USSSA
Swing into Spring --
Henry
S. Parker Athletic Complex
--
Tournament
Rules & Information
1.
In the
event of inclement weather, a message will be left at 410-548-4900 ext. 5.
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 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
2.
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.
3.
Forfeit
time is game time; however, the director’s discretion may be used if unique
circumstances warrant otherwise.
4.
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.
5.
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.
6.
All pool
games will be subject to a time limit of 1:20.
All championship games will have a 1:30 time limit. 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).
7.
In 10U
the dropped 3rd strike rule will be in effect.
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.
9.
Protests
on any issue other than an umpire’s judgement will require a $75 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
$75 will be refunded. If the protest is
denied the fee will be forfeited.
10.
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.
11.
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.
(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.
12.
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.
13.
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.