April 24-25, 2010
Columbia,
Maryland (10U & 12U)
Glen
Burnie, Maryland (14U)
Tournament
Rules & Information
1.
The tournament
will be played at the Cedar Lane Park in Columbia, MD for the 10U and 12U age groups
and at Fairland Regional Park in Laurel, MD for the 14U age group. The
address, directions and maps to these parks can be obtained at www.usssa1.com, by clicking
on “Parks".
2.
In the event of
inclement weather, a message will be left at 410-439-2255 (State Office Line).
Please only have one member of the team make the call in order to not tie up
the phone line. We may also use email
and the usssa1.com website (front page and Director’s Forum portion of the
message board) as a way to communicate any schedule changes. Beyond these means, if a team is still
unclear as to their game situation, the manager only may also call Keri Lounge for
10U & 12U at 410-206-6006 or Tommy Thompson for 14U at 410-294-1091. Please note that as a general rule we do not
individually contact each team in the event of adverse weather conditions. Rather, it is the team’s responsibility to
check the lines of communication listed above.
3.
Teams should
report in to the tournament director 1 hour before the start of their first game,
letting the director know that they have arrived and to receive any last minute
instructions.
4.
Forfeit time is
game time; however, the director’s discretion may be used if unique
circumstances warrant otherwise.
5.
Teams must be
prepared to play 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time of a game, or 1
hour ahead of schedule if we were to have bad weather. Otherwise, a forfeit may be declared.
6.
In pool play, the
winner of a coin toss prior to the start of a game will have choice of being
home or visitors. In championship play
the higher seeded team will have the choice.
If both teams are equally seeded in championship play then a coin toss
will be used.
7.
All games will be
subject to a time limit of 1:30. There
is no drop dead rule. No new inning may begin after the time
limit has elapsed. The clock begins
immediately from the time that the pre-game conference ends. If the time limit is up and the home team is
leading and at bat, then the game ends with whatever the score is at that point
(ie, the final inning is not completed in this case –
this is not the same as the drop dead rule).
8.
All games will be
subject to the International Tiebreaker Rule.
In pool play, the tiebreaker will be in effect only after 7 innings have
been completed and if the time limit hasn't elapsed. In pool play, only one tiebreaker inning will
be held. Once the time limit has elapsed
and the game is tied, then the game is considered final and a tie will be
awarded to both teams. In championship
play, the tiebreaker will be in effect when 7 innings have been completed or
the time limit has expired, whichever comes first. Games in championship play can only end in a
tie if the tournament is not completed due to weather.
1. Coaches and rostered players
are the only ones allowed to be in the dugout or bench area during the
games. Bat boys/girls are no longer permitted unless they are a rostered player.
2.
Protests on any
issue other than an umpire’s judgement will require a $100 cash fee. Protests on an umpire’s judgement will not be
allowed and no fee will be accepted.
Protests on rule or procedural interpretations during a game must be
made before the next pitch and will be decided upon before the game is allowed
to continue. Protests on rule/procedures
that occur at the end of the game must be made before the next game begins on
that field. Protests on player
eligibility must be made before either team starts their next game and will be
decided upon before either team continues play.
The protest committee will be made up of any part of the following:
tournament director, site director, tournament UIC, site UIC or any of their
designees. If the protest is upheld the
$100 will be refunded. If the protest is
denied the fee will be forfeited.
3.
If an ineligible
player participates at any time during the event, the player and team manager
will be ejected from the remainder of the tournament and all games in which
that player participated will be forfeited.
Participation is defined as either actively playing in the game or
appearing anywhere on the official lineup that’s presented prior to the start
of a game. Examples of ineligible
players include, but are not limited to, playing on two teams in the same event,
not being listed on the team roster that was presented prior to the tournament,
violating the age requirement, playing under an assumed identity, use of a
fraudulent birth certificate, not presenting a birth certificate when requested
to do so, etc.
4.
Once pool play is
completed, the order of finish within each pool is determined by an average
point system, whereby two points are awarded for each win, 1 point for each tie
and no points for a loss. Teams are
ordered by the average points earned per game played. To break ties, the following are used in
order:
1)
head-to-head
(only applies when 2 teams are tied)
2)
lowest average
runs allowed per game played
3)
head-to-head
(only if two teams remain after 2)
4)
highest average
runs scored per game played
5)
head-to-head
(only if two teams remain after 4)
6)
number of wins
7)
coin toss.
Notes:
(a)
In a three-way
tie, once one team is selected as the best team by the tiebreaker process, then
head-to-head is applied to the remaining two teams. If the two teams did not
play each other or if there are more than two teams remaining, then the process
continues from the point at which the first team was selected. For example, assume Teams A, B & C have
given up 5, 4 & 3 runs, respectively, have all earned the same average points
and A beat B, B beat C and C beat A.
Then Team C would be the top seed based on least average runs
allowed. Team A would then be the 2nd
seed due to head-to-head between teams A and B.
Note: If three
teams are tied by average points and one of those teams beat the other two then
that team will be the top seed among those three and the remaining two teams
will follow the procedure above.
Alternatively, if one of those teams lost to both the other two then
that team will be the bottom seed among those three and the remaining two teams
will follow the procedure above.
(b)
A team will
receive two points as a result of winning by forfeit. The points awarded for the forfeit will count
toward the average points, but the forfeit will not count in the runs allowed
or scored tiebreakers. A team will not
be allowed to improve their seeding position by virtue of forfeiting their
final pool game, whether done intentionally or not.
(c)
Games in which
neither an official winner nor a tie has been declared do not count toward any
of the tiebreakers above.
5.
It is the manager’s
responsibility to find out if, when and where their team is playing in
Championship play. That information will
be posted at the site immediately at the conclusion of pool play. It’s possible
that pool play results may also be posted on the “Director’s Forum” portion of
the message board at www.usssa1.com.
6.
If inclement
weather or other conditions impede the normal progress of the tournament, the
director reserves the right to change the tournament format in order to achieve
the maximum number of games played or to declare an order of finish.
Special USSSA 10&Under Class C
Event Rules
1. First please refer to the
USSSA online rulebook for the base set of rules used in all USSSA events.
http://www.usssa.com/usssa/usssa-general/2010FPRules.pdf
2. There will be no infield
fly rule. The ball remains alive with all runners in jeopardy of being put out.
3. There will be no dropped
third strike rule. Whether or not the 3rd strike is caught, the batter is out.
4. 10 & under base
stealing is allowed under the following rules. Runners starting at first base
or second base are entitled to steal one base only per pitch with liability to
be put out. (Runners ARE NOT ENTITLED TO ADVANCE more than one base per pitch
even in the event of an overthrow at ANY base.) Runners starting at third base
may not steal home but are liable to be put out if they are off the base. 1.
A runner attempting to advance beyond the one base they are entitled to steal
may be put out while between bases or in contact with a base to which she/he is
not entitled 2. After all play ceases and the ball becomes dead, if a runner
occupies a base beyond the one the runner was entitled to steal, the runner
will be returned to the correct base without liability to be put out. 3. A
batter runner, who has received a base on balls, can attempt to steal second
base. 4. Awarded bases will apply to all runners. This includes an overthrow
into dead ball territory. 5. Runners can only score on: a) a batted ball. b) A
base on balls or hit batter with bases loaded. c) An awarded base when the ball
goes out of play to include a pitch that goes out of play. d) An illegal pitch.
5. A 5 run limit per inning
shall be imposed on any inning that begins less than 60-minutes from the start
of the game. All subsequent innings shall have no run limit. Umpire will note
when the 60-minute time mark is reached in the game.
Points of Emphasis For
USSSA MD/DE 10&Under in Class C Events
1.
Bunting shall be allowed.
(USSSA Rulebook – Rule 7)
2.
Nine (9) players shall play defense
at a time except when completing a game shorthanded. USSSA allows starting and
finishing games with 8 players if 9 players are not available at the start of
the game, but the team must take an out in the 9th spot in the
batting order. (USSSA Rulebook – Rule 5)
3.
Please see the USSSA online rulebook
for information on the use of a Designated Hitter (DH) and/or Additional
Players (AP). (USSSA Rulebook – Rule 5)
4.
A batting order may consist of 9, 10
or 11 batters (9 players/DH and up to 2 additional players). (USSSA Rulebook
– Rule 5)
5.
Both windmill and slingshot pitching
styles shall be allowed. (USSSA Rulebook – Rule 6)
6. Pitchers may pitch
unlimited number of innings per game and for the tournament as a whole.
7. There is no mandatory
removal of a pitcher from the pitching position because of the number of
batters hit by pitches.
8. There is no use of the infield by either team
for warm up prior to the start of the game. Groundballs may be practiced behind
the baselines between 1st and 2nd and between 3rd and 2nd. Likewise pitcher may not pitch from the
circle/pitching rubber until the game has started.
9. All on-deck batters, batters and base runners shall wear
a NOCSAE approved batting helmet equipped with dual earflaps and a NOCSAE
approved face guard. There are no exceptions to the face guard requirement. (USSSA Rulebook – Rule 2)
10.
Please familiarize yourself with USSSA Rulebook -- Rule 11 Sportsmanship