2016 Stonewall Kickball Rule Book

Stonewall Kickball Pittsburgh brings together members of the LGBT community and our allies & friends to play games on Sundays. It’s about more than just kickball; it’s about building a real community that interacts in a variety of settings, across age groups and genders. We believe every Pittsburgher, regardless or athletic ability or previous experience with leagues, should have the ability to feel comfortable playing kickball. Our league aims to create a group of people who enjoy each other’s company so that we can strive for friendly and fun competition.

GENERAL

SPORTSMANSHIP and SOCIAL ATMOSPHERE • A paramount goal for Stonewall is to provide a fun, social atmosphere. In order to promote this atmosphere, unsportsmanlike conduct will not be tolerated. • We encourage each player to join Stonewall Kickball Pittsburgh’s Facebook Page and to actively engage with other members of the league. We welcome all active players to promote their team or individual interests; players or teams may announce upcoming events, or to communicate directly with League Leadership. Stonewall Kickball Pittsburgh reserves the right to remove content that league leadership feels is offensive in nature or doesn’t not meet the standards of our community. • Any behavior that is deemed violent, harassing, and/or inappropriate in any way, as witnessed by the , Stonewall Sports Pittsburgh Board of Directors, or league leadership will result in the following actions: o 1st infraction: The officiating umpire or league leadership will issue a warning to the player. o 2nd infraction: The player is removed from the current game and must leave the premises immediately. Depending on the severity of the infraction, further discipline or eviction from the league may occur, which will be determined by league leadership o 3rd infraction: The player will be removed from playing for the remainder of the season. o No refund will be issued for suspension from play or the league for any infraction. Player may appeal ruling to Stonewall Sports Pittsburgh Board of Directors. • A player who is ejected from a game must leave the premises (field/park) immediately. Play will not resume until the ejected player has left.

• The umpire, in consultation with league leadership, reserves the right to end a game or call a timeout at any point. If the game is ended due to unsportsmanlike conduct or a violation of the code of conduct the offending team will be issued a forfeit. • Captains are to be the only team liaison to discuss any call or rule with the umpire during game play. A captain is required to use a team timeout to speak with the umpire. If the umpire reverses the call, the team will be reissued a timeout. If the umpire does not reverse the call, the team will be charged a timeout. If no timeouts are left, the captain is not permitted to stop play to argue a call.

CODE OF CONDUCT • All participants must adhere to all rules and regulations posted for the use of a City of Pittsburgh park, including no alcohol, glass containers of any kind, or drug use. • All participants in the league assume the risk of injury. Stonewall Sports Pittsburgh, Stonewall Kickball, league leadership, and its volunteers shall not be liable for injury to person, loss or damage to personal property arising from or in any way resulting from participation in the league.

WEATHER POLICY • The decision to call a game day (league-wide) rainout will be made as early as possible and will be updated to each player via the email that they used at the time of registration and Stonewall Kickball’s Facebook Page. • Games will be played in rainy weather. Rainouts will not be called unless conditions on the field are extremely poor or the weather is deemed dangerous by the league leadership • Umpires will consult with league leadership and a decision will be made to call a game due to darkness or lightning at the beginning or during any game. Game length will determine whether the game is considered complete or will be rescheduled.

TEAMS PLAYERS • To be considered eligible to play a player must: o Be at least 21 years of age by the date of the first o Properly registered through the approved registration process o Sign the current season’s league liability waiver • To be considered eligible to participate to play, o Players must wear the official league t-shirt designated for the current season. While players are permitted to where additional layers for weather conditions, the players official league t-shirt must be one of the layers. o Players must wear shoes to participate both in kicking and fielding. Metal cleats are not permitted, but plastic cleats are and are encouraged. o Players are permitted to wear protective equipment (such as athletic braces) that doesn’t offer any unfair performance advantage (such as

gloves, which are not permitted). Personal equipment deemed “performance enhancing” by the umpire must be removed in order for the player to be eligible to play • Players can only play on one team per season

PRIOR TO GAME PLAY • The maximum number of players permitted to register for one team is 20 • Teams must field no more than 11 players per . 8 players are required to start a game. • Fielding teams must assign one pitcher and one catcher in each inning • Any player that is present & is eligible to play must be placed in the kicking order. Players that are present, however, are not required to field. This has been commonly known as the “if you pay, then you play” rule. Teams are not allowed to discourage any player from playing. If, after an investigation by the league, it is determined that a team willfully and intentionally discouraged a member of their team to play the team will receive a forfeit. Violators are subject to additional penalties at the discretion of league leadership • Each team will issue numbers (2”-4” in height) to be placed in the upper right corner on each player’s shirt. • A kicking order (with players name and number from player’s shirt) must be submitted to the umpire before the game begins and all teams must kick in the written order. The umpire will share kicking order to opposing team’s captain if requested. • Players that are not present at the start of the game will be removed from the kicking order. If a player arrives late they will be added to the end of the kicking order unless the entire order has kicked once. However, the late arriving player may field at the start of their team’s fielding inning regardless of what inning it is

BASE REFS • Each team is required to identify three individuals to base ref. These names must be turned into the head umpire by the Friday before scrimmage/practice game for each season. • Each team will be required to supply at least one (periodically two) base ref(s) each Sunday during the official season. • Base refs are to arrive ten minutes prior to the start of the game they will be officiating. • A team that fails to supply a base ref to their assigned game will be penalized with a two run deficit at their next scheduled game. If a team that fails to provide a base ref does not have an upcoming scheduled game two runs will be deducted from the team’s last game played.

GAME SCHEDULE START TIME • Game schedule will be released to all registered players by the league leadership prior scrimmage day.

• If a team is not able to supply the minimum amount of players (8) after 10 minutes from the scheduled start time of the game, the game will be considered a forfeit.

GAME LENGTH • Regulation games are 5 . o Once a game has been played for 45 minutes (not including time outs), a new inning will not be started and the umpire will call the game at the completion of the current inning. • A game that is called off by the umpire after 3 full innings of play shall be considered a regulation game and will not be made up. The game score at the end of the last full inning shall determine the winner. • A game that is called before 3 full innings of play shall not be considered a regulation game and shall be rescheduled and restarted from the beginning. Make-up game day will be decided by the league leadership • If a game has played for 3 full innings and a team is leading by 10 points or more, the umpire will call the game and captains will decide whether to: o End the game, or o Continue to play as an umped scrimmage/practice game up until the end of the 5th inning. In this case, no additional runs will count in the final score, and o The decision must be agreed to by both captains

EXTRA INNINGS • Regulation games can end in a tie. • During the post season (playoffs), if a game is tied after 5 innings additional innings will be played until one team is determined to be the winner by having a higher score at the end of a fully completed inning.

GAME RULES PLAYING FIELD • League leadership is responsible for determining a suitable playing field. The League and/or its designated Umpires & Referees will prepare the playing field similar to a field. • The official size kickball will be 10” in diameter

CAPTAINS • Only captains may discuss or clarify calls with the umpire. In the captain’s absence a co-captain, identified to the umpire prior to the start of the game, will assume all captain responsibilities.

TIMEOUTS and SUBSTITUTIONS • The team captain may request three, 2-minute timeouts from the umpire. All game action in progress must be completed before a request may be made. o Play ends and the umpire calls a timeout when the umpire deems that all immediate play is completed.

• Captains are permitted to replace any field position during any inning. A captain must utilize a timeout in order to make all substitutions from the bench. • Pitching and Catching positions may be changed only once each per inning. A pitcher or catcher may only be changed between kickers. The captain is required to use a timeout to make these replacements as well. • If a team is out of timeouts a substitution will no longer be able, except for cases of player injury.

INJURIES • If a player is injured during the game, play will stop immediately, all runners will only be allowed to advance to the next base on the field, the injured player will be attended to and a replacement (if available) will be substituted. No team will be charged a time out. • If a fielder who is in control of the ball, is knocked down while making a play and possibly injured (as ruled by the ump or base ref) play stops, the runners are deemed safe and all other runners can only advance to the next base in the field. • If a runner is injured traveling to any base the injured runner can be replaced by an alternative runner once game play resumes. o Replacing an injured runner is only allowed if the injured runner successfully made it to base

GENERAL • Play ends when the pitcher has possession of the ball on the pitcher’s mound • Ball out of play: If a ball is overthrown to 1st or 3rd base and travels into spectators, bleachers, kicking team, or outside the fence line all runners may only advance to the next base in the field. It is the roles of the umpire and base refs to make sure that the baselines and field remain free of spectators and the team’s captain to keep their team that is “off” the field from interfering with game play • If the outfield, due to weather, is extremely muddy, the officiating umpire may rule, prior to the start of the game, that any ball kicked and landing into a muddy area will be ruled a double. The umpire must make this determination and inform each captain prior to the start of the game. • If a ball is popped or significantly deflated for any reason during the game, the play will be replayed with a new ball • A count of 3 outs by a team completes the team’s half of the inning. An out is the following: o Three strikes o Four fouls o A runner touched by a kickball at any time while not at base o A fielder throwing a ball and hitting a runner below the neck. o Any kicked ball that is caught in the air in fair or foul territory. o A fielder with control of the ball and tagging a base to which a runner is forced o A runner off his/her base before the ball is kicked.

o A runner that is physically assisted by a team member, a base ref, or other person o A runner runs outside the baseline to actively avoid being touched by the ball o A runner who fails to properly tag up on a caught ball o A runner who passes another runner. The passing runner will be ruled out.

PITCHING & CATCHING • A legal pitch must touch the ground at least twice prior to reaching home plate. If the ball does not touch at least twice it will be recorded as a “ball.” • A ball that is bobbled and then caught will be considered an out, so long as it doesn’t touch the ground before the player catches it. Runners tagging up may advance once the ball comes in contact with the fielder, whether they make a clean catch or bobble the ball before catching it. • It is considered a catch if the ball bounces from one player to another without touching the ground or any other object. If it hits a fence, tree, or anything else first it is not considered a catch. • Encroachment by a fielder, catcher, or pitcher is not permitted. 1st offense (regardless of position) will result in a warning. 2nd and future offenses (regardless of position) will result in the runner advancing to 1st base and other runners advancing to the next base (if applicable) • Encroachment is defined as: o A pitcher will be ruled as encroaching when they pitch from in front of the pitching stripe or advance beyond the pitching stripe before the ball is kicked. o A fielder will be ruled as encroaching if they advance beyond the imaginary line connecting 1st and 3rd base by way of the pitching stripe. o A catcher that touches a kicker, runs in front of the kicker prior to kicking, or is so close to the kicker that it restricts the kicker’s motion (ruled by the ump) will be ruled as encroaching.

KICKING • All kicks must be made by the foot or the leg below the knee. • All kicks must occur at or behind home plate. A kick in front of home plate is a foul. • Bunting is permitted • If a ball is kicked outside of the fence line, in fair territory, the play will result in a double and the kicker and all field players will advance two bases. • A strike is the following: o A pitch within the strike zone not kicked. The strike zone extends to 1 foot on either side of home plate and 1 foot high. o An attempted kick and miss by the kicker • A count of 4 balls advances the kicker to first base. A ball is the following: o A pitch outside of the strike zone o A ball that bounces from the pitcher’s mound to home plate less than twice o A ball that crosses home plate higher than 1 foot off the ground • A foul is the following:

o A kicked ball that lands in foul territory o A kicked ball that is just touched in foul territory, but not caught o A kicked ball that lands in fair territory, but touches foul territory at any time prior to reaching either 1st or 3rd base o A kicked ball that is touched by anything other than a fielder or runner (tree, batting cage, spectator) o A kicked ball outside of the kicking box or kicked in front of home plate • A fair ball includes the following: o A kicked ball that lands in fair territory, but travels into foul territory once beyond 1st or 3rd base o A kicked ball that is touched in fair territory, but knocked into foul territory by a fielder

IMPROPER KICKING ORDER • A claim of improper kicking order must be made to the umpire no sooner than the first pitch being thrown to the accused “wrong” kicker and no later than the first pitch thrown to the next kicker. Any resulting play is nullified if the kicker is ruled in improper order and an “out” will be recorded for the “wrong” kicker. Officiating umpire will notify the head umpire post-game of the improper kicking order infraction.

RUNNING • Runners must stay within the base line. • All runners should run towards and tag the Safety Base after kicking a fair ball from home plate. When leaving 1st base the runner should leave from the actual 1st base and not the safety base. • Runners may overrun first base, but if they are not attempting to advance to 2nd base they must stay in foul territory while returning to first base. • Fielders must stay out of the base line unless they are fielding a kicked ball. Fielders trying to make a forced out may have their foot on the base, but must lean out of the baseline. Runners hindered by any fielder within the base line shall be safe at the base to which they were running. • Neither leading off a base nor stealing a base is allowed. A runner cannot leave the base until the kicker has made contact with the ball or the runner on the base will be out. • Hitting a runner with the ball above the shoulder level with a direct throw or kick by a fielder is not allowed. Any runner hit above shoulder level in this matter is safe. If the runner intentionally uses their head to block the ball or is hit in the head while ducking to avoid the ball and is so called by the umpire, or if the runner slides and is hit above the shoulders, the runner is out. • If the runner is advancing after a kicked fly ball is caught or touched, runners must tag their originating base before running to the next base. If the runner has not moved from the base before the ball is caught or touched, the runner may simply run forward without a tag up. • All ties go to the runner.

• Base runners must not interfere with the play in progress. A base runner who does interfere will be charged with interference resulting in both the base runner and the batter-runner being called out on the play. • Ghost runners are not permitted

WEEKLY RANKINGS During the regular season, teams’ weekly rankings will be calculated as follows: • Standing Point Differential: sum of points awarded after each game based on games outcome (Win = 1.0; Tie = 0.5; Loss or Game Forfeit = 0.0) • If two or more teams are tied (same SPD), then the tie is broken in this order: 1. Team with more wins 2. If not resolved, then by “head-to-head” play 3. If not resolved, then by team with less points scored against (“runs allowed”) 4. If still not resolved, then by Leadership coin toss

PLAYOFF BRACKET: • For playoffs, teams will be ranked in the playoff bracket based on Team Rankings after the last full week of regular season game play has been completed.

UMPIRE RULINGS • A game forfeit will count as a “5-0 loss” against the offending team. • The games umpire will be the deciding factor on all rulings and will issue all final rulings. In order to keep the game moving forward, once an umpire states that it is his/her final decision all challenges will stop and game play will resume. • A game umpire is permitted to stop the game at any time to clarify a questioned ruling on the field. The game umpire should locate a member of League Leaderships (Commissioner or Head Umpire) to discuss and clarify the ruling on the field. The decision made from this discussion will be final.

APPENDIX of FIELD DIAGRAMS

FAIR BALL This diagram represents that a ball is considered fair if it is kicked in the kicker’s box and travels through the shaded area into fair territory:

NEUTRAL ZONE This diagram represents the “neutral zone” where a player will be called for encroachment: