League Rules & Regulations

EXCALIBUR SOFTBALL LEAGUE - RULES & REGULATIONS

PLAYERS:EACH TEAM MUST FIELD TEN PLAYERS. TWO OF WHICH MUST BE FEMALE. A TEAM MAY HAVE AN UNLIMITED NUMBER OF PLAYERS BUT THE BATTING LINE-UP CANNOT CONSIST OF MORE THAN TWELVE PLAYERS. TO ALLOW ANY OTHER PLAYERS TO PLAY IN THE GAME, THEY HAVE TO TAKE THE PLACE OF ONE OF THE STARTING TWELVE. ALL PLAYERS IN THE BATTING LINE-UP MUST FIELD AT LEAST TWO INNINGS.
TWO FEMALE PLAYERS MUST BAT FOR EVERY TEN BATTERS; EVEN IF THAT MEANS THAT A FEMALE PLAYER HAS TO BAT TWICE IF YOUR TEAM IS ONLY PLAYING WITH ONE FEMALE PLAYER. IF A TEAM IS PLAYING WITH ONLY ONE FEMALE PLAYER, THEY MUST ONLY FIELD A TEAM OF NINE PLAYERS INSTEAD OF TEN. IF FOR ANY REASON A TEAM CANNOT FIELD ANY FEMALE PLAYERS, THAT TEAM LOSES BY DEFAULT. ALL PLAYERS MUST PLAY AT LEAST 10 GAMES WITH THEIR TEAM TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE PLAYOFFS. 

HITTERS:EACH TEAM CAN ONLY SCORE A MAXIMUM OF FIVERUNS PER INNING, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE LAST INNING, WHICH IS OPEN. A TEAM CAN PLAY WITH A MINIMUM OF SEVEN PLAYERS, ANY LESS THAN SEVEN PLAYERS, THAT TEAM DEFAULTS. THE SCORE FOR DEFAULTS IS 11-0 FOR THE OPPOSING TEAM.

ANY MALE BATTER HITTING BEFORE A FEMALEBATTER WILL BE AWARDED 2 BASES IF WALKED. (INTENTIONALLY OR NOT) ONLY THE BATTER GETS 2 BASES. PLAYERS ALREADY ON BASE MOVE FORWARD ONLY TO ALLOW THE BATTER TO GET TO SECOND BASE. (IF A PLAYER IS ALREADY ON SECOND BASE, THEY MOVE TO THIRD BASE, NOT HOME)

THE BALL: THE HOME TEAM IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SUPPLYING A NEW SOFTBALLAT EACH GAME. A GOOD BACKUP BALL IS SUPPLIED BY THE VISITING TEAM.

GAME TIMES: GAMES ARE SCHEDULED FOR SEVEN INNINGS. A MINIMUM OF FIVE COMPLETEINNINGS MUST BE PLAYED FOR A GAME TO BE CONSIDERED LEGAL; OTHERWISE THE GAME WILL HAVE TO BE RESCHEDULED. BEFORE THE START OF THE GAME, BOTH TEAM CAPTAINS ARE RESPONSIBLE TO MEET WITH THE GAME UMPIRE TO DISCUSS RULES OF THE FIELD.  I.E.: OUT OF BOUNDS, OBSTACLES IN PLAY, OR ANY INJURY RESTRICTIONS OF ANY PLAYERS. ALL GAMES MUST BE STARTED BY THE TIMES LISTED ON THE SCHEDULE. THERE WILL BE NO EXTRA TIME PERMITTED. IF THE TEAMS HAVE A MINIMUM OF SEVEN PLAYERS THEY ARE TO BEGIN PLAYING AT THE REQUIRED START TIME. 

5th RUN MAX THE BATTING TEAM IS RESPONSIBLE TO ANNOUNCE WHEN THE 5th RUN IS ON BASE PATH

PITCHING: THE PITCHING ARC MUST BE BETWEEN 4-10 FEET. AN ARC MUST BE PRESENT AT ALL TIMES. ANY BALL NOT IN THE 4-10 PERIMETERS WILL BE RULED AS A BALL.

 BATTING: A FOUL BALL ON THE 3rd STRIKE IS AN OUT.

TAGGING UPIS ALLOWED.

STEALING BASES IS NOT PERMITTED.

BUNTING: ONLY FEMALE PLAYERS ARE ALLOWED TO BUNT.

PINCH RUNNER:A PINCH RUNNER IS USED FOR INJURED PLAYERS ONLY. IT IS NOT TO BE USED AS A GAME STRATEGY. A PLAYER WHO IS IMPEDED IN ANY WAY FROM RUNNING THE BASES CAN USE A PINCH RUNNER.A PINCH RUNNER MUST START BY HOLDING THE FENCE PARALLEL TO THE BATTER. RUNNER CAN ONLY START RUNNING AFTER CONTACT. THE PINCH RUNNER IS ONLY ALLOWED ONE BASE. PINCH RUNNER IS LAST PERSON OUT (MALE OR FEMALE)

HOME PLATE RULE:THE CATCHER MUST BE THE ONE TO MAKE THE PLAY AT HOME PLATE; IF A BACKUP PLAYER GETS THE BALL THEY MUST GIVE IT TO THE CATCHER TO MAKE THE PLAY. THE CATCHER’S FOOT IS REQUIRED TO BE ON THE PLATE AND MUST HAVE CONTROL OF THE BALL. THE RUNNER MUST CROSS THE HOME PLATE LINE BEFORE THE CATCHER HAS CONTROL OF THE BALL IN ORDER TO SCORE. A TAG ON THE RUNNER IS NOT REQUIRED. IF THE RUNNER STEPS ON HOME PLATE, THE RUN WILL NOT COUNT AND THE RUNNER IS OUT. THE COMMITMENT LINE IS NOT USED IN OUR LEAGUE. SLIDING AT HOME IS NOT PERMITTED.

DEFAULTS:NO TEAM CAN DEFAULT DURING THE PLAY-OFFS OR THEIR OPPONENT WILL AUTOMATICALLY GO ONTO THE NEXT ROUND. IF FOR ANY REASON A TEAM CANNOT MAKE A SCHEDULED GAME, THE LEAGUE COMMISSIONER MUST BE NOTIFIED.

CANCELLATIONS: CANCELLATION OF ANY GAME DUE TO WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL BE DECIDED BY THE LEAGUE COMMISSIONER. GAME CANCELLATIONS WILL BE ANNOUNCED 90 MINUTES OR MOREPRIOR TO GAME TIME. IF THE GAME ISN'T CANCELLED, BOTH TEAMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE AT THE FIELD AS PER THE SCHEDULE. THE UMPIRE WILL THEN BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DECISION OF THE GAME. IF THE UMPIRE CANCELS THE GAME, BOTH TEAMS ARE REQUIRED TO PAY HALF OF THE FULL GAME AMOUNT IN UMPIRE FEES (DUE AT THE END OF THE SEASON). IF THE UMPIRE DOESN'T CANCEL THE GAME, BUT ONE OF THE TEAMS DOESN'T SHOW UP, THE WIN WILL GO TO THE TEAM THAT IS AT THE FIELD AND RULE 13 APPLIES.
NO GAMES ARE TO BE CANCELLED UNLESS DONE SO BY THE LEAGUE COMMISSIONER. IF ANY MANAGER OF A TEAM CANCELS A GAME WITHOUT PROPER NOTIFICATION, THE MANAGER WILL BE SUSPENDED AND FINED.

BATS:ANY COMPOSITE BATS IN WHOLE OR IN PARTARE BANNED FROM THE LEAGUE. ONLY ALL-ALUMINUM BATS ARE PERMITTED (INCLUDING SINGLE, DOUBLE AND TRIPLE WALLED). IF AN UMPIRE CATCHES A PLAYER USING AN ILLEGAL BAT THAT PLAYER WILL BE CALLED OUT (IF THEY ARE IN THE BATTERS BOX AT THE TIME). ANY BAT THAT DOES NOT HAVE CLEAR MARKINGS OF ITS MAKE AND MODEL ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE USED. IF YOU ARE UNSURE OF A BAT, DON'T USE IT!

METAL CLEATSARE NOT PERMITTED.

HOME RUNS:GAMES WILL BE PLAYED WITH A "+2" HOMERUN RULE.THIS MEANS THAT EACH TEAM CAN NEVER HAVE MORE THAN 2 HOMERUNS OVER THEIR OPPONENT. FOR EXAMPLE: TEAM A HITS TWO HOMERUNS, AND WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO HIT ANOTHER UNTIL TEAM B HITS A HOMERUN. TEAM B CAN HIT UP TO 4 HOMERUNS ONCE TEAM A HAS HIT 2, AS THIS WILL THEN MAKE TEAM B +2. ANY BATTED BALL FITTING HOMERUN CRITERIA WHEN THE TEAM IS ALREADY +2 HOMERUNS WILL BE SCORED AS AN OUT. THIS RULE APPLIES ONLY TO HOMERUNS THAT LEAVE PLAY, AS OUTLINED IN THE RULE ABOVE, AND DOES NOT APPLY TO "IN THE PARK" HOMERUNS, OR HOMERUNS RESULTING FROM ERRORS. THIS APPLIES ONLY TO PARKS WITH CLEAR HOMERUN BOUNDARIES. RULE WILL NOT APPLY TO GAMES PLAYED AT WINDSOR AND NORTHVIEW PARKS WHERE THE OUTFIELD IS WIDE OPEN.

  New Rule

Verbal and physical abuse of umpires/players is as unacceptable as verbal and physical abuse of players. 

Excalibur Softball league has a zero-tolerance policy for umpire abuse, disputing judgment calls, or displays of poor sportsmanship (players vs player). Umpires shall only be spoken to positively and constructively.  It is acceptable to question the interpretation of a rule, but only in a courteous non-confrontational manner. 

Umpire Abuse: any deliberate action by a player/spectator that makes an umpire feel physically threatened, verbally intimidated, or emotionally humiliated. Disrespectfully objecting to calls, yelling at, publicly calling out, and constantly disagreeing with an umpire verbally or through physical gestures can be deemed umpire abuse. 

Judgment Calls - a judgment call is a decision made by an umpire using their opinion of what they have seen. An umpire's judgment call is final. Judgment calls include; ball/strike, safe/out, interference/obstruction, catch/no-catch, fair/foul, etc. 

Ejections

• Ejected players or spectators cannot remain on the surrounding field areas, including grandstands, and must vacate all field areas promptly after an ejection.
• Ejected players will receive an automatic 3 game suspension
• Any incident that involves physical abuse (shoving, bumping) or the threat of physical abuse will result in an immediate removal from the league and notification of proper authorities.

PARKS AND SPORTS FIELDS - RULES & REGULATIONS 

CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES ON PARK PROPERTY

IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED