Colonial Days Wiffle Ball Tournament Rules

(revised May 2014)

1) GENERAL

a) You MUST be 21 years old to drink alcohol; please do not drive after drinking.

b) Please stay out of the house and off the porch unless you have permission.

c) The use of foul or abusive language will not be tolerated (family atmosphere) and could result in you being asked to leave the tournament grounds.

d) The tournament will take place rain or shine so please come prepared to play.

e) With the exception of the Championship Games (games 30 and 31) a player from the previous gamemust sit in the double line chair to assist the home-plate umpire.

f) Chris Ruocco, Nathan Ruocco and Bob Turner are the acting Tournament Commissioners and will resolve all disputes.

g) Starting in 2012, each team’s entry fee monies must be turned into Chris Ruocco by 1st week in May or you could loose your “held spot” in the tournament. If a team looses their spot there could be a “play-in” tournament to determine the spot(s) available to fill the vacancies in the actual

tournament. The winner(s) of the play in tournament will then own the rights to a spot in the tournament. After the 1st week in May, there will be a $50 late-fee charge so get your entry fee in.

h) Tournament Fees are as follows:

2-player team = $130 ($60/player plus $5/player for scholarship program)

3-player team = $195 ($60/player plus $5/player for scholarship program)

 

2) GAMES

The tournament format is 24 team double elimination. Each game is 5 innings long with a coin flip prior to the game to determine the home/visitor teams. If any game is still tied after 5 innings then a 6th inning will be played. If after completion of the 6th inning, the game is still tied then apply the tie-breaker rules.

TIE-BREAKER RULES:

a) team with the most HITS wins and if hits are tied then

b) team with the most HOME RUNS wins and if homeruns are tied then

c) team with the most TOTAL BASES wins and if total bases are tied then

d) coin flip determines the winner

Note: The Championship Games (games 30 and 31) will play as many extra innings as needed in order to produce a winner (the tie breaker rules will not apply).

The first game will be played at 5:30pm sharp on Friday and we’ll attempt to play as many 1st round games as possible (Commissioners will make the call on darkness). Please come prepared to play onFriday as we may get the entire 1st round completed. The games will resume at 7:00am on Saturday. You must be ready to play when it’s your turn to play. Your team will be given a 5 minute grace period

after which time the team may forfeit or one team member can play alone. The missing team member will be scored as out for every time they would have batted.

 

3) TEAMS

a) Teams may consist of either 2 or 3 players

b) Up to 3 players may play in the field at one time

c) You have the option of batting 2 or 3 players but:

* If you start with 3 batters then you must finish with 3 batters

* If you start with 3 batters and one batter is unable to bat for any reason then that spot in the order will be an out for every time that batter was supposed to bat.

* If you choose to bat 3 players, only 1 of those players can act as the catcher (to save the batter’s ups) at a time. You may alternate who that player is but only the player directly behind the batter counts.

d) If you start with 2 batters then you must finish with 2 batters

* If you only bat 2 players, you may pinch-hit with the 3rd player once in a game and that 3rd player will continue to bat in that spot.

* The 2nd player who was pinch-hit for can not bat again in this game but that player may play the field again and act as catcher again.

e) At times, special circumstances with player availability may arise and those situations will be left to the discretion of the Commissioners to allow a substitute.

 

4) BATTING/SCORING

a) Only the official regulation size 32” yellow wiffle ball bat is allowed. You are not allowed to “load” or cork the bat. Tape must stay below the dimples on the handle.

b) 1 swinging strike or any foul ball that is not cleanly caught by the batter or their partner is an out. Catching a foul ball “saves” the batter’s up (count unchanged). The batter or partner may leap from behind foul line and tip the ball back to his partner. If the pitcher interferes in any way with the batting team’s attempt to catch or tip back a foul ball then the batter’s ups are saved (countunchanged).

c) If the batter knocks down or catches a pitched ball with their hands then the pitch will be called astrike.

d) Pitches which inadvertently hit the batter’s bat on the fly are considered a foul ball and unless caught by the batter or catcher will be an out.

e) WALK = 4 called balls (was new rule in 2011).

f) SINGLE = batted ball that makes contact with the ground before the double-line and makes contact with back fence (excluding the left field corner area).

g) DOUBLE = batted ball that lands over the double-line (behind the pitcher), or makes contact with back fence on the fly, contact with side of the garage on the fly. Any batted ball that is not cleanly caught by the fielders which lands in the above areas is a double.

h) HOMERUN = batted ball that clears the back fence on the fly and makes it inside either “foul pole”. All close calls are left to discretion of the umpire crew with the home plate umpire making the final determination as they have the best angle.

* No actual running of the bases. Ghost runners will advance and score based upon how far the batter advances (examples: with runners at 2nd and 3rd a double will score 2 runs while a single would score 1 run and a walk would score no runs.)

j) Batting out of Order: If it is a score keeper error then just redo with correct order. If it was a player error (or the players failed to ask the scorekeeper) then the player who was supposed to bat 1 st is OUT and then next batter is up. If you happen to go through 2 batters out of order then both are out and next batter is up.

 

5) PITCHING

The home plate umpire will call balls and strikes. You may politely disagree with an umpire’s call of ball or strike but disrespectful arguing will not be tolerated. The strike zone will consist of the batter’s knees to the batter’s arm pits while the ball crosses the 17-inch wide plate (including the corners).

2 called STRIKES = OUT (1 swing and a miss or a foul ball is still an out).

* 4 called BALLS = WALK (note: this is a change starting in 2011)*

This is a slow pitch tournament (home plate umpire’s discretion). The first “deemed fast pitch” will result in a “no pitch” and a warning to the pitcher. Every “deemed fast pitch” after the warning will be called a ball. If the batter chooses to swing at a pitch that was “deemed fast” the ball is “live” but the umpire may still issue the warning (meaning subsequent fast pitches would be called balls). The umpires are being asked to be strict on making this call starting this year (2011).

Pitchers are not allowed to intentionally scuff, cut, wet or degrade the ball in any way to gain an

advantage over the batter.

 

6) FIELDING

a) All trees are “in play” and therefore a ball caught out of the trees is an out. Conversely any ball which bounces off a tree and lands in the double territory is a double. If the ball hits a tree and goes over the fence it is a homerun. However if a ball becomes “stuck” in a tree over the double territory the ball is “live” until the home plate umpire and double line chair umpire confer that the ball is “stuck” and call the ball “dead”. The batter will continue batting with the same pitch count. If a batted ball becomes stuck in a tree over the fence then the home plate umpire will make the call on either a dead ball or homerun.

b) If a batted ball is touched and then dropped by either fielder while their foot is in the double territory or in contact with the double line itself then batter is awarded a double even if the ball lands in the out territory. If a fielder dives for a ball from the double territory and you are in the air and make contact with the ball then you must catch the ball; otherwise it is a double.

c) Any intentional running into or climbing of the fences will result in Homerun.

d) The area designated in the far left field corner is a “no fielding zone”. A ball hit into that corner on the ground is an automatic out. This rule was made to protect the fielder and the fence from having a collision. A ball in the air is still a double.

e) The “home plate umpire” is in play. The “double line umpire” is not in play.

f) The signs are part of their environment and therefore a sign hung on the fence can be considered like the fence while a sign in the trees is considered like the trees.

g) The fielders (not including the pitcher) must line-up behind the double-line until the pitch leaves the pitcher’s hand. Violation of this rule will result in a called ball. There is no grace on this rule (i.e. it can be called on the first infraction).