Intramural Sports
2007 Wiffleball Rules
All Intramural participants are responsible for their own medical expenses. Any participant unsure of his/her physical condition should check with their physician or the University Clinic before participating in an Intramural Sports contest.
Teams are responsible for keeping their spectators under control. Misconduct of participants, coaches or spectators can result in an unsportsmanlike penalty, ejection or forfeiture of the game. Team Captains will be held responsible for spectator, team and sideline misconduct. Two ejections from any contest will result in an automatic forfeiture.
Intramural Officials are in absolute control of the game. Officials and Supervisors shall have the power to make decisions on all matters and questions not specifically covered in the rules.
1.
Eligibility
and Roster Information
A current
Southern Miss I.D. must be presented to the supervisor at game time.
NO I.D. - NO PLAY- NO EXCEPTIONS!!!!
Teams must have a minimum of 3 players to start a game. 4 players shall play in the field.
2.
Equipment
Participants cannot wear any jewelry during the game. The only exception is properly-secured medical alert jewelry.
Every Participant must wear proper athletic attire, including athletic footwear—no open-toed shoes may be worn and players cannot play barefoot. Rubber cleats may be worn, but cleats with metal showing will not be allowed.
3.
Length of
Game and Timing
A game will be six innings or 50 minutes, whichever comes first.
The clock shall run continuously, except if there is a serious injury or a protest/clarification question requiring a Supervisor or other Intramural Staff.
If at the end of 50 minutes an inning is still in progress it shall be completed, but if the home team is winning when they come to bat, the game is over.
The ten run rule will be in effect after three innings.
In case of inclement weather, an official game will be three complete innings.
Games ending in a tie will be recorded as a tie during the regular season.
4. The Playing Field
The distance between each base will be approximately 45 feet. The pitching rubber will be approximately 30 feet from home plate.
The home run boundary will be approximately 90 feet from home plate. Any ball that passes under the fencing will be a ground rule double.
Any foul ball hitting trees on IM-4 will be a dead ball. All ball hitting trees on IM-4 from IM-3 will be a live ball.
5.
Game Play
Players and
Substitutes
Any team that bats with fewer than four players will receive an out for every missing player in the line-up when that player would be at bat.
Any team who starts with fewer than four players may add additional players to the bottom of the line-up but only at the top of an inning.
Free substitutions will be allowed and all substitutions must be reported to the Official.
Players must always remain in the same batting order: if Player A substitutes for Player B in the 3rd position in the batting order, Player A can only substitute back into the game for Player B, and only in the 3rd position in the batting order.
There will be free substitutions in the field. Any player in the current batting order can play any position in the field at any given time, provided that any substitutions during an inning take place during a dead ball.
Start of the
Game
The Official shall have a Captains’ Meeting before each game, where he/she will remind players of specific rules and take clarification questions from captains. He/she will perform a coin toss to determine which team will be home and visitor.
The home team shall take the field immediately and be ready to play when the Official calls “play ball.” The visiting team’s first batter should be ready to enter the batter’s box at this time.
Pitching
The pitcher shall take a position with both feet firmly on the ground and with one or both feet in contact with the pitcher's plate.
Prior to pitching, the pitcher must come to a full and complete stop facing the batter with the ball in front of the body for at least 1 second before delivery.
The pitcher's pivot foot must be in contact with the pitcher's plate throughout the delivery, but may leave the plate once the ball has been released.
The ball may be pitched overhand but must be at a moderate speed. The legality of a pitch will be at the Official’s discretion.
A called strike will be determined by hitting a target behind home plate, and the ball may not contact the ground before being hit.
Batting
Each batter shall start with a count of no balls and no strikes.
Each batter will get three strikes before they are called out.
If a batter has two strikes and a third strike is called or a foul ball is hit, the batter shall be called out. There shall be no ‘grace foul.’
Each batter will receive four balls before they are walked.
The batter must keep both hands on the bat prior to and during contact with the ball. If a player contacts the ball with a one-handed swing, he/she shall receive an automatic out.
There shall be no bunting or chop swings; at the Official’s discretion, any batter bunting or chopping the ball shall be called out.
There is no infield fly rule.
Base Running
Base runners may not leave their bases until the ball is hit by the batter. Upon appeal, all runners who leave their bases early will be called out.
When a defensive player has a legitimate play on a batted/fielded ball and the runner remains on his/her feet and deliberately contacts the defensive player, the runner is out, the ball is dead and each base runner must return to the last base touched at the time of the contact.
If the defensive player was attempting to make a play on another runner at the time of the collision, both runners will be called out and the player who initiated the contact will be automatically ejected.
If the act is determined flagrant or intentional the offender shall be ejected.
In the event that a player is on base when he/she is to bat, the last batted out shall substitute for the player on base.
If there are not enough players to fill in for a player who is on base and up to bat, the person whose turn it is to bat will get off their base with no penalty. No ghost runner will be applied.
If a base moves after a runner has come to rest at that base, the runner will be safe after any resulting play, i.e. tagging the runner. If the runner makes an attempt to advance to another base, he/she may be put out by a defensive player.
Any runner in fair territory and not on a base shall be called out when contacted by a legal hit except when:
The batted ball has passed a defensive player other than the pitcher.
The batted ball is touched by any defensive player, but the player did not gain control of the ball.
If a defensive player contacts a runner with a thrown ball, the runner shall be safe and play will continue as normal.
If the runner makes an obvious attempt to alter the trajectory of the thrown ball, he/she shall be called out unless the contact is an attempt to prevent injury.
6.
Fielding
Each team must provide a pitcher, but there shall be no other restrictions on positions.
The defensive team is responsible for returning any pitches not hit to the pitcher.
The batter shall be called out in accordance with softball rules; there shall be no “pegging” or otherwise contacting a runner with a thrown ball to put the runner out.
Upon any overthrows that cause the ball to leave the playing field and travel “out of play,” any runners shall be awarded 2 bases. In the event that a runner is between two bases, the runner shall be awarded the second base, no matter in which direction he/she was running, plus one. The Official shall determine the runners’ positions at the time of the throw and shall award the bases accordingly.
If there are two runners between the same two bases, the front runner shall be awarded two bases, and the other runner shall receive the bases behind the front runner.
7.
Co-Rec
Clarifications
Teams must have the same number of men and women batting, as well as in the field.
If a team only has three players, they may play either one male and two females, or two males and one female.
The batting order must alternate between men and women and may start with either sex.
In the event that a player is on base when he/she is to bat, the last batted out of the same sex shall substitute for the player on base.
Each time a male is walked he will be allowed to go to second base and the female behind him will be given the option to go to first.
8.
Protests
A rule interpretation protest must be made before
the next legal pitch is thrown. Once the
ball has become live, a protest from the previous pitch will not be valid.
Official’s judgment calls cannot be protested.
9.
Forfeit
Policy
If a team fails to appear with the required minimum number of players, ready to play, at the scheduled location at the scheduled start of the game, a member of the Intramural Sports Staff will declare the contest a forfeit. Teams that forfeit will receive an ‘F’ for sportsmanship and will be required to pay $15 to the Recreational Sports Office prior to the registration of any other intramural sports teams. Teams are only allowed one forfeit per sport per season. If a team forfeits twice, it will be removed from the league for the remainder of the season.
10.
Default
Policy
If a team knows that they will be unable to play a scheduled game, the Team Captain must contact the Intramural Sports Office by 12:00 PM the day of the contest to declare a default. The defaulting team will receive a loss and a ‘B’ for sportsmanship. There is no re-entry fee for a default. Teams will be allowed one default per sport; upon the second default, teams will be removed from the league.
Recreational Sports Website: http://www.usm.edu/recsports
Intramural Sports Office: 601.266.5409
Revised 8/29/07