League
Rules
1. Mid-Continent Sports, Inc., Baseball and Softball League
is the total governing body of which all participating divisions are a part.
2. The league is governed by Board of Directors.
3. Each area participating or desiring to participate shall
apply for an annual franchise and, if approval, shall have separate boundaries
from which to draw its players.
4. The President of the Board of Directors with the approval
of the Board of Directors shall approve managers, coaches, and umpires.
5. The National Federation rules revised edition for the year
in question shall be used for boys and girls, unless altered or otherwise
modified herein.
6. Mid-Continent is a participation/competitive league,
player recruitment will not be allowed within other Mid-Continent participating
associations.
7. No Mid-Continent coach, or manager, will be allowed to
hold tryouts, or cut players for any reason. PENALTY: Coaches
or managers will be expelled from Mid-Continent Sports and forfeit all games
for that calendar season.
8. Minor League- Youth 10 and Under.
9. Major League- Youths 11 and older.
Managing
and Coaching
1. All coaches must attend a coach’s clinic or a league meeting to be an approved Mid-Continent
coach. The adult coaches, with at least a cap (to match players)
and a shirt and shoes, may be used on the baseline, either at 3rd or 1st base. Only eligible players in uniform may be used as the other
base coach or coaches if adult coaches are not used. If that coach is under 18, he must wear a protective helmet.
2. Only managers, coaches, scorekeepers, bat person, and are
players permitted in the dugouts.
3. Duties of the manager shall include the following
A. Provide a roster
listing all players to the Board of Directors before the first game.
B. Report to the Board
of Directors any changes in roster. If a player is
removed from the roster, that player cannot return to
the roster.
C. All
players must be on the official roster 24 hours prior to any regular season
game.
D. When the President of
the league has been informed that a coach or player was removed from a game, he
will require that coach or player to appear with him or her before at least 3
members of the Board of Directors to explain his or her conduct. In case of a player, his or her manager shall appear with
him or her in the capacity of an advisor. The committee at
that meeting is authorized to establish a penalty if they feel one is
justified.
E. Failure to comply with
a suspension/probation penalty imposed by the Board of Directors on coach or
player shall result in forfeiture of games in which the coach or player
participated.
F. All coaches shall assist with
takedown and setup of scheduled games.
League
Age
League age is defined as the age attained by a player before
August 1st of the year of play or the grade completed by the school year prior
to ball season. One (1) year age discrepancy permissible, however, if two (2)
year discrepancy, an application must be made and brought before the
Mid-Continent Sports Board for approval and decision on what restriction will
apply.
Umpires
1. All umpires must attend an umpire's clinic or league
meeting or be board approved by Mid-Continent. Each umpire is
the accredited representative of the President and Board of Directors of
Mid-Continent Sports, Inc., and is entitled to and shall have the authority to
require full cooperation of all persons indirectly responsible for the
preparation and for playing the game.
2. The umpire shall report to the President within 24 hours
after the game, all violations of the rules, including the reasons for removal
of a player or coach from the game.
3. The Umpire in Chief will sign both books at the end of the
game.
4. There must be a league-approved umpire behind home plate. PENALTY: Home team shall forfeit.
Protest
1. If a protest is based on an interpretation of the rules,
the objecting manager must at the time of play occurs, notify the head umpire,
the opposing manager and official score keeper that the game is being played
under protest.
2. The two (2) managers and umpire shall then submit the
protest in writing to the League President or Director of Umpires within 72
hours of the completion of the game. The League Grievance Committee will review
all protests within 72 hours.
3. The protesting manager must submit a $10 protest fee with
the protest to the league. The protest will be returned if the protest is
upheld.
4. The umpire at the time of protest shall announce to the
crowd the protest and make notation in the scorebook before continuing with the
game.
5. When a protest is upheld by the League Directors the game
shall be replayed from point of protest.
6. Any team manager or other adult who withdraws a team from
the playing field under any circumstances prior to the completion of the game
shall forfeit all rights to protest as prescribed in this section.
Illegal
Players
1. An illegal player is one who is not legally a member of
the league because he or she does not meet the requirements as to age and/or
residence or not approved by the Board of Directors.
2. Playing of illegal players shall
result in forfeiture of games in which players participated illegally and
protested by any of the league managers or league officers in writing.
Ineligible
Players
1. Ineligible players are those that are not properly rostered, playing while under league suspension, or failing
to comply with league restrictions.
2. The penalty for the use of an ineligible player shall be
immediate removal of the player from the lineup upon appeal by the opposing manager
or notification by the official scorekeeper or league official, provided the
official scorebook or other league records verify the ineligibility of the
player concerned.
3. Such a player becomes ineligible to play in the team's
next game.
Rain
Outs
1. The Home team will notify opposing manager within 1 1/2
hours of game time, EXAMPLE: Notify by 4:30 p.m. when the game is scheduled to
start at 6:00 p.m.
2. The Home team shall provide 3 alternate dates for
rescheduling game. The Opposing team must play on one of those dates or
forfeit.
3. The Home team must contact Opposing team within one week
from date of rainout game with alternate dates or Home team will forfeit.
4. The Home team manager will contact the Home team umpire in
chief and/or home team league representative.
5. Lightning or severe thunderstorm within 3 to 8 miles, the
umpire-in-chief discretion with coaches to determine removing teams from the
field for safety. Lightning or severe thunderstorms within 0 to 3 miles game
delayed, players immediately removed from field, umpire-in-chief determines
outcome of game; delayed, or called.
6. When a game is called because of weather, the game will be
replayed from the beginning at a later date. A Minor League game is official if
4 innings have been completed, or if the home team is ahead in the bottom of
the 4th inning. A Major League game is official if 5 innings have been
completed, or if the home team is ahead in the bottom of the 5th inning.
7. If the game has exceeded the required innings to be called a
complete game, then the score will be taken from the last completed inning that
was played.
Youths
Playing Out Of Their Age Division
1. No youth will be allowed to move up more than (1) age
division.
2. Valid reasons for a youth to be held back to a younger age
division are safety and/or health. Documentation by the youth's parents and
coach will be considered by the Board of Directors for a majority vote for
approval.
3. Teams that do not have enough players to field a team will
be released to play in other franchise areas.
4. All players held back for reasons other than Health and /or Safety will be restricted from pitching and cannot play until all eligible players have played (2 innings minimum).