Intramural Softball Rules

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Tommy Hewett, M.D. Wellness Center 

580-559-5744  ∙  wellns1@ecok.edu  

1100 E. 14th St. Ada, OK 

Facilities and Locations

Ada Sports Complex

1020 Egypt Road, Ada, OK, 74820 

League Format 

  1. The Tommy Hewett, M.D.  Wellness Center Slow Pitch Softball League will be broken into a regular season and playoffs. 
  2. All games will be played on Tuesday evenings (additional nights may be added if needed). 
  3. Regular season: 
    1. Each team will play a minimum of five (5) regular season. 
  4. Playoffs: 
    1. Single elimination tournament. Playoffs will begin the week following the regular season. 
      1. Playoff schedule will be posted after the final regular season game. 

Equipment 

  1. Jerseys: Teams must have jerseys or shirts of the same color for each player in every game (including the first game). 
    1. Intramural department jerseys are available upon request.  
  2. Shoes: cleats are permitted on the softball field. 
    1. Metal cleats ARE NOT PERMITTED. 
      1. METAL CLEAT PENALTY: any player who is found to be wearing metal cleats will be removed from the game. They are not to be worn for the remainder of the game or at any other time during the regular or post season. If worn again, the player will be removed from the league. 
  3. Balls: the game ball will be provided by the league. 
  4. Bats: men must use legal (ASA/USA/USSSA) wooden bats (some provided). Women may use any legal (ASA/USA/USSSA) bat. All personal bats must be approved by the official prior to each game.   

Roster and Players 

  1. All teams must submit a roster prior to their first game. 
  2. Rosters must be submitted through the official ECU Intramural registration channels. 
    1. Each player is required to sign the liability release that is provided in player registration.  
      1. Players will not be permitted to participate in the activity without the liability release. 
      2. If a player is found to have intentionally not sign the liability, the team will forfeit the match. If more than one occurrence takes place, the team will forfeit the league.
  3. Rosters size:
    1. Teams shall have a minimum of 9 players and maximum of 12 players.
    2. Regular game play will be two teams of 10 players.
    3. Teams are permitted to play with less than 9 players in a forfeit game.  
  4. Players may be added to your roster up until game time of the second regular season game. 
    1. Each player must be enrolled currently at ECU, ECU alumni, or ECU staff/faculty.  
    2. Cannot be on a college or professional roster (at any time during the academic year).  
    3. Each player can only be on one rostered team. 
  5. Players must present ECU ID (government-issued ID for alumni) at time of check-in.  
  6. Rosters are final at game start. 

Team Captain Role 

  1. Each team shall designate one team captain before the game begins for each game. 
  2. Team captains must attend a mandatory captain’s meeting prior to the first game of the season. If the team captain is unavailable for the meeting, they may send another team representative. Meeting details are included in the intramural registration form. 
  3. The designated team captain (and only the team captain) shall be responsible for all interactions with the officials. 
    1. Captains may discuss rule interruptions but may not discuss judgement calls. 
    2. Captains are expected to be respectful toward officials – the team captain does not have the right to question judgement calls or speak to the official in a rude or disrespectful way. Penalty: automatic out for offending team 
  4. Team captains are responsible for ensuring that all players and spectators who are with their team behave in an appropriate manner. Penalty: automatic out for offending team 
  5. The team’s captain is responsible to disclose the full name of any player that has assessed an automatic out or has been ejected. The game will not resume until this information is disclosed. If a captain refuses to disclose a player’s information, the captain will be held out of future games until the name is disclosed and game will be forfeit. 

Game Time 

  1. Games will begin promptly at the scheduled start time. 
    1. If a team only has 9 players present at game time, they must play with 9. 
    2. If a team does not have 9 players present 5 minutes past the scheduled game time, they will forfeit the game. 
  2. Games will consist of five (5) innings or 45 minutes, whichever comes first.  
    1. If the time limit is met before the innings cap, an additional five (5) minutes will be given, as long as: 
      1. The losing team still needs to bat in that same inning.  
      2. The losing team is within 5 runs. 
  3. If teams are tied at the end of regulation: 
    1. No extra innings will be given.  
    2. Games will be declared a tie in the record book.  
    3. Playoff games will be given extra innings to determine a winner.  
  4. Mercy Rule: Games will be ruled on account of the mercy rule, in the following conditions: 
    1. 20 runs after the 2nd inning 
    2. 15 runs after the 3rd inning 
    3. 10 runs after the 4th inning 
      1. If a team is caught “sand-bagging” to prevent their opponents from getting run-ruled, that team will forfeit the match by a 15-0 margin at the point the team was caught. This call will be made by the head umpire on the field. There are no exceptions, nor will a call be changed after it is made. 

Official Score and Scorekeeper 

  1. Managers or a team representative must fill out the scorebook at the score table prior to each game. 
  2. Players' first and last name along with the jersey number (if applicable) shall be entered in scorebook.
    1. Only players who are present shall be listed in the scorebook at the beginning of regulation play. 
  3. Players must present ECU ID (government-issued ID for alumni) at time of check-in.  
  4. Players arriving late (if they are on the team roster) may be added to the scorebook without penalty. 
  5. Players may not enter the game until they’ve been entered into the scorebook. 
  6. The running scorebook (kept at the scorer’s table) will be the official foul and score count. 
  7. Teams shall alert the officials immediately if any errors occur. 
    1. If a team alerts the official to an error that requires a clock stoppage and no error is found, that team shall be assessed an automatic out. 

Game Play

  1. Home Team: will be decided by a coin toss.
    1. Home team takes the field first and bats last.  
  2. Playing Field      
    1. Base distance will be 60 feet and the distance from home plate to the pitching rubber will be 43 feet. A pitcher may stand as far as they would like past the 43-foot mark as long as they are still in line with the pitching rubber and home plate.  
  3. Offensive Play  
    1. According to USSSA rules, all batters begin with a 1-1 count. 3 balls are considered a walk and 2 strikes are a strikeout.  
      1. If a player fouls off their last strike, they are out.  
    2. Batting Lineup  
      1. A team must bat 6 males and 4 females (5/5 is also allowed) 
      2. The batting order will be:  
        1. Male 
        2. Female 
        3. Male 
        4. Female 
        5. Male 
        6. Female 
        7. Male 
        8. Female 
        9. Male 
        10. Male 
      3. A team will be allowed to bat their entire roster as long as it follows the 6-4 order (i.e. for each extra male player to bat, there must be a female player added in the lineup).  
    3. Courtesy Runner 
      1. Teams shall only use one courtesy runner per half inning per gender. If a player enters as a courtesy runner, they must complete their turn as a runner with no sub unless injured.  
        1. If the courtesy runner is on base and it is their time to bat, they will be called out on base and then go to the plate to bat.  
        2. Courtesy runner will be the last available batter of that gender.  
    4. Homerun Rule 
      1. There will be a homerun limit for male players of 8 per game. Each homerun after the limit per male player has been reached will result in an out with no recorded run. 
      2. Teams who hit a homerun must send one of their players in the dugout to retrieve the ball. Failure to do so will result in an out. 
    5. Stealing is not allowed. If a runner is caught stealing it will result in an out.  
    6. If a ball goes out of play then the player may not advance past the point when the ball went out of play.  
    7. If a male batter is walked, then the next female batter can choose to hit or walk.  
  4. Defensive Play 
    1. The defensive team must have a minimum of 9, maximum of 10 players in the field.  
    2. At least 4 females must be in the field. There must be a least one female player in the outfield, one in an infield position, and one at either pitcher or catcher. A team cannot have both males at the catcher and pitcher positions.  
    3. In field fly rule: is at the discretion of the umpire. All calls by the umpire are final.  
    4. Pitcher halo rule: is at the discretion of the umpire. All calls by the umpire are final. 
    5. Pitched balls must be at least 4ft off the ground with an arc no higher than 8 ft.  

Fouls 

  1. Any participant who is assessed two personal fouls will be removed from the game (ejected). 
  2. An unsportsmanlike conduct is considered a personal foul.  
    1. Example: a player who receives one personal and one unsportsmanlike is ejected. 

Player Conduct 

  1. The ECU Intramural League is a recreation program aimed at creating a welcoming environment for all players. As such, the following conduct expectations are in place for all Intramural events. 
  2. The following actions may result in an automatic out: 
    1. Use of profanity. 
    2. Complaining about or questioning an official’s call by a non-team captain. 
    3. Persistent complaint about judgment calls by any player, including captains. 
    4. Abusive or profane language by a spectator (automatic out shall be assessed). 
  3. The following actions shall result in an automatic out, double automatic out = ejection: 
    1. Use of profanity toward an official or opposing player. 
    2. Making a comment that is personal in nature to or about an official or opposing player. 
      1. Any attempt to “bait”, taunt, or otherwise instigate an opponent.
    3. An attempt to physically intimidate an opponent or official. 
    4. Any physical contact with an official will result in ejection from league and notification of authorities. 
      1. Note: The officials’ jurisdiction begins from the time a player arrives on site until the player leaves. Actions that occur before, during or after games are all subject to a personal foul, flagrant foul, team foul, or ejection. 
    5. Alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana are not permitted to be on-site during any ECU activities. 

Fighting 

  1. Any player who is ejected for or found to be fighting will be ejected from the game and may be ejected from the league for the remainder of the season, including playoffs. 
  2. We use a strict definition of fighting and shall impose the fighting for penalty for any of the following action: 
    1. Throwing a punch (regardless if it landed or not).
    2. Slapping or pushing a player’s face or head area. 
    3. Grabbing or pushing a player during an altercation (exception, trying to restrain a player from your own team).
    4. Any violent, physical act on another player outside of the actions allowed in the activity.
      1. Example: throwing a player on the field. 
    5. Any player who leaves the bench or dugout while an altercation is happening shall be considered to be fighting.
      1. Exception: if an official specifically asks for help from players to restore order. 
  3. The officials have the right to halt and discontinue any game if it is believed that allowing a game to continue may result in a fight or an out of control situation. 

Officials 

  1. The officials for the ECU Intramural League are contracted and are not employees of East Central University. However, these officials are expected to treat players in a professional and respectful manner and uphold all the rules and policies in this manual. Players are expected to treat officials with same level of respect.
  2. There will be at least one official on the field per game. 
  3. In the event that neither official is present, teams may decide to proceed in one of the following ways:
    1. Solicit a volunteer(s) to officiate the game.
    2. Play a self-officiated game.
    3. Declare the game a no-contest, so neither team standings are affected. 
    4. If the option A or B are agreed upon, the game must be played to completion. If an official shows up, the game will resume with the official taking over to complete the game and the game will not be restarted. 

Team Conduct 

  1. Any team which consistently exhibits poor sportsmanship may be eliminated from the league with a forfeit of all fees. 
  2. Officials and teams shall report all poor sportsmanship to the League Director. 

Rules Not Listed 

  1. Any rule not listed in this manual will be governed by ASA (USA) rules. 

Forfeits 

  1. If you forfeit, you must notify the League Director as soon as possible. 

Weather 

  1. In the event of inclement weather, contact the League Director to determine whether games have been cancelled. 
    1. Information will be posted on the Tommy Hewett, M.D. Wellness Center social media pages.  
    2. Team captains will be informed via text message, email, or phone call. 
      1. It is the responsibility of the team captain to inform their team of cancellations. 
  2. We cannot guarantee that games cancelled due to inclement weather will be rescheduled.  
    1. Cancelled games will result in a tie if needed for post season play.