Co-Ed Rules

The North Atlanta Church League will use ASA rules to govern all play with the exception of the following league rules:

I GOVERNING BODY
The league commissioner (committee) will rule on all matters concerning the league and its rules. In the event of EXTRA ORDINARY circumstances a panel of the uninvolved coaches will rule on the event in question.

II CONDUCT
All players MUST CONDUCT themselves in a CHRISTIAN MANNER at ALL TIMES.

Unsportsmanlike conduct WILL NOT be tolerated. Coaches are responsible for their team's actions.

As this is a church league, profanity is NOT allowed on the premises. Any player using profanity will be ejected from the game.

Likewise, alcohol is strictly prohibited. Any team caught with alcohol on church premises will be given a warning for the first offense. The second offense will cause expulsion from the league.

Smoking is only allowed in the lower parking lot area. Those smoking anywhere on field level will be asked to extinguish their fire sticks. Continued smoking on the field area may result in forfeit, ejection, lung cancer or death.


III PLAYER ELIGIBILITY
All players must be at least 15 years of age to play in any game. There may be no more than three players age 18 or younger on any one team. A player must play in at least one half of regular season games to be eligible for tournament play.


IV GAME PLAY

Equipment


Game Ball - Each team will be responsible for supplying game balls for their team. The balls must be 12 inch, cor. 44 balls with a 375 compression, and have some visibility of "cor. 44" stamped on it. In order to keep the game moving, each team must keep extra balls in the rack near home plate. Balls DO NOT have to be new to start the game.

Uniforms - All players must wear a shirt with a number on the back similar to the ones on his/her team. The number must be at least 6" in height and a half-inch thick. Taped numbers are unacceptable. It is suggested that all shirts be of similar color. There will be a two-week grace period for teams to get their jerseys.

Shoes - Only rubber cleats and tennis shoes are allowed to play.

Bats – Only bats approved by the league may be used by men, ALL OTHER BATS ARE PROHIBITED. Female batters may use any ASA Approved bat, and are not subject to this list.

Approved Bat List:  If your bat (Male Batters) is not on this list, then it is considered illegal, and will not be allowed in any NACL game.  In order to get your bat added to this list, it must be submitted to the league via email, 24 hours prior to its use.  Information needed to approve a bat is, Make, Model and coloring.  The email will be replied to with the League’s decision on a particular bat.  If it is approved, it will be added to this list and you will have an email confirmation.  It is STRONGLY suggested that you carry this confirmation with you to you games.

Misc.

Protests - Only decisions where a rule might have been misinterpreted are considered to be protestable. Protests are never allowed on what are considered "judgment calls" – balls, strikes, safes, fair/foul and outs. Any manager protesting a game must submit a written report along with a fee of $25.00 to the NACL within 24 hours after the game being protested. The letter must contain the following: date, teams, and rule(s) violated Also make sure all specifics are included: rule quoted, player batting, outs, and occupied bases. Protests will be reviewed by the committee.  If the protest is upheld, the $25.00 will be refunded to manager. The game will be picked up from point of protest until completed.

Pre-Game Info


Warm-up - All warm-ups at the Northside Field must be done beyond the white line in the area behind the first base fence. Throwing will be in the direction of 1st base fence to trees.

Game Times - Game times will be at 6:30pm, 7:40 and 8:50pm. Game time will be considered the scheduled time or five minutes after the previous game ends whichever comes LATER.

Grace Period - There will be a 10-minute grace period to field the minimum number of players required to begin a game, on the 6:30pm game only. The Grace Period cannot be used to wait for the 9th and 10th players.

Line-ups - Line-ups are to be presented to the scorekeeper BEFORE that team bats in the first inning. The line-ups must consist of the number of men batting and the number of women. Line-ups must include the player's number and name. The game will not start until the visitor's line-up is turned in. You must have 8 players in the line-up to start the game and at the completion of a game. Any additional players arriving after the lineup is turned in, will be added to the bottom of the batting order, based on gender.

The maximum combination of males and females in the batting order is determined by the number available in the score book. The batting order must alternate male - female - male - female etc. If there are more females than males the females may bat back to back.

There must be at least 1 male in the line-up in order to play the game.

Forfeits - If a team's 8th player has not arrived by game time (or by the end of the Grace Period for the first game) that team forfeits the game. If both teams have less than 8 players the game will result in a double forfeit. If a team forfeits, a $25 fee must be paid by the following game. Two forfeits in a row or three total will result in expulsion from the league, at the discretion of the league committee, with no refund of dues.

With 30 hour advance notice to the league committee, there will be no forfeiture fee charged.

Time Limit - There will be an hour and 5 minutes on all regular season and tournament games. During championship games there will be no time limit. The scorekeeper will keep the Official time for all games. In case of extra innings, the game will continue until there is a winner regardless of how long it takes, but in order to keep from penalizing teams that play later in the evening, any game that is tied at the end of a complete inning after time has expired, each batter will come to the plate with a 3 ball - 2 strike count.  This means if they take a strike, they are out, if the take a ball, they walk, and of course they may swing.  The game clock starts on first pitch.


In the Game - A player is considered in the game if they are on the active batting order.

Player Position - There may never be more than 5 males on the field at any time. Male and Female players may be distributed in any fashion while maintaining one male and one female in the Battery (Pitcher and Catcher)


Outfielders must play behind the designated outfield line while a female is batting until the ball is struck. Infielders must play behind the bases while a female is batting and inside the outfeild grass. If a defensive player is in violation of these rules at the time the ball is struck, a ground rule single is awarded

Ball/Strike Count - A batter starts off with a 0-0 count and can go to 4 balls and 3 strikes. If a batter has 2 strikes (regardless of the count) and fouls the next pitch off it will result in a strikeout.

Batting - If a male walks, the following female has the choice to bat or walk also. The male will advance to second regardless of the female’s decision to walk or not.

If a team has only 3 females it must take an out when the 4th female's spot in the order comes up.

Any female hitting the ball over the fence will be awarded a homerun.

Any male hitting the ball over the fence will be awarded a ground rule double (All runners get 2 bases) up to 2 per inning, as a team. After the 2nd one in an inning, all others will be considered a ground rule single (All runners get 1 base).

Substitutions - Unlimited substitutions are allowed. The only restriction is once a player is substituted they must remain out of the game one full rotation in the batting order. All substitutes must be reported to the scorekeeper before the substitute enters the field.

Courtesy Runner - A team is allowed ONLY ONE male courtesy runner and ONLY ONE female courtesy runner per game. Once used, the player that used the courtesy runner may continue to use the runner throughout the game. However, they are the only ones that may use the runner from that point on.

A team may use a player not already in the game as a courtesy runner (this will not count as a substitution). If a team does not have a player that is not in the game, then the courtesy runner MUST be the last player to make an out or the last player to make an out before him/her if that person is batting or on deck. Men may ONLY be courtesy runners for men and women may ONLY be courtesy runners for women.



Run Rule - The mercy rule will be in effect. The mercy rule states that any team leading by 15 runs or more after 5 innings (4½ if the home team is ahead) will be declared the winner. The home team always gets the last at bat if they are losing.

Collisions - Both the base runner and fielder are responsible for avoiding collisions at all times. There can not be an intentional collision for any reason. If there is a collision at any base or home plate, it will be up to the discretion of the umpire as to fault. If the runner is at fault, he/she will be called out, if the action is intentional in manner or flagrant, the runner can be ejected from the game.If the fielder is at fault, the runner will be awarded the base, and if the action is intentional and flagrant the fielder can be ejected from the game.

In the event that a fielder has illegally blocked a base, the runner must slide or give him or herself up (i.e. alters their speed or direction in order to avoid the collision), they can not intentionally run into the fielder. If a runner chooses to give himself/herself up to avoid a collision, he/she may still be awarded the base if in the umpires opinion the fielder was illegally blocking the base as set forth below. No fielder shall block a base at any time unless the fielder has possession of the ball WELL IN ADVANCE of the runner reaching that base.

Field Particulars


Out of Play - Anything outside of the left yellow line that extends from the third base fence to the left field fence, or the right yellow line that extends from the first base fence to the right field fence is considered "Out of Play".