SENIOR DIVISION SPECIAL RULES as of 2016
7. AGE LIMIT:
A. Any girl that is at least 15 years old and not more than 18 years old on the previous December or is 19 years old and was a high school Senior during the previous school year, is eligible for participation in Senior Division. Exceptions will be at discretion of Board of Directors.
8. PLAYING FIELD:
A. Bases shall be 60 apart.
B. Front of pitcher's plate to rear tip of home plate shall be 43 feet.
C. The pitcher's circle radius will be 8 feet from front center of pitcher's plate.
9. EQUIPMENT:
A. T-shirts or uniforms will be provided by the League and should be worn during all games. No altering of uniforms permitted, including removing sleeves or adding a player's name.
B. Catchers must wear full catcher's equipment. Certified equipment will be provided by the League as needed.
C. When warming up a pitcher, a catcher must wear a helmet/facemask.
D. A batting helmet, with facemask, must be worn by any batter, on-deck batter, base runner or player in the coach's box while the ball is live, as per NFHS rule 1-6. E. 12-inch balls provided by the League will be used.
F. All bats must conform to NFHS rule 1-5. G. Metal spikes are permitted.
10.PLAYERS AND SUBSTITUTIONS:
A. All players must appear in batting lineup at all times.
B. The minimum number of players required to begin or continue a game is 8 players. A grace period of 10 minutes from the scheduled time will be permitted. A team not able to field 8 eligible players will forfeit the game. Coaches can choose to play by mutual consent, but the forfeit will send.
C. No player can sit out defensively more than one consecutive inning, unless injured or requests to sit out.
D. If a player is injured, gets sick or has to leave a game due to extenuating circumstances, her absence in the batting order will not be an automatic out. An injured or sick player cannot play offensively or defensively. The opposing coach will be immediately informed of any changes in a player's participation.
E. Senior Division teams will be permitted to use any Junior Division player, with a signed parental consent form, as a substitute player to field a team of no more than 9 players.
F. A IOUI player substitute may be obtained when necessary to field 2 pitchers, with board approval.
G. A substitute player on a team with more than 9 players will sit out every other inning defensively. If a team has more than 9 players and 2 or more substitutes, the substitutes will alternate with each other defensively and regular roster players will not sit out.
H. Any substitute player(s) will be placed at the bottom of the batting order.
I. A late arriving regular roster player will be inserted at the bottom of the batting order. J. A substitute player will be allowed to continue playing after the arrival of a regular roster player.
K. A "Courtesy Runner" will be allowed for the catcher ONLY when there are two ONLY. The "Courtesy Runner" will be the most recent player in the batting order that made an out in that same inning. That catcher must catch the next inning. The intention of this rule is to allow the catcher time to put on catching equipment to speed up the game.
11.THE GAME:
A. National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) rules will apply except as amended herein.
B. A complete game wilt consist of 6 innings, no time limit.
C. If a game is interrupted due to weather, a game will be considered complete if 5 innings have been played, or 4 1/2 innings when the home team is ahead.
D. If a game is interrupted due to weather the game will continue from the point of interruption. An official rain delay sheet must be filled out and signed by both coaches. E. The maximum number of runs allowed per inning is 7 per team. There is no per inning batting order rotation limit.
F. A game is complete after 4 innings if a team has a 15 run lead or after 5 innings if a team has an 8 run lead.
G. A pitcher can pitch in a maximum of 4 innings per game. Any appearance in an inning shall count as 1 inning pitched. Re-entry in an inning will not be considered pitching in 2 innings.
H. If a pitcher hits three batters in any inning or 4 batters total in a game, that pitcher will not be able to pitch for the remainder of that game.
I. At the start of a game pitchers will be given 5 warm-up pitches. A relief pitcher will initially be given 5 warm-up pitches. A returning pitcher will be given 2 warm up pitches at the beginning of each half-inning.
J. A batter throwing her bat will be called out if in the umpires opinion there is an injury or interference per NFHS rules. There will be no warning.
12.TOURNAMENT SPECIFIC RULES:
A. If a non-championship game is tied after 6 innings, at the beginning of each subsequent half-inning the offensive team shall place at second base the last player in the previous inning to complete a full at bat.
B. A Championship Game, or potential Championship Game, will be 7 innings, except in run-rule situations when a team is ahead by 8 after 6 innings, or ahead by 15 after 5 innings, or ahead by 22 after 4 innings.
C. If a Championship Game, or potential Championship Game, is tied after 7 inning, at the beginning of each subsequent half-inning the offensive team shall place at second base the last player in the previous inning to complete a full at bat.
There is no limit on number of innings a pitcher can pitch in Tournament Games.