a base and the ball remains in play, the runner may continue advancing AT THEIR OWN RISK. If a ball hits a fence, but stays on the field, it is still in play. If a ball leaves the field area, the runners continue to the base they were heading to plus one more base. At fields without fences, captains should agree to field boundaries prior to the game. Generally, out of play should begin just short of the players benches and where there are field obstructions.

Example A - The shortstop overthrows 1st base and the ball hits the fence. If the runner attempts to advance to second base and the 1st baseman throws the ball to the 2nd baseman, who then tags the runner, the runner is OUT.

Example B - A batter is running to first base, the shortstop overhrows 1st base and the ball goes over the fence. The runner continues to 1st base, plus one more base to finish at 2nd base. A runner who started at 2nd base continues to third base and is awarded one more base to score.

Example C - The shortstop overthrows 1st base and the ball hits the fence and remains in play. The runner advances to second base and the 1st baseman does not retreive the ball. The runner may advance AT THEIR OWN RISK to third base or home plate.

#14 – BALLS AND STRIKES: Balls and strikes will be determined using a strike mat. The initial count on a batter is one ball and one strike. If the ball hits any portion of the mat on the fly, it is considered a strike. AFTER a batter has two strikes, the batter is permitted one foul ball. If the batter hits a second foul ball AFTER accumulating two strikes, the batter is out on strikes.

Pitches that are OBVIOUSLY over 12 feet high or that OBVIOUSLY do not have an arc equal to or above the batters height should be called no-pitches by the catcher OR batter. The hitter has the option of swinging at these pitches. A no-pitch is neither a ball or a strike unless the batter swings at the pitch. This rule is only for OBVIOUSLY flat or arced pitches. Captains may not dispute a no-pitch called by the catcher, but may dispute a strike where the catcher fails to call a no pitch.

GENERAL GAME RULES: