Fairfield County Fastpitch Softball League: My Site News

Annual Meeting: Monday, Jan. 25th, St. Philip Church Youth Center, Norwalk, CT (7-8:30pm)

Scheduling Meeting: Monday, March 29th, St. Philip School Hall, Norwalk, CT (7-8:30pm)

FCFSL  Tournament: Thursday, July 22 - Sunday, July 25 (Locations TBD)

Ridgefield Rebels Softball is hosting the Second Annual Sunrise Cottage Benefit Tournament in Ridgefield on May 1-2, 2010.

Sunrise Cottage is a group home for mentally and physically challenged adults. Last year The Rebels raised over $1,200 for Sunrise Cottage. This year they hope to top $2,500 which will help Sunrise Cottage purchase and renovate a second home.

The tournament will have 2 divisions: 12U and 14U with 4 teams each. All teams are guaranteed 5 games. Saturday each team will play 3 seeding games. On Sunday, team 1 will play team 4 and team 2 will play team 3. The winners of these games play each other for the championship. The losers of these games play in the consolation final. Team trophies will be awarded to the top 2 teams in each division. There will be patched ASA/PONY umpires. Games will be played under PONY rules with the following exceptions: 1) All Saturday games will have a 1 hour 30 minute time limit. 2) No new inning can start after 1:30. 3) All Sunday games have no time limit. 4) If extra innings are needed, the international tie-breaker will be employed. 5) Since this is a pre-season tune-up, all teams can use a running batting order. 6) DH & EH are permitted. 7) Tie-breakers for Sunday seedings: head-to-head, run differential, runs scored, runs allowed, coin toss.

The entry fee for the tournament is $375. All proceeds from the tournament will go to benefit Sunrise Cottage. This includes team registration fees, sales of t-shirts, food, and multiple raffles (50-50, Yankee tickets, Mets tickets).

Please let Cary Nadel know your interest in participating. This is a great event for a great cause. If you have any questions, here's the contact information:

Cary J. Nadel, President Ridgefield Babe Ruth Softball / Ridgefield Rebels Softball 524 Bennetts Farm Road Ridgefield, CT 06877

Home 203-438-4241 / Office 203-470-8100 / Mobile 203-438-1910 CaryNadel@CTRebels.org / Cary.Nadel@RidgefieldBabeRuthSoftball.org / dxr24@sbcglobal.net

Web Site: www.RidgefieldBabeRuthSoftball.org / Web Site: www.CTRebels.org

10u:

Regular Season North - Newtown

Regular Season South - Stamford

FCFSL Tournament - Stamford over Newtown (Extra Innings)

12u:

Regular Season North - Stratford Seahawks Extreme Blue

Regular Season South - Fairfield Fury

FCFSL Tournament (A) - Stratford Seahawks Extreme Blue over Southbury Heat

FCFSL Tournament (B) - Bethel over Greenwich Red (Extra Innings)

14u:

Regular Season North - Stratford Seahawks Extreme Black

Regular Season South - New Canaan Storm

FCFSL Tournament (A) - New Canaan Storm over The Xplosion (Extra Innings)

FCFSL Tournament (B) - Greenwich Lady Redbirds over Southbury Heat

16u:

Regular Season - Wilton Blue Crush

FCFSL Tournament - CT Rebels Thunder over Greenwich Lady Redbirds

Please go to the handout section for the revised FCFSL July 2009 contact list.

Here are the FOUR 2009 "Exception" Rules, which when combined with the 2009 PONY RULEBOOK, make up the rules that we will follow in all 10u games:

1) Your team can choose to play with 4 outfielders. You don’t have to do this, but you must allow the other team to do so.

2) We use the EH (extra hitter) rule along with the DH and 4 outfielders. That means it is possible to have a line-up card with 10 position players, 1 DH to hit in place of a position player, and 1 EH. In other words, you can have a maximum of 12 players actively involved in a game at once, with 11 of them batting.

3) No runner on third base can steal home on either a straight steal, wild pitch, or throw back to the pitcher. A runner on third can only score on a batted ball, walk with the bases loaded, hit by pitch with the bases loaded, or catcher's interference with the bases loaded.

4) All pitchers must wear masks (as voted by league). No exceptions.

Rules of Emphasis:

1) PONY Mercy Rule: 12 After 3, 10 After 4, 8 After 5. However, we encourage the Managers to "manage" these games so that the kids do not get shorted opportunities to pitch, hit, field, and run, just because of a score. For the purpose of the official "FCFSL Result", the mercy rule should be followed. Beyond that, we should still play six innings of softball whenever possible.

2) Leading On Release: All teams must allow leading on the release of the pitched ball. If runners leave early, they should be called out by the umpire without a warning. This is the best and most effective way to teach all of the players on both teams! While most 10U catchers will not be successful throwing runners out at 2nd base, there should be a LOT of 10U catchers that can throw runners out at 3rd base. The Rec League rule is to wait until the pitched ball is crossing the plate. We are not going by the "Rec Ball" rule.

Game scores: Please remember that your scores must be posted within 24 hours after the completion of the game. If you are playing a game that does not count in the standings (e.g., 14u vs. 16u, second game against the same team, 12u North vs. 12u South) please check the "no" box in the entry for "count game in standings?" The only way to score your game is for the game to be in the schedule. Please check your schedules on the website and make sure that every game is in the system. If you need help, contact me.

Confirm schedules: It is the obligation of each coach to contact the opposing coach and confirm all game information one week ahead of time.

Rosters: Please post your rosters to the front page of your team’s website. This is the “sunshine” rule that makes sure that your roster and scorecard are out in the open for everyone to check. All you need to do is list the first and last name of your player. No other info is needed to be seen on the website. Of course this will be a problem if you don’t know how to use your website or have not asked anyone to help. Please contact me if this is the case.

PONY: All teams should be PONY registered (www.PONY.org), have a roster of players registered electronically with PONY, and have insurance. You will need proof of all of these items, plus birth certificates and the appropriate medical forms to play in the FCFSL tournament.

Umpires: Home Team pays 100% of the Umpire Fees Home Team arranges for Umpire Coverage.

Fields: Home team arranges for field slot & field preparation.

Schedule: Teams must keep game location & time information accurate on the FCFSL Website.

Softballs: Away team brings 2 new softballs per game to each event.

Enter Scores: Winning team enters score into the FCFSL website within 24 hours of the end of the game.

Now that the schedules have been developed, here is what you need to do now:

1) Send your schedule via email to NAASoftball@aol.com. I will enter the information. Be sure to include your team name, age group, date/time of games, home/away info, and field name.

2) Get insurance for your team. Keep a copy of the certificate with you at all games.

3) Register your team at www.PONY.org. You don't need to roster any players just yet if you haven't held tryouts.

4) Get your pitchers used to wearing facemasks. If they don't wear them, they don't pitch in an FCFSL game.

5) Check to make sure your team's bats are legal. See the story and link at the bottom of this page.

6) Since your schedule is set, get your "patched" umpires lined-up as well now.

7) Use the website to complete your team page. Each team has one, so use it! If you have forgotten your ID and password, email me.

Please click the headline link to view the list of bats that are not approved! This is last year's list. Once the new list comes out, I will update the information. Also, visit this ASA site as well for certified equipment:

http://www.asasoftball.com/about/certified_equipment.asp

FCFSL "Exception" Rules for 10u: 1) Your team can choose to play with 4 outfielders. You don’t have to do this, but you must allow the other team to do so. 2) We will use the EH (extra hitter) rule along with the DH and 4 outfielders. That means it is possible to have a line-up card with 10 position players, 1 DH to hit in place of a position player, and 1 EH. In other words, you can have a maximum of 12 players actively involved in a game at once, with 11 of them batting. 3) No runner on third base can steal home on either a straight steal, wild pitch, or throw back to the pitcher. A runner on third can only score on a batted ball, walk with the bases loaded, hit by pitch with the bases loaded, or catcher's interference with the bases loaded.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO REMIND YOUR UMPIRES AND PARENTS OF THIS RULE TO AVOID CONFUSION!

All other PONY rules remain in place, including a) the drop third strike rule exists and b) runners are able to steal second and third upon the release of the ball from the pitcher’s hand.