Updated Rules for 2004
 

SECTION I. GENERAL TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

1. The tables near the shed at "The Park" (located down the hill to the north of the law school) are the Tournament Headquarters. Check there first if you have any questions during the weekend of the Tournament. Field marshals will be working at each field, and they will also be able to help you. The brackets will be posted by the check-in table and at all of the fields. Additionally, anyone wearing a "Staff" t-shirt should be able to help you or direct you to someone who can. 

2. In the weeks prior to the Tournament, please frequently check the official Tournament website (www.ngsl.com) and its Message Board for updates concerning rules, brackets, and the like. 

3. No alcohol may be consumed on the Tournament fields. Please adhere to this rule so that our ability to host the Tournament in the future will not be jeopardized! There will be plenty of beer available Saturday night.

4. Please don't leave trash around the fields. Failure to leave the fields and the surrounding areas in proper condition could also lead to problems for future tournaments.

5. The ASA Official Softball Rules will govern the games played in the Tournament, except as modified below. Each team will receive an ASA rulebook when they check in. 

6. We plan to have ASA umpires for all tournament games, but given the large number of games this may not be feasible. Thus in some games, trained UVA intramural sports umpires (students) may be your umpires - even in games played against a UVA team. They all do their best, no matter who the teams are, so don't give the umps a hard time. Remember, this is law school softball - not the World Series. Thanks for your cooperation.

7. Umpires are empowered to make all decisions affecting play. Any judgment calls made by the umpires are final and cannot be appealed. However, team captains may appeal to the North Grounds Softball League ("NGSL") regarding interpretations of the rules. The NGSL has complete discretion on whether or how to evaluate such appeals, and decisions of the NGSL are final.

8. Ground Rules: Some of the fields used during the tournament have unusual features, such as trees in the outfield, awkward fences, etc. It is the captains' responsibility to discuss before the game the ground rules for balls hit into these areas with one another and the umpire. The umpire has complete discretion in ruling on such plays.

These rules must be followed strictly in order to ensure that the hundreds of games taking place all over Charlottesville start and end on time and that the brackets do not get completely jumbled. Please remember that they apply to everyone and are necessary to allow the Tournament to run smoothly.

1. The game will be declared a forfeit if a team fails to field eight (8) players within five minutes of the designated starting time. At least three of the eight must be women if the team is in the Co-Rec Tournament. Consult the map and directions that will be in your program for assistance in getting to your field. Please, no infield or batting practice before a game. Get to your games early enough to warm up on the side while the previous game is still being played. Give yourself plenty of time to travel, as Charlottesville traffic on the weekends is often a mess. Hustle in and out between innings - we are on a tight schedule.

2. Games will be the shorter of either seven innings or one hour. NO NEW INNING MAY BEGIN 53 MINUTES AFTER THE SCHEDULED STARTING TIME. This is crucial to keeping the Tournament running on schedule. Do not waste time between innings or during the game. Umpires may award forfeit victories in games where delay tactics are used. This rule does not apply to the semifinal and final rounds, in which games will be played to completion unless the team captains and the umpire agree otherwise before the game begins.

3. Tiebreaker Rule: The following tiebreaker system will be used if a game is tied after either (a) the completion of seven innings or (b) the completion of the last inning begun within the 53 minutes time limit, whichever comes first. 

Extra innings will be played in the following "one pitch" manner: Batters will get one pitch. A ball will be considered a walk. A strike will be considered an out. Foul balls will be considered outs. Play will continue with "one pitch" innings until the tie is broken. 

This rule does not apply to the semifinal and final rounds, in which ordinary extra innings will be played until one team wins. (Even in those rounds, however, if time constraints require it, the captains and the umpire can agree before the start of any inning to use the "one-pitch" tiebreak system). 

SECTION III. RULES FOR BOTH THE REGULAR AND CO-REC TOURNAMENTS

A. ADMINISTRATIVE RULES

1. Each school may send a maximum of FOUR (4) teams. A school may enter no more than three teams in either of the two divisions. Thus, a school bringing four teams may split them three and one or two and two in the Regular and Co-Rec Divisions, but a school may not enter all four teams in any one division.

2. Players can only play on one tournament team. Therefore, while a school can send more than one tournament team, each player can only play on one of those teams. 

3. Players must be either current students or current faculty members of the school. A team caught using alumni or other ineligible players will forfeit its games and its entry fee. 

All players must check in with current, valid school picture identification cards. Keep your school ID cards with you at all times. Umpires have the discretion to check for identification at any time during Tournament play. Failure to produce identification may result in ejection from the game.

4. The team captain of the winning team of each game is responsible for making sure the umpire records the result of each game on the umpire's official tournament record sheet. This is important!

5. No game will be called for rain unless there is lightning or unless the fields are deemed unplayable. The final authority regarding play rests with the City of Charlottesville Parks and Recreation Department and the University of Virginia, not the NGSL. No portion of your entry fee will be refunded if games are canceled due to bad weather.

B. RULES OF PLAY 

ASA Official Softball Rules will govern the games played in the Tournament, except as modified herein:

1. No metal spikes may be worn.

2. Any ASA-approved bat may be used in the Tournament, including ASA-approved multi-walled bats. A list of ASA-approved bats is available at www.softball.org/about/certified_equipment.asp under "Bats" and "Display All"; additionally, most ASA-approved bats are stamped with an ASA-approved seal. Players are responsible for making sure that all bats they use are ASA-approved; the umpires will be able to recognize any non-conforming bats. If a batter is found to be using a non-conforming bat, the first offense will result in the batter being called out and the second offense will result in the forfeit of the game.  Bats not on this list will not be allowed!

In terms of enforcement, each team and umpire will be given an up-to-date list of the banned bats (and what the recertification mark looks like) before the tournament starts.  Each team captain will be allowed to inspect the bats of the other team at the start of the game.  Any disputes will be resolved by the umpire.  If a batter is found to be using a non-conforming bat, the first offense will result in the batter being called out and the second offense will result in the forfeit of the game. 

3. We will use the same size and type of balls throughout the tournament, no matter the gender of the batter (contrary to the ASA Rules).

4. Batting Order Rules:

a. Please see Section IV, below, for special rules regarding batting orders in the Co-Rec Tournament.

b. In order to encourage maximum participation, tournament teams may have a batting order of unlimited size.

c. A player may be in the batting order and not play in the field. In order to play in the field, however, a player must be in the batting order. While in the batting order, a player may enter, leave, or re-enter the fielding team (free substitution). 

d. However, the number of batters in the batting order must remain constant throughout the game. Therefore, a player who is not in the batting order at the start of the game may only enter the game by permanently replacing someone in the batting order by either pinch-hitting or by replacing them in the field. Once a player is replaced in the batting order, he or she may not re-enter the game except by returning to the same position in the batting order (unless there is an injury during the game and there are no other players available on the team). 

e. If a player has to leave or cannot bat for any reason during the game and there is no substitute available, his or her spot in the order counts as an automatic out. 

f. The only exception to the rule requiring a constant number of batters is if a team starts a game with 8 or 9 players and additional team members arrive after the game begins. In such a case, the late players must be added to the end of the batting order. 

g. At the request of a team captain prior to the start of a game, the opposing team must provide its batting order to the requesting team. No appeals regarding the batting order will be considered unless the batting order was exchanged prior to the start of the game.

5. An injured player may be allowed to bat with a pinch runner at the umpire's discretion. The pinch runner must be touching the center pole of the backstop (or the middle of the backstop if there isn't a center pole), and the pinch runner may not leave until the bat contacts the ball. If the runner leaves early, it is an automatic out. The pinch runner must be the last player in the batting order to make an out, and in Co-Rec play, the pinch runner must be the same gender as the batter. Pinch runners will rarely be granted and may not be used to gain tactical advantage. 

6. The arc on pitches must be a minimum of six feet and a maximum of twelve feet from the ground. A ball not within these limits shall be called an illegal pitch as soon as possible by the umpire. If the batter does not swing at an illegal pitch, it is automatically a ball. If the batter swings, the pitch will be treated as though it had been thrown within the legal limits. The umpire's call on a pitch is absolutely final.

7. The strike zone is that space over any part of home plate that is between the batter's back shoulder and front knee when the batter is lined up with the plate.

8. Each at-bat begins with a 1-1 ball-strike count. Thus, three balls constitute a walk, and two strikes constitute a strikeout. There is no limit to the number of foul balls the batter may hit. A foul ball will count as a batter's second strike, but never as his third strike. (Of course, any ball that is hit above the batter's head - fair or foul - and is caught by the defense is an out). The umpire's call on strikes and balls cannot be disputed. 

9. The Double Play Rule: If the defense is attempting to make a double play and there is a reasonable chance a double play will be completed, the runner going to the lead base must either slide or get out of the way of the throw. If the runner does not, the umpire has the discretion to call a double play. A runner need not get out of the way if there is no chance of the defense making the double play. This call will be made at the umpire's discretion and cannot be disputed.

10. The Home Plate Rule: When there is a play at home plate, it is the runner's responsibility to avoid contact if the catcher has the ball before the runner gets to the plate. However, the catcher must not unreasonably block the plate before the ball gets to home plate. The umpire has complete discretion to decide both (a) whether the runner intentionally initiated contact and should therefore be called out, and (b) whether the catcher unreasonably blocked the plate before the ball gets to home plate and the runner should therefore be called safe. 

The rules that follow apply to the Co-Rec Tournament only. These rules are in addition to the rules listed in Section III.

1. Each defensive team should have ten players, but teams may play with eight or nine players. If a team has ten defensive players, at least four of the ten must be women. If a team has eight or nine defensive players, at least three must be women. 

2. A team may have a batting order of unlimited size, but no more than two men may bat in a row. A team may bat as many women in a row as it chooses. This applies across innings; thus, if the last two batters of an inning are men, the next time that team bats a woman must lead off. 
The way this is typically done is for teams to have separate batting orders for men and women. The first two men bat, followed by the first woman, then the third and fourth men, followed by the second woman. Each batting order (men's and women's) must remain the same throughout the game and no more than two men can bat in a row. Please note that if you choose to use separate men's and women's batting orders, unless your team has a perfect 2:1 ratio of men to women, the women will bat after different men each time through the order. 

3. A "Co-Rec line" should be painted on each outfield. No outfielder may step in front of this line until after the ball is hit. This means that if you are playing ten players, four of them must be behind the Co-Rec line until after the ball is hit, if you are playing nine players, at least three must be behind the line, and if you are playing eight, two must remain behind the line. This is to prevent unfair positioning of players on a field. If a line has not been painted on the field on which you are playing, the two teams and the umpire should agree to where the line should be. If an outfielder crosses the Co-Rec line before the ball is hit and that outfielder subsequently plays the ball and makes an out, the hitter will be given first base as if the hitter had walked. Again, the umpire has full discretion in making this call.

4. Co-Rec Walk Rule: If a male batter is walked without a strike being pitched (3 balls and no strikes) AND is followed by a female batter, she will have the option to hit or walk.