2013 lawyer's softball league rules and regulations

1. Games will be played per the schedule at the Truxton Park Fields (Collison Field, by the pool, and Griscom Fields # 1 and # 2) on Thursday evenings.

2. Two games will be played on the Griscom Fields, and three games on Collison every Thursday. The first game will start at 6:30 p.m. and the second game will start at 7:45 p.m. The 7:45 game on Collison will be a double header, and the second game will start following the conclusion of the first, approximately 9:00 p.m. If a team wishes to take batting practice, then that should occur prior to 6:30 with due regard to any other users of the facility. IF A TEAM CANNOT FIELD THE MINIMUM NUMBER OF PLAYERS WITHIN 10 MINUTES OF THE START TIME, THE GAME IS FORFEITED. Forfeit time for the first game of the double header is within 10 minutes of the start time. If the forfeiting team is unable to field a team within 25 minutes of the original start time, they will forfeit the second game of the double header also.

3. The league dues for this year are $ 515 per team and is payable to the AABA by the start of the season. The fee covers field rentals, umpires and softballs, as well as money for various other league activities and trophies.

4. The determination if a game is rained out will be made by the City of Annapolis Rec Dept., or the umpires on the field. A rain out number will be listed on the schedule. Rained out games will not be rescheduled.

5. There shall be a minimum of two women playing in the field at all times.

6. The minimum number of players needed to start a game is eight - two of which must be women. IF A TEAM PLAYS WITH ONLY EIGHT PLAYERS, THE NINTH POSITION IN THE BATTING ORDER WILL BE RECORDED AS AN AUTOMATIC OUT EACH TIME THAT POSITION IS SUPPOSED TO BAT.

7. Teams may have two designated hitters, as long as one is female. (12 person line-up)

8. Free substitution will be allowed at all times.

9. Ringer Rule - Each team must have 7 legitimate players on the field at all times. The definition of a legitimate player is as follows: "Any attorney, support staff employed by an attorney in a legal related business on a regular basis, any paralegal, any employee of any of the County Courthouses or their agencies such as the Clerk of the Court and Sheriff's Office, State's Attorney's Office, Office of the Public Defender, any employee of the Department of the Legislative Services, any employee of the Governor's Office or the Office of Budget Management, any person who has played in the league prior to the 2006 season. All teams are urged to recruit new players from members of the Bar Association.

10. Every batter will begin with a one strike, one ball count. (1-1). A batter is out after three strikes. A batter is granted a walk after four balls. With 2 strikes a batter fouling off 2 more pitches will be called out on strikes.
11. Male batters will be pitched a 12" softball. Female batters may choose between the 12" ball and an 11" ball.

12. 150' rule - outfielders are prohibited from playing any closer than 150' from home plate when a women is at bat. The 150' will be marked by a traffic cone on the foul lines.

13. Slaughter Rule - There shall be a 10 run slaughter rule in effect for every game as follows: After the losing team bats in the 5th inning, if losing by 10 or more runs the game is ended.

14. Men must use Easton Hammer SK4 softball bats. Women use aluminum and must adhere to Banned Bat List.

15. Three (3) home runs per team per game. Any more are outs.

16. Time limit: No new inning will start after 1 hour and 15 minutes from the start of the game. If the game is ended by operation of this time limit rule, the score of the game will revert back to the last official inning. Games can end in a tie.

17. The umpires shall make all calls on the field.

18. The State Bar tournament team will be selected by the manager of the first place team at the end of the regular season and each team will select one player to represent their team.

19. Seeding for the post season tournament which will involve all teams seeded by record. In the event of a tie between two or more teams record wise will be decided first by examining head to head records and then by coin flip.

20. To be eligible for the playoffs the player must have played in at least one regular season game. However, a member of the AABA can be added at any time.

21. All rules stated above supercede any written ASA slowpitch softball rules, as noted in #4 on the rules sheet attached to the schedule.