23 Club Baseball and Softball Rules for 2011 Approved March 30th, 2011 Softball rules updated February 2014 1. Player Eligibility: a. Players shall be assigned to leagues based on their age determined as of April 30 for Baseball and January 1 for Softball. Each player may be required to produce a copy of their birth certificate. The leagues shall be as follows: Baseball 5/6 Year-Old: T-Ball 7/8 Year-Old: Pacific “Pitching Machine” 9/10 Year-Old American 11/12 Year-Old National 13-15 Year-Old Babe Ruth Softball 5/6 Year-Old: T-Ball 7/8 Year-Old: 8U “Coach Pitch” 9/10 Year-Old 10U 11/12 Year-Old 12U 13-14 Year-Old 14U b. Each player must pay a registration fee before the player is allowed to play in a league game unless the player has a signed waiver from the 23 Club President or Commissioner of that league. c. Players are strongly encouraged to play in the league designated for their own age group. Players will be permitted to "play up" in another league that is generally for players one year older than the player. Playing in any other league shall require the approval of the 23 Club Board (the “Board”). d. A player with a known medical abnormality must have a written statement from a doctor stating that baseball activity will not adversely affect or pose an additional health hazard to the player before the player will be allowed to participate. e. Each league shall have a Commissioner as appointed by the Board. 2. Conduct: a. Coaches and players are to refrain from arguing. The umpire's decision is final. b. There shall be no distractions from opposing coaches or players in the bench or dugout area. The first violation by anyone on a team during a game will result in a warning from the Umpires. A second violation by the same or any other member of a team will result in ejection of the offending player/coach. c. No profanity, foul language, throwing of equipment or other unsportsmanlike actions shall be tolerated during any game from coaches or players. A violation of this rule may, at the sole discretion of the umpire, subject the offender to ejection from the game or forfeit of the game by the offender's team if the offender refuses to leave the premises. In leagues where umpires are not used, the team's coach is expected to enforce this rule. d. No tobacco products shall be used at any practices or games by umpires, coaches or players participating in the practice or game. Any person violating this rule will be warned, and if the noncompliance continues, excluded from practice or the game. 3. Grievance, Discipline and Dispute Resolution Process: a. If a complaint is logged with a league Commissioner by a member of the organization, Commissioner, coach, player, parent, or fan pertaining to any player or coach, the complaint shall be handled as follows: Step 1: Upon a first complaint against a person, the responsible league Commissioner shall handle and resolve the complaint unless the Commissioner in his or her discretion elects to refer the matter to Step 2; Step 2: Upon a referred or additional complaint, the matter shall be brought before a Disciplinary Review Committee appointed by the President. A Disciplinary Review Committee shall be composed of one officer, one other member of the Board and the responsible Commissioner. b. A Disciplinary Review Committee shall conduct any investigation and/or conferences they deem appropriate in the time frame that they choose to act. The Committee shall have the sole discretion to effect any remedy to resolve the matter even to the extent of totally disqualifying a player from playing any further and/or dismissing a coach for the balance of the season. The decision of the Disciplinary Review Committee is final and no further appeal shall be allowed. c. A "complaint" may include, without limitation, improper behavior by a coach or player such as criminal activities (baseball related or not), baseball activities on a field (whether home or away), activities at or around tournaments (away or home), activities around a baseball field (whether home or away), actions which reflect adversely upon the organization, or any similar actions which are taken by player(s) and/or coach(s), separately or jointly, whether alone or combined with other individuals whether or not the others are involved in the baseball program. d. There shall be no protests of judgment calls. If a coach desires to protest a rule interpretation by an umpire, the umpires and the coaches of the teams involved shall review the applicable rules. However, if evidence is not presented which will cause the ruling to be changed within 5 minutes of the original call, then the original ruling shall stand. Game time shall be suspended during the review time. 4. Organization of Teams: a. The President, along with each league Commissioner, shall set up and arrange the league teams for each season. b. Except for T-Ball and the 7/8 year-old league, it is the organization's policy to achieve the most uniform and competitive teams in each league. The following suggested procedure shall be used unless the Commissioner and the league coaches agree to another procedure: c. The Commissioner and coaches shall meet and impartially select team members. Every effort will be made to equalize the skill level of the teams. d. All league teams will consist of no more than 12 players. A maximum of 2 preferred players per team are allowed in all leagues except T-Ball. e. Each team shall be entitled to the preferred players assigned to the coaches of that team. All other players shall be divided into groups equal to the number of teams to be selected using a procedure to balance the skill level of the teams. f. There shall be absolutely no team preferences for late registrations. g. This procedure is not subject to the dispute resolution process provided for above. 5. Equipment: a. All bats must be official league baseball bats. No fungo or weighted bats will be permitted. Bats for all 12 year-old and younger leagues shall not be more than 33 3 inches in length, nor have a bat barrel in excess of 2 5/8 inches. Bats for all 10 year-old and younger leagues shall not be more than 33 inches in length, nor have a bat barrel in excess of 2 ¼ inches. No softball bats will be permitted in baseball games. b. Shoes with metal cleats or spikes are not permitted by any player or coach in all 12 year-old and younger leagues. c. Full protective headgear must be worn by all batters and base runners. This rule applies to regular games and practices and will be strictly enforced for the protection of the players. d. All catchers shall be required to wear throat protectors and male catchers shall wear protective cups. Failure to comply will result in that player not playing being allowed to play catcher. Catcher's masks must also be worn between innings when warming up the pitcher. e. Any player abusing baseball equipment will be dealt with accordingly. This may include suspension from the present or a future game. 6. General Playing Rules: a. Official Baseball Rules, as modified by Babe Ruth or Cal Ripken League Rules, will be followed except as otherwise provided for in these Rules. b. These Rules apply to all practice, regular season and tournament games except when tournament rules conflict with these Rules. c. There shall be no unnecessary contact by either a base runner or a defensive player. In addition: (1) Defensive players shall position themselves ahead of or behind the base path at all times unless fielding a hit ball. (2) In all 12 year-old and younger leagues, base runners must slide to avoid a collision on a close play, except at first base. The umpire will determine whether the player is counted out and/or ejected from the game. d. Hidden ball tricks are not allowed. 4 e. Dead ball areas in a non-enclosed field shall be designated by the umpire, but not less than a line from the corner of the backstop to the protective fence in front of the players bench and extended out indefinitely. f. Official Baseball Rules 6.02 and 8.04 concerning delays or stalling by the batter and pitcher shall be strictly enforced. 7. Games: a. All games will be played as scheduled, unless postponed because of weather. Postponement for any other reason must have the agreement of both head coaches and have the approval of the league Commissioner. Coaches are encouraged to have players on the field a minimum of 30 minutes before game. If teams desire to take infield, there shall be a 10 minute limit per team with the visiting team beginning infield 25 minutes before game time and the home team beginning infield 15 minutes before game time. There will be no infield prior to the second game unless time allows due to first game ending early. b. 23 Club shall arrange for Umpires for all League games. (1) 23 Club shall hold a clinic each spring for those interested in being Jr. Umpires. Those attending that year will receive a 23 Club Umpire T-Shirt at no cost to the participant. Those attending in that year and in the prior year shall be included on the 23 Club approved Umpire list. The umpires that have attended the clinic will be the Umpires that are called first to fill positions.