QUINTOWN MAJOR 70 LEAGUE RULES - 2017
*These rules are supplements to official Cal Ripken League Rules
2: Each team can carry a roster of up to 15 ballplayers; To play in the Quintown Cal Ripken League the player must reside within the official Quintown boundary and must play for the town that he or she resides. Cal Ripken states that if a player moves out of his or her boundary they may choose to play in their new league or the one they left but then must remain in the league that they chose until they age out of Cal Ripken.
There must be intent that all Major league rostered players that are present for a game must be given an opportunity to play 6 defensive outs and have 1 at bat in a six inning game. Playing time for players serving as alternates in a Major league game will be at the discretion of the Coach of the team they are serving as alternates for.
3: The annual All-Star game will be hosted by the participating towns on a rotating basis. The hosting schedule is as follows:
2017 – Sandown
2018 – Fremont
2019 – Kingston
2020 – Hampstead
2021 – Atkinson
2022 – Plaistow
2023 – Danville
2024 – Newton
4: Quintown baseball league distribution policy:
No town shall have more than a – 1 differential between its Major 70 and Major 60 teams without league approval. Approval must be voted on no later than the March meeting. An approval waiver may be obtained by the requesting town with a members vote, and will be good for that season only. The voting will consist of 1 vote from each board member of each participating town. The team applying for the wavier approval must submit a complete sign up roster including ages and number of applicants to support their reason for exceeding the differential guidelines.
4a: No team shall have more than eight 12 year olds on its permanent roster. This is a Cal Ripken rule.
5: The official Protest Board will be comprised of one officer from each town not involved in the dispute.
6: Voting, on all matters not otherwise covered by stated rules, will be performed by board members from each town represented in the Quintown league. One vote per town.
7: All make-up games are to be rescheduled within one week from date of postponement or the League Officers will reschedule it in the second week. Doubleheaders will be permissible; however, a pitcher can pitch in one game only. If no agreement on a reschedule date can be reached by both coaches, The Quintown Baseball League Officers will reschedule the game at the earliest possible date. If the coaches of the teams in question do not abide by the League Officers decision, the League Officers will have the power to declare a forfeit to one or both teams.
Pitching:
1: The pitcher’s glove shall not be white. No sweat bands, no long sleeve light colored shirts will be worn by a pitcher. (Example; white, gray, tan etc….)
2: Quintown Majors will use a pitch count limit this season. All pitchers must adhere to the pitch count rest requirements before pitching in another game. We will utilize the following table below as our guidance for # of calendar days rest for all live pitches thrown during the game. If a player reaches the “Daily Max” allowed while facing a batter, he may continue to pitch until the batter reaches base safely or is put out. Any team that violates the pitching rules will forfeit the game if the opposing team files a protest and the protest is upheld.
Required # of Days RestAge / Daily Max / 0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
9-10 / 75 / 1-20 / 21-35 / 36-50 / 51-65 / 66+
11-12 / 85 / 1-20 / 21-35 / 36-50 / 51-65 / 66+
3: Pitch count reporting: All head coaches must report pitch counts for both teams within 24 hours of game completion. Please send to
First Name, Last Initial, Jersey #, Total number of pitches thrown.
Pitch count and League Standings will be located on the following website:
http://www.leaguelineup.com/quintowngamereport
4: A pitcher will not intentionally throw a curveball or a derivative of (i.e. Curveball, slider, and knuckle-curve). The penalty will be a verbal warning for the first offense to each pitcher. Upon a second offense the pitcher will be removed from the mound. This judgement will be left up to the umpire. This pitch shall be ruled no pitch.
5: Balks will be called by umpire’s discretion according to league guidelines, which should be reviewed with umpire at ground rules meeting each game.
A. In April Balks will be called and explained by umpire for teaching purposes only (no penalty)
B. In May and Non-Playoff June games Balks will be called and explained by umpire with one warning being given per pitcher (no penalty). Each additional Balk by a pitcher after that pitchers warning will be called, explained, and enforced by umpire in accordance with Cal Ripken rules.
C. During the Playoffs Balks will be called, explained and enforced by umpire in accordance with Cal Ripken rules. NO Warning
Games:
1: Uniformed players, baseball shirts and hats from town are acceptable.
2: Teams will exchange line-ups and pitching summaries.
3: Weekday games will begin at 5:45 p.m. All games will have a grace period of 15 minutes before forfeiture. Early start is allowed if acceptable by both coaches.
4: If opposing managers cannot agree as to whether or not to start a game due to weather or field conditions, the umpire in chief will cast the deciding vote.
5: In order for a game to count as a completed game a minimum of 4 innings must have been completed, or 3 and 1/2 innings if the home team is ahead.
5a: If a game is called for darkness or weather after the 3 1/2 or 4 inning mark the game will be considered Complete. If you are unable to complete a full inning after this point in time for any reason then the score would revert back to the last fully completed inning.
5b: If a game is called-Suspended due to inclement weather or darkness prior to the 3 1/2 or 4 inning mark then the Continuation Rule will take effect and the game will be completed from the situation of suspension (same inning, same pitcher, same batter).
5c: Regular season games may end in a tie and will be considered COMPLETE provided 4 innings or 3 1/2 innings have been played if the Home Team is ahead. If the game is tied after 6 innings and Time Allows (start of new inning prior to 8 pm curfew) as long as both coaches & the umpire agree a 7th inning may be played to avoid a tie situation. However, keep in mind that if for any reason you are unable to complete the 7th inning the score reverts back to the end of the 6th and the game will end in a tie. Only 1 extra inning of play will be allowed during regular season play
6: No inning will start after 8:00 p.m. The start of an inning will be defined as when the last out of the previous inning is recorded.
7: Spectators between the backstop and dugouts can be asked to move by the coaches or the umpires if they are bothering the ballplayers.
8: Any ballplayer outside of the playing field shall have a helmet on at all times. Only 1 player on deck and 1 player at bat shall be outside the dugout at any time. Any on deck batter shall be outside the playing field.
9: Coaches may warm up pitchers while a catcher puts on his equipment. Masks are required but helmets are not required for coaches. Rostered ballplayers must wear a mask when warming up the pitcher. All players shall wear a protective helmet while on the playing field; chin straps are recommended but are not mandatory.
10: During the season and playoffs, coaches may coach the bases. This is optional.
11: Only the manager and 2 coaches and the scorekeeper are allowed on the field of play or in the dugouts.
12: The head-first slide rule will be enforced; there is no head-first sliding to advance a base. A head first slide is allowed when returning to a base from a lead.
13: The Dropped-Third-Strike rule will be applied in accordance with Cal Ripken rule 6.09 and 6.09B on page 66.
14: No slashing (presenting a bunt and then swinging away on the same pitch), results in automatic out. Base runners may not advance.
15: A player in the starting line-up who has been removed for a substitute may re-enter the game once, in any position in the batting order, provided:
a) His or her substitute has completed one time at bat and;
b) Has played defensively for a minimum of six (6) consecutive outs;
c) Pitchers once removed from the mound may not return as pitchers;
d) Only a player in the starting line-up may re-enter the game;
e) A starter, (s1) re-entering the game as a substitute for another starter (s2) must then fulfill all conditions of a substitute (1 at-bat, 6 defensive outs) before starter (s2) can re-enter the game.
f) A team may elect to utilize a tenth position in the batting order called and Extra Player (EP). The EP position is treated just like any other fielding position in that during the defensive portion of the inning, players can switch between positions in the field or EP position and their batting order position does not change. All players including the original EP player must play at least 6 defensive outs in the 9 field positions during the game.
16: For 50/70 level play a base runner cannot be more than 10 feet from the base he/she is leading from (Neither foot can cross the line marking 10 feet) until the pitcher begins his/her motion from the set position or wind up position. A line marking 10 feet from the leading edge of each base should be marked on the field by the home team.
17: There is no run limit per inning at the Major 70 League Level. No overall mercy rule.
18: Amending Cal Ripken rule page 82, rule # 9.01. Manager or Coach Ejection; and Manager or Coach who has been ejected from a game must immediately leave the playing field. Said person shall have no further participation in “any-part” of the game! Failure to immediately comply with this ruling will lead to suspension of the game by the umpire. (Continuation of the game will be rescheduled). All game ejections will be reported to the League President by both teams upon completion of the game. A first offense will result in a review by the League Board, with disciplinary action taken if necessary. A second offense will result in a review by the League Board and more serious disciplinary action WILL be taken
19: All games scores must be reported to:
within 24hrs or it will be considered a home team forfeit. Game date, division, opponent, location, and game score.
PLAYOFFS
1: All teams within the Quintown Major League program will be inclusive in the first round of playoffs which will be a double elimination tournament. In the event of an odd number of teams, the team with the best record will have a bye in the first round. If there are nine teams there will be a 1 game playoff between team 8 and team 9 to find the # 8 seed.
A: Odd number of teams; 1 buy, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, 4 vs. 5
B: Even number of teams; 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, 4 vs. 5
Tournament Schedule window will be set by Quintown League Officers prior to each season. Adjustments will be made prior to tournament and during tournament to accommodate for weather and field conditions. Tournament bracket slots and game dates will be released upon completion of the regular season or earlier if possible.
2: The second round and all following rounds will be broken down into 2 brackets. Teams who have no losses will play in the A bracket. Teams with one loss will play in the B bracket. Team will be eliminated from the playoffs once they have a second loss.
3: The final game will be between the last remaining A bracket team and the last remaining B bracket team. If the B bracket team wins the game, both teams would have one loss, a second will be needed to determine a champion.
4: In all playoff rounds except the championship game, the teams with the highest season placement will have the home field advantage for that game. For the championship game the A bracket team will have the home field advantage. If a second game is needed, home field will be determined by a coin toss at the conclusion of the first game. Winner of the first game will call heads or tails.
5: In the case of a tie for the season standings, determine by points earned from high to low(2 points for a win 1 point for a tie), the tie breaking procedure will be as follows:
A: Number of wins (high to low)
B: Head to Head record
C: Number of runs scored Against (low to high). This based on a per game average vs. total in the event the total # of games played is uneven
D: Number of runs scored For (high to low). This is based on a per game average vs. total in the event the total # of games played is uneven
6: League championship will be awarded at the conclusion of the last playoff game that determines the league champ. Not on the league field day.
A: A rotating trophy will be given to the Quintown Major League Champion to be passed on the following year.
7: In the event of a tie in a playoff game at the end of six innings, the game would continue as long as the innings are started prior to 8:00pm. No inning should be started after 8:00pm. If a seventh inning is started but suspended by darkness or weather, the game will continue on the following day at the point and exact game situation that it stopped. (I.e. same batter, pitcher, outs, score and count). If starting an inning close to 8:00pm it is suggested that you ask the umpire if he or she thinks the inning can be completed. If this situation is encountered and the game must be continued the next day the commissioner must be notified as soon as possible.
7a: The Continuation rule applies to any Suspended non-official game (Official Game according to Game Rule #5) –or- any extra innings in a playoff situation. Once a game becomes Official and is suspended for any reason it is considered a complete game. The score will revert back to the score of the last fully completed inning. If the score is tied then the Continuation Rule will take effect.