WESTERN  WAYNE  COUNTY GIRLS 

FAST  PITCH SOFTBALL  LEAGUE

 

 

I.             MEMBERS

Members of the Western Wayne County League are PC Pride, Thunderbirds, Novi, Northville, Livonia Storm, Livonia Wild, Garden City, South Farmington Wildcards, Dearborn Heights Wild, Trenton, Allen Park, Flat Rock, Raiders Fastpitch, Brighton, Hurron Valley Warriors, Chelesa, Carleton, Saline, Westland, Dearborn Devils, South Lyon, Howell Hurricanes, Grosse Ile, Lincoln Park, Wyandotte, and NDHBL. New members are allowed with two-thirds approval of the membership.

 

II.         MANAGEMENT

A President and a Director from each community will run this management. The President will be elected by the board and will be paid for his services.  It will be the President’s responsibility to pay all league fees and services.  The President will also be the acting treasurer and secretary.  The remaining funds after the softball season will be considered the pay for this position.  Minimum fee $50.00 per team will be included in the league entry fee. It will be the Presidents responsibility to create the league schedule, organize the umpire schedule, publish the league standings every two weeks, collect player contracts and verify team rosters, and to organize the league meeting for the following season. The President will also have an equal vote as the directors when voting on league issues.  Playing field location and maps to these fields will be the responsibility of the community Directors.

 

III.       RULES AND COST

The Official USSSA Softball Rules shall govern all games with the exception of special rules set by this league. Umpires will be furnished by this league and will be sanctioned by USSSA.  All teams must be sanctioned in USSSA and will be the responsibility of each team to obtain this number.  All teams playing in this league will be required to show proof of insurance from their organizations. If insurance is not available by your league, insurance can be purchased through USSSA.  Following is the projected cost per team, which includes one umpire per game, softballs, trophies, league expenses and Administration fee for the President.  A $100 deposit will be required for all teams when teams are slotted for league play.  This deposit will be lost if a team drops out of the league after the league schedule is made.

 

                        12 game schedule     cost   $500 

            13 game schedule     cost   $520

            14 game schedule     cost   $540          

            15 game schedule     cost   $560

 

IV.       ELIGIBILITY

Team members must be registered in the organization in which they will be participating. Each team will be required to have on file with the league President a signed contract of each girl along with a copy of the girl’s birth certificate. This information must be on file before the first game is played. No new team players may be added after June 21 for 10u, 12u and 14u teams. 16u and 18u teams may make roster changes until July 1. No boundary limits are set at this time but for future years the board may require boundary limits. The purpose of this league is to promote community participation and only girls from your community/school should be playing on your travel team.

 

 

            A.        PLAYERS ELIGIBILTY

The number of players per team shall not exceed 15 players. A player must be released before another player can be signed if 15 players are on the roster. No players can be added after July 1, of any year. The player's age is determined by her age as of December 31, 2008.  Ex. (If a girls is 14 at this date and turns 15 any day after December 31st she is eligible to play 14 and under). Players may not move from one roster to another at any time. No dual rostering is allowed.  Players from a lower division team registered in the WWCL may play on an older team to prevent forfeiture of games.  Ex. (a 12 year old from Livonia could play on a 14 & under Livonia team to prevent forfeiture, this player cannot be registered on both teams).

 

            B.         AGE DIVISIONS

                   18 year old:     games will be as doubleheaders on Thursdays season starts June 12.

                   16 year old:      games played on Monday and Wednesday beginning June 10.

                        14 year old:      games played on Monday and Wednesday beginning June 1.

                        12 year old:      games played on Tuesday and Thursday beginning June 2.

                        10 year old:      games played on Tuesday and Thursday beginning June 2.

 

 

C.               COACHES CONDUCT / PLAYERS CONDUCT

A suspension rule will apply to coaches or players thrown out of games.  For the first offense a one game suspension will apply for the coach. A second offense will result in a two game suspension for the coach.  Any coach who is thrown out three times will be banned from the WWCL.  Any player who is thrown out of game for bad conduct will be suspended the next league game. Further player infractions will be determined by the League President .  All suspensions are reviewable with the League President upon request.

 

 

V.                 EQUIPMENT

 

A.                 Teams must wear numbered shirts and uniforms.

 

B.                 Game balls will be 12 inches in circumference for all leagues except the 10 and under.  Their game balls will be 11 inches in circumference. All game balls will be furnished by this league but will be the responsibility of the managers to bring the balls to the games. Both teams will be required to furnish extra balls (not necessarily new) if bad weather is a problem.

 

C.                 The pitching distance will be 35 feet for the 10 and under league, 40 feet for the 12u and 14u league and 43 feet for the 16u and 18u teams. Bases shall be placed at 60 feet for all age groups.

 

D.                 All teams will be required to have a home field unless approved by the managers of that Age Group.

 

E.                  All batters, runners, player coaches, and on deck batters will wear batting helmets.  All age groups will wear caged helmets when batting.

 

 

 

VI.       GAME INFORMATION

 

A.<                 The winning manager will call in the winning score.  (734-397-3888 or 248-576-5823).  All scores must be registered within 48 hours of the game. Scores maybe emailed to buckhorn50@aol.com.  Standings will be listed on our web site at www.go2wwcl.com

 

B.                 The home team will be considered the official scorekeeper. It is the manager's responsibility to check each inning to verify the official score.  All discrepancies must be reported to the umpire.

 

C.                 Rainouts will be declared by the home team no earlier than three hours before the scheduled game. Please make sure that the visiting team manager and umpires' association is contacted as soon as possible to prevent unnecessary travel.      

 

D.                 Rainout games will be held on days during the week in which league games are not scheduled. All rain out games must be played within two weeks of the scheduled game if possible. Rescheduling will be done by the managers and the league President and chief umpire will be notified as the rescheduled date.  If the managers can not agree on a date the President will schedule the game for them.

 

E.                  Suspended games due to rain or lightning which have not reached the legal innings played (3 innings) will be decided by the League President if they will be replayed or considered as no game played in the standings.  A game which the President deems necessary will start over as a new game. There will be no continuation of games suspended. If lightning is spotted, play will be suspended immediately. A decision by the umpire on the game will be made within 20 minutes.

 

F.                  All protest will be done in writing and will have a 50 dollar fee which will be returned if the protest is won. All protest must be verbally given to the umpire in the field at the time of the infraction. The protest must occur before the next ball is pitched. Failing to protest verbally cancels all opportunity to protest. No protest will be made on a judgement call. A written protest must be filed with 48 hours and must sight the section and the rule violated in the USSSA rulebook. All losing protest money will be turned over to the league.

 

G.                 Trophies will be given to the first place winners for all divisions. Any division which has 8 or more teams will have first and second place trophies.

 

H.                 All player or spectator accidents will be reported to the President within 24 hours of the accident.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DIVISION  RULES

 

PLAYING THE GAME

 

A.                 Game time will be 6:30 for all single games and 6:00 for all doubleheaders. When a doubleheader is scheduled for two different teams the second game will start at 7:30. The first game of all doubleheaders will not start any new innings after 7:20.  Second game of the doubleheader has a two-hour time limit if lights are available.

 

B.                 All games will have a two hour time limit.  The schedule game length is seven innings, but extra innings are allowed if the teams are tied and the time limit has not been reached.  If the teams are tied after the time limit both teams will be given a tie in the standings. No international tie breakers in league play.  A mercy will be called if a team is leading by 12 runs after 5 innings or 8 runs after 6 innings. No exceptions.

      

C.           A legal starting lineup is a minimum of 9 players. The nine players listed in the official batting order must be on the field to start the first inning of the game. Games can be played without a legal lineup if the managers agree. No games will be played when a team has seven or fewer players available.  If a team has only eight batters, the ninth batter will be an automatic out.   To help prevent forfeitures and postponements the league does allow girls from younger age groups to play up a division. The girl's must be a WWCL enrolled travel player to play up.  All forfeits will be recorded as a 5-0 score

 

D.                 14/16/18 and under leagues:  A starting lineup can consist of 9 players and 2 additional hitter, (11 batters).  Any team which begins a game without any additional hitter will have only 9 batters for the entire game. If any of the additional hitters are injured, and no one is available to replace that hitter in the lineup, that hitter will be skipped in the batting order and will not constitute an out. The injured additional hitter doesn't constitute an out anytime during the game and cannot be used on the field as a defensive replacement at anytime after the injury.

 

E.                  Any player in the original batting lineup who has been replaced by another batter, may re-enter the game provided the player occupies the same batting position in the line up.  The player removed for the starter re-entry is no longer available for hitting.

 

F.                  Run rule limit.  The maximum runs allowed per inning will be 5 runs. Once a team has scored 5 runs the teams will change sides.  The 5 run rule applies to all innings including the last inning.

 

G.                Free defensive substitution is allowed for all players. This means that any player on the bench who is not in the official batting order may play in the field at any time after the first inning.

  

H.                 Pitchers are limited to 4 innings for a 7-inning game. Extra innings are considered like a new game and the pitchers can pitch another 4 innings in an extra inning game. The four innings do not have to consecutive.  A single pitch in an inning will be considered a complete inning.  No partial inning will be considered.

 

I.                    Base stealing is permitted.  There is no leading off.  A runner stealing can run on the release of the ball except the 10 and under league.  This age group cannot leave the base until after the ball crosses the plate.  Also in the 10 and under there is no stealing of home plate.  Any runner thrown out for leaving early will be out. All runners leaving early in the 12/14/16 under leagues will be called out.  The 10 and under league if the runner leaves early they will be sent back to the base in which they came. If the runner leaves early again, they will then be considered out.

 

J.                  Bunting is allowed.

 

K.                A batter can steal first base if the catcher doesn't catch the third strike and first base is unoccupied. The batter must beat the throw to first base to be considered safe. If there is two outs and first base is occupied the batter can steal first base if the catcher doesn't catch the third strike. This rule does not apply for the 10 and under league.  The batter is automatically out on the third strike.

 

L.                  The batter will be allowed unlimited foul balls on her third strike except for bunting.

 

M.               A courtesy runner can be used for either the catcher or the pitcher at any time. The courtesy runner has to be a player who is not in the official batting lineup.  In round robin batting leagues, or leagues in which no extra players are available, the last out will be the courtesy runner.

 

N.                Automatic intentional walks.  For an intentional walk the pitcher will not pitch any balls. The pitcher will let the umpire know that she wants to walk the batter and the batter will be awarded first base automatically.

 

O.        Steel spikes are not allowed in any age group 16u or younger..

 

P.         Round robin batting is required in the 10/12 and under leagues.  If a player is ejected from the game, when they come to bat they will be an automatic out.  If a player is injured or leaves early from the game, they will be skipped in the batting order with no penalty.  If a team falls below the nine player limit in the batting order, the ninth spot will be an automatic out.

 

Q.                The 10 and under league outfielders are required to play at least 20 feet behind the infield bases.

 

R.              On close plays at any base except first base, the runner shall slide or give themselves up.  A player can be called out and even removed from the game if the umpire feels that the contact should have been avoided.