MEN’S DIVISION PLAYING RULES REVISED April 2015

1. All teams will follow the rules established by Softball Canada except as specified below.

Game Logistics 2. Diamonds – The home team will be responsible for the setup, removal and lock-up of the bases and the pitching rubber. 3. Game Completion – All regular season games will be a full 7 innings unless the mercy rule is reached or the game is called on account of weather or power outage and the home team is winning after 4.5 or more innings or the visiting team is winning after 5 or more full innings (a regulation game under Softball Canada rules). The first game will commence at 6:30 pm. The second game will start at 8:30 pm unless the first game has not been completed yet. The second game will commence approximately 20 minutes after the completion of the first game if both teams have their full teams in attendance. No extra innings will be played during regular season games. 4. No maximum runs per inning, an 8 run mercy rule is in effect after 5 complete innings. 5. Rainouts – Rainouts will be posted on the PFA website by 3:00 p.m. on game days. Rainouts will be based on conditions in Pickering at 3:00 p.m. a. Any delay of more than 20 minutes (over and above the 15 minutes allowed to field a team) constitutes a rainout. Fielding a team must be complied with before a rainout can be called, otherwise a forfeit is called. Rainouts will be rescheduled by the League Executive Committee. 6. All playoff rounds will be full seven inning games, unless tied, at which point, International Tie Breaker rules will apply. 7. In a playoff game, if there is an Act of God (or the lights go out), if after 4 ½ innings, the game will be completed from that point on at a later date. If the Act of God takes place before 4 ½ innings have been completed, the entire game will be replayed. 8. If playoff games are rained out or not completed on their scheduled night they will be moved to the next available night. Monday games move to Tuesday, Tuesday to Thursday, Thursday to Monday.

Player Participation 9. A player must be registered and have paid fees prior to playing a regular season game. If an ineligible player is used, that team shall forfeit the game. 10. In order to be eligible to play in the playoffs a player must play in a minimum of 1/3 of the teams regular season games (i.e. 6 of 18 or 7 of 21 games) during the regular season. 11. Pitching – There are no restrictions on the number of innings a pitcher may pitch in any game in the regular season or the playoffs. Teams are definitely encouraged to provide pitching opportunities to all players who show interest in pitching and demonstrate that they can adequately do so. 12. Any pitcher who hits 3 batters in total during the course of a game must be removed from pitching for the remainder of that game.

13. 7 players will constitute a fielded team. Regular Season Call Up Rule: Teams will be allowed to call up / borrow players from other teams. Borrowed players must bat at the bottom of the batting order. Borrowed players may include pitchers. A non-playing coach can play if a

1 0ce03a111d94cf67747f51a166da56c0.doc team needs them to make 7 players to avoid a default at the start of a game or if a player gets injured or has to leave a game early. A coach cannot join the game to replace a player who has been ejected. Playoff Call Up Rule: There are no call ups or borrowing of any players in the playoffs. 14. It is the coach’s decision in regards to when and where players play as long as they do not sit for more than 2 consecutive innings. All players present must play a minimum of 3 innings defensively in a full 7 inning game. The exceptions to this rule are pitchers and catchers, who may sit for more than 2 consecutive innings. 15. Players who arrive late will be allowed to join the game. They will be allowed to take up a defensive position immediately upon arrival. They will be added to the bottom of the batting order. Team representatives will be responsible for advising the umpires and the opposing team of all late arrivals. 16. Any player registering with the PFA must be willing to play with the team to which they are drafted or traded. No refunds will be available after the draft deadline. 17. Pinch Runners – Each team will be permitted to use each player on their roster to pinch run once during the course of a game. If the pinch runner’s regular spot in the batting order comes up and they are still on base the batter will be counted as an out – you cannot pinch run for a pinch runner. In the playoffs, the eligible pinch runners will be reset in the top of the 9th inning should the game go into extra innings. Beginning in the 8th inning and for every necessary extra inning thereafter, the runner placed on 2nd base to start the inning (International Tie Breaker) cannot have a pinch runner. 18. Catcher Rule – If the catcher is on base when two outs occur, it is optional to have the catcher replaced by a pinch runner. If a runner is used it will count as one of the team’s pinch runners. 19. One player per team, if required, will be allowed to bat but will not be required to field and must be declared by his/her coach prior to the start of the game. 20. Defensive Conferences – If teams have a 2nd defensive conference in the same inning, the pitcher at that time must be removed and replaced with another pitcher. There is no maximum number of defensive conferences per 7 innings or in extra innings in the playoffs. 21. Batting – We will not be enforcing the new Softball Canada changes to Rule 7 that requires a batter to maintain one foot in the batter’s box between pitches.

Equipment 22. Batters on deck, at bat and around the bases, must wear batting helmets. 23. Safe base rule is in effect. In all cases the defensive player is to play the white portion of the base and the batter is to play the orange portion of the base on the initial play at first base. 24. Dress – Metal spikes are permitted. Minimum uniform is team jersey, pants not shorter than mid-calf, appropriate footwear and ball hats are mandatory for all defensive players. Players not conforming will not be allowed to play. Call ups or borrowed players will wear their own team uniform. Catchers will be permitted to remove their team vests / jerseys while catching on hot days. All batters must wear team vests / jerseys. 25. Catchers must wear chest protectors and masks at all times while inside the screened area of the diamond. Catchers warming up pitchers outside of the screened in area of the playing field are not required to wear masks. For safety reasons it is recommended that they do so. 26. In accordance with Softball Canada Rule 3, Section 10, exposed jewellery of any kind is not permitted to be worn during a game and must be removed prior to entering the playing field or immediately at the request of the Umpire. Failure to comply with this rule will result in the offending player being removed from the game and being declared ineligible for the duration of that game. The player is not considered ejected from the game. Medic Alert bracelets and necklaces are not considered jewellery.

2 27. All bats must meet current Softball Canada bat standards. Bats must have one of the following 3 certification stamps - ASA 2000, ASA 2004 or ISF 2005; not be on the ASA Non-Approved Bat List, except if they are on the ISF Approved Bat List. PFA will no longer be using bat stickers to identify which bats are legal. Use of illegal or altered bats will result in the batter being called out, any runners returned to the bases occupied at the time of the pitch, the batter being ejected from the game and the batter is subject to a disciplinary review and a minimum of a one game suspension. 28. Intent to Injure – Any player ejected from a game for “Intent to injure” will be reviewed for continued membership by the League Executive Committee. 29. Ejections – Ejections of players or coaches do not carry an automatic minimum one game suspension. The Discipline Committee will review the circumstances surrounding each ejection and determine whether the individual will have to serve any additional games or not. The committee will take into consideration the nature of the ejection as well as whether or not this is a chronic or repeated offender. The committee will advise the team rep of its decision as soon as possible after the ejection takes place. Players who wish to appeal their suspension are required to pay $50. Protests 30. Protests must be made to the umpire at the time of the infraction. A written protest must be submitted to the League Executive Committee within 48 hours of the protested game. Draft Rules 31. The rules for the Men’s Annual Draft will be enforced as follows: 8.A) Each team must protect 8 or 9 players. Only players who were drafted or obtained via a trade will be eligible to be protected the following year. The only exception to this is if a 1st or 2nd round draft pick withdraws before the start of the season, the player who is picked up to replace that player will become eligible to be protected. 8.B) Draft order will be based on a combination of the final regular season standings (75% weight) as well as the playoff results (25% weight) from the previous season. The team with the lowest overall ranking will pick first in each round. 8.C) Teams must submit their protected player lists one week prior to the Draft at which point these lists will be made public to all teams. 8.D) Only players who played in the league the previous year are eligible to be picked in the 'top up round'. No new players are allowed to be picked until the first regular draft round. 8.E) The Draft will continue round by round until all players are drafted. If at the end of the Draft, some teams have fewer players than others, those teams with fewer players will be given players as they become available to the league according to the Draft order. 8.F) There will be no special Draft provisions for family members, friends or car pools. 8.G) Players who have been absent from the League for one year will be permitted to be protected by their previous team, however the team can still only protect 8 or 9 players. 8.H) Players who are unable to register or play from the beginning of the season due to special or medical circumstances but plan to return later in the season, can only do so with League approval. The League will place that player on an appropriate team. Players cannot return after the end of July. 8.I) Any team wishing to strengthen their team by bringing a new player into the league; will require Executive approval to have that player drafted by that team. If the request is granted, the player will be required to be protected. All teams will be notified of such a granted request. 8.J) Draft order for any new teams to the League will be determined by the Executive.

3 0ce03a111d94cf67747f51a166da56c0.doc 8.K) The executive will determine the 'trade window' (typically 1 week) that follows the draft where teams may make trades. Trades are not finalized until both teams confirm via email to the executive the players involved in the trade. Executive Oversight 32. The League Executive Committee will make all final decisions regarding the league (over previously noted rule changes and SC rules) when the League Executive Committee feels it is in the best interest of the league. 33. Balancing may be carried out at any time during the season and at the discretion of the League Executive Committee. 34. Any teams tied in the standings at the season’s end will have the tie broken in the following order: a. Total wins b. Head to Head Competition c. Run Differential (max of 8 runs per game) 35. Due to insurance restrictions, non-playing or non-coaching persons are not permitted on the playing field. Failure to comply will result in immediate forfeit. 36. Players under the age of 18 as of May 1st require parental or guardian consent in order to play in the league. 37. No individuals under 19 are permitted in the dugout unless they are acting as a batboy/batgirl. These individuals must wear a batting helmet. They must stay at or near the end farthest away from home plate when not retrieving the bat from the plate area. The batboy/batgirl must wait until the play is over before entering the ball diamond.

4