Rules of Play of

Central East Women’s Fastpitch League

(CEWFL)

General

1.    Season

a.    Rules of play can be added, removed or modified by a simple majority vote of the Board of Directors, prior to the start of play each season.

b.    Softball Canada and the Provincial Women’s Softball Association game play rules will apply, unless stated otherwise herein.

 

2.    Playoffs

a.    Playoffs will be held following the completion of league play and prior to August 30^th each year. Each division’s playoffs will be scheduled on weekends that do not conflict with PWSA Qualifiers or Grand Championships.

b.    All teams will be in the League play-offs. Playoffs for all divisions will be a maximum three-game guarantee or multi-level format tournament

c.    Home team advantage to the teams that place the highest in League season standings. Highest seed has the right to choose home or visitor status for each game throughout the play-offs.

d.    The CEWFL will reimburse the host association for park and umpire fees for all League Play-off tournaments.

Season: Game Play

This section contains any league specific game play rules, which may be different than those used in PWSA game play.

1.    Players

a.    Unlimited defensive substitutions are allowed.

b.    All batters must bat.

 

2.    Umpires

a.    Home team shall provide two umpires registered and insured with Softball Ontario.

b.    Home team to provide one new and one good used softball for games.

 

3.    Game Duration

a.    All games to be 7 (seven) innings or curfew, and ties to be played out if time permits. No new inning to start after 1 hour 30 minutes’ maximum with a drop-dead time of 1 hour 45 minutes in all Divisions. Final scores revert to last full inning played.

                                  i.    Extending game time is permitted if agreeable by both parties at start of game. Otherwise rule is enforced.

                                ii.    Coaches are expected to use good sportsmanship.

                               iii.    Coaches need to avoid delay of game tactics to manipulate the final outcome.

 

4.    Game Format

a.    U10 and U12 divisions will have a run limit of 5 runs per inning, without any open inning.

b.    U14, U16 and U19 divisions will have a runs limit of 7 runs per inning, with an open 7th inning (not final inning by time limit). Coaches can mutually agree pre-game on an alternate format.

 

5.    Competing with Another Team

a.    Recognizing the value of collaboration and sportsmanship amongst member associations, the league permits borrowing players under certain conditions to keep players on the field and to keep play competitive.

b.    Teams are permitted to borrow players for the game roster to substitute for players who have been injured or who are no longer with the team, if that results in the team being below 11 players for a game.

c.    The league complies with the PWSA rules on players competing with another team, including sanctions for non-compliance.

                                  i.    all players must obtain written permission from their team manager or coach prior to competing with any other team in league play, and

                                ii.    the borrowing team must file the written permission with the PWSA Registrar under the PWSA Bylaws

                               iii.    approval by the league will be granted when

1.    In-Season Games (auto-approved): upon filing written permission with the league’s Secretary before each game the player is used

2.    Playoff Games (require approval): only if the written permission is approved by the league’s Executive Committee

                               iv.    teams frequently borrowing players are subject to review by the league to prevent abuse. Only the league may request the Disciplinary Committee investigate, with sanctions to include but not limited to, withdrawing permission to borrow players.

d.    Teams may borrow a maximum of three players, which must not cause their game roster to exceed the 11 player minimum set by PWSA to qualify as a team.

e.    Teams may borrow positional or pitcher players who are at the same level or ONE level lower, where a level is defined as any one of Age, Division or Tier. Teams will be defined by their Division of play, not by the age of their players (i.e. a U14 team playing in a U16 Division is considered a U16 team).

f.     Teams playing up a division will be classified as a Tier 2 team of that division for league games and borrowing players, regardless of their PWSA tier status.

g.    Teams may borrow players from Affiliated, League, Select or House programs.

                                  i.    the borrowing team is responsible for confirming that borrowed player’s insurance covers them while playing in league games

 

Who Can We Borrow?

	Eligible Players: Position and/or Pitchers
Borrowing Team’s Playing Division	by Age (same or lower)	by Division (same or lower)	by Tier 1 (same or lower)	by Tier 2 (same or lower)
U10	From Any Division	U10	NA	NA
U12	From Any Division	U12 or U10	NA	NA
U14	From Any Division	U14 or U12	Tier 1 or 2	Tier 2
U16	From Any Division	U16 or U14	Tier 1 or 2	Tier 2
U19	From Any Division	U19 or U16	Tier 1 or 2	Tier 2

 

 

Where Can We Borrow?

	Eligible Players: Position and/or Pitchers
Borrowing Team’s Playing Division	House OASA	Select OSSTA	League PWSA	Association PWSA	Non-League Non-Association PWSA
U10	Yes	*Yes	Yes	Yes	No
U12	Yes	*Yes	Yes	Yes	No
U14	No	*Yes	Yes	Yes	No
U16	No	*Yes	Yes	Yes	No
U19	No	No	Yes	Yes	No

 

*OSSTA 2019: http://www.ossta.org/eligibility  “Select players are permitted to play as a call up in 2 individual Rep Loop games. Select players are not allowed to play in any PWSA Sanctioned Rep Tournament. Before playing in a loop game player must check to see if they are covered by Insurance.”

*OSSTA does not allow players to be borrowed for PWSA Sanctioned Rep Tournaments. Please check with OSSTA and PWSA for their current rules.

 

6.    Awards

a.    Large Banners awarded to the League Champions (highest standing in the league rankings at the completion of the season)

 

Playoff: Game Play

1.    Players

a.    Unlimited defensive substitutions are allowed.

b.    All batters must bat.

c.    Only players listed on official team rosters are eligible to play in the League playoffs. The league may verify players using league and team rosters in TeamSnap, or seek additional verification from PWSA.

 

2.    Borrowing Players

a.    No borrowing call-up players allowed unless permission is granted by the League Executive

                                  i.    If permission is granted, refer to Season Rule for Borrowing Players for restrictions on borrowing call-up players

 

3.    Umpires

a.    No protests shall be allowed. Umpires’ decision is final.

 

4.    Games

a.    Divisional Convener retains the right to modify schedule if warranted due to weather or field conditions.

b.    All teams must be ready to play fifteen (15) minutes before scheduled start time.

c.     All games are to be played until a winner is determined.

d.    PWSA mercy rule will apply in all games.

 

5.    Home Team

a.    Home team to occupy third base bench. (Unless playing back-to- back games then they will retain their bench)

b.    Home team will be the official scorekeeper.

 

6.    Game Duration

a.    Games will be scheduled in 2:15 hour blocks, that includes a 15 minute umpire/player break between games.

b.    In non-medal games, in all Divisions, no new inning shall begin after 1 hour and 45 minutes, unless game is tied.

c.     In non-medal games, after 7 innings of regulation play or time limit is reached (whichever occurs first) and score is tied, the Softball Canada Tie Breaker rule shall be used.

                                  i.    See Softball Canada Rule 5, Sec. 7 – Tiebreaker

d.    In medal games, no time limit will apply. Games shall be minimum 7 innings

                                  i.    Extra innings will be played to break a tie game, as required, until the tie is broken at the end of an inning.

 

7.    Awards

a.    Large Banners awarded to the Play-off Champions

b.    Top three teams in play-offs to be recognized with individual awards (i.e. medals).

                                  i.    Participation awards to all U10 participants except top three teams.

c.     The league will award a maximum of 20 individual awards

                                  i.    17 for players

                                 ii.    3 for adults

d.    The league may issue 10 printed thank you cards per team for the coach to additionally award at their discretion

e.    Teams withdrawing from playoffs will not be eligible for any playoff related awards