Division Statement
In this division, all girls should be comfortable with the rules of the game and know each position on the field. We maximize the potential for each player by encouraging them to play softball year round and take advantage of our year long clinics. This division supports player pitch only. All teams are responsible to develop pitchers for their team. Player positions are specialized in this division and there is less "trying" of positions. We follow all sanctioned Little league rules and promote sportsmanship and collegiality throughout the season. At the end of the season there are playoffs. We will play by the rules written in the Softball Little League Rulebook, with the below additions.
Rules
Game times will vary, please pay attention to your team schedule
No inning shall start two hours after the start of the game. Please pay attention to special rules for games held at Flynn Memorial Park where no inning shall start after 7:30 pm for early games or 9:30 pm for late games
All games will be played no matter how many players you have in attendance, if you have less than 7, the other team will give you players to help in the field
All games count in the standings.
Abuse of umpires by managers, coaches or fans will not be permitted. ZERO TOLERANCE.
The Little League Code of Conduct will be adhered to and enforced.
Smithtown Teams:
A full length game is 6 innings
An official game is when the trailing team has batted at least 4 times. However if you have played your allotted time, the game will be considered final regardless of the number of innings played. If both teams did not bat the same number of times, the score would be reverted to the last full inning completed.
Games will be rescheduled by the league in the case of any cancellation
All teams will make the end of season playoffs, which will be a single elimination tournament
Pitching
A single pitch thrown is the equivalent of one inning pitched.
4 innings maximum per pitcher in any week.
Calendar week begins Sunday and ends on Saturday.
For each game, different aged pitchers must either:
Combine to record three outs, OR
Combine to face nine batters
Examples:
A 12 yr old pitches the first three innings and then a 11 or 10 yr old pitches the fourth inning
A 12 yr old pitches the first inning and faces 9 batters, then another age comes in and gets 3 outs
A 12 yr old faces 3 batters, then a 11 yr old comes in and gets three outs and then the 9 yr comes back in or another 11 yr old comes in and faces 6 batters
The point of this rule, is to get multiple aged girls pitching, not just have the oldest girls pitch every game
These pitching requirements MUST be met within the first four innings of the game.If these minimums are not met, the team not meeting the requirements will lose the game, regardless of the on-field result.
Pitchers must be in contact with the pitching rubber at the start of the wind-up. Pitch must be delivered underhand not sidearm.
If the player is removed as pitcher, they can return to the pitcher's position as long as they don’t exceed their inning limit.
On the 2nd visit to the mound by the coach, the pitcher must be removed.
No balks are called.
Pitchers must be removed after three (3) hit batters in any inning or four (4) total in a game.
Batters hit by bounced pitch will be awarded first base; pitch will not count against pitcher as far as hit batter total.
Players must pitch from the proper distance of 40 feet, measured from the back tip of home plate to the front of the pitching rubber.
Catchers
”Speed up rule” is in effect, after the second out is recorded in an inning. Catchers occupying a base as a runner, must be run for by the last batted out. This will allow Catcher time to equip properly in order to prevent delays in starting the next inning.
Batting
Facemasks are MANDATORY.
Bats MUST be Little League approved, they must have the USA logo on them
All players are included in the lineup. (Continuous Line-Up)
Late arriving players should be added to the bottom of the batting order.
Players who leave early will have their spot in the lineup skipped without penalty.
Bunting permitted except when the coach is pitching. The batter may not wiggle the bat to distract the pitcher. Bunt is a batted ball not swung at, but intentionally met with the bat and tapped slowly. Holding the bat in the strike zone is an attempted bunt.
Infield Fly is not in effect
Drop 3rd strike is not in effect
Tagging up is in play at all times
Continuous Walk Rule: After drawing a walk, the batter may advance to second base on the same play. Batter must make a turn at first and go directly to second. Batter may not stop or return towards first without the pitcher attempting to make a play at second. Batter stopping or hesitating after turning first, will be called out.
All bases must be earned, no advancing on overthrows on steals/catcher pickoffs.
Stealing
Runner can leave on release of the pitch
No stealing of home.
Delayed steals are permitted.
No advancement on overthrow after steal attempt.
Penalty for leaving base early: One warning per team per game: runner is returned to base. If 2nd occurrence for either team, the runner is called out. This is a team warning not a player warning.
Bases
Fielding
Pitcher in control of the ball by the pitcher’s mound, the BALL IS DEAD. Runners more than halfway may advance to the next base (at umpire’s discretion).
On overthrow errors by any fielder (including pitcher/catcher) on balls put into play, runners may advance one base on each overthrow, the only base that cannot be advanced to is home, which must be earned.
Teams shall use a 9 fielder alignment.
No more than four infielders can be positioned on the infield (excluding the pitcher). Four outfielders must be positioned in the outfield grass.
No shifts. Two infielders will have to be positioned on either side of second base
No player shall be positioned in front of the pitching rubber
No player shall sit two consecutive innings, unless injured
A player can not exceed four innings at the catcher’s position per game.If a catcher catches three innings, that player cannot pitch in the same game.
Scoring
Maximum run rule is in effect. No player will bat after the fifth run is recorded in their half of the first five innings. If a player hits a home run over the fence only, all runs will count towards the score.
Run rule is not in effect for the sixth inning.
Mercy rule is 12 after four AND the leading team has met their age-related pitching requirements. If the team that is set to win by mercy has not met their pitching requirements, it will be an automatic loss.
All scores must be reported to the division Group Me, this includes a pitcher of the game scorecard which will have each team’s score, the lineup used (list all players who showed up) and the number of innings pitched by each pitcher (plus how old they are). Each team will need to post these scorecards. If you do not post this card by 24 hours after game completion, the game will be considered a forfeit with a score of (1-0).
PLAYOFFS:
All teams make the playoffs
Playoffs will be seeded according to regular season standings
3 points are awarded for a win, 2 points for a tie, and 1 for a loss
First tiebreaker for playoff seeding is games played, then wins, ties, losses. If still tied, a coin flip will be done by a neutral party from those teams.
For the playoffs, each pitcher will be allowed to pitch 4 innings instead of 3 innings.
Regular season pitching rules still apply
Official Rules PDF: Download Here