Baseball Rules & Regulations

OHIO HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
SOUTHWESTERN DISTRICT
2011 SECTIONAL-DISTRICT BASEBALL RULES AND REGULATIONS

1. A meeting for all participating coaches will be conducted on Sunday, May 1, 2011, 2:00 p.m., at a pre-determined site. Coaches are expected to attend this meeting. Official Entry Blank and Eligibility Certificate will be brought to the meeting. Mailings to all participating coaches will take place no later than April 15, 2011, advising coaches of the meeting site. Rules, regulations, and the online seeding process will be explained in the mailing.

2. All teams in the sectional tournament will be seeded. This seeding will determine the team’s entry onto the bracket.

Seeding process. Per direction of the State Board of Control, all teams competing in a bracketed tournament will be seeded. The manager will distribute voting procedures and materials. This will enable each coach to vote and have the votes back to the tournament manager by Saturday, April 30, 2011, 12:00 p.m., before the tournament manager’s meeting on Sunday, May 1, 2011. The tournament manager will distribute in written form the seed voting when the coach has checked in and submitted all paperwork. All ties will be broken prior to the placement of teams on the bracket.

Once seeds have been determined for each team in the tournament, the seeds will go onto the bracket in order of seed. The first seeded team will go on followed by the second seeded team. Any seeded team may choose to pass, and if does so, the next seeded team will be given a choice to go on the bracket. After a seeded team goes on the bracket, the seeded team that passed will again be given an opportunity to go on the bracket. This process will continue until the bracket is filled.

Any team that does not show up at the tournament manager’s meeting will go on the bracket last. Any school that does not get seed voting to the manager by Saturday, April 30, 12:00 noon, will not be permitted to vote at a later time. Any school that does not meet voting requirements but does attend the placement meeting, will receive the votes that the school received for seeding purposes and will be seeded accordingly. If a coach is late for the seed meeting, and has missed his opportunity to go on the bracket, his absence will be determined as a pass, and he will be given an opportunity to go on once he is in attendance.

Throughout the first two rounds of the sectional tournament games will be played at the higher seeded team’s home field, the home team will occupy their usual dugout. In the sectional finals or when a neutral field is used, the higher seeded team will be the home team and occupy the dugout along the first baseline. Throughout the sectional tournament, the higher seeded team will be the home team. In the District Tournament, the team occupying the top line on the bracket will be the home team.

3. Eighteen (18) players are eligible. The coaching box may be occupied by one (1) coach and one (1) member of the team, two (2) members of the team, or two (2) coaches, and ALL MUST BE IN UNIFORM. NATIONAL FEDERATION BASEBALL RULE 3-2-1 STATES "COACH SHALL BE IN BASEBALL UNIFORM OF HIS TEAM". COACHES NOT PROPERLY DRESSED SHALL NOT BE PERMITTED IN THE COACH'S BOX.

4. The wearing of a head protector is compulsory, both for the batter, runner, catcher, on-deck circle, and any student coaching in the coach's box. It is the duty of the Tournament Manager to see that no team dresses more than eighteen (18) team members. Each time a team plays, the coaches are responsible to not only turn in the list of players starting, but also a list of team members on the bench. This list is to be given to the umpire in charge, ten (10) minutes prior to game time.

5. Time of games: School days all games will begin at 5:00 p.m. Non-school days, no starting restrictions.

6. District Board Motion - All baseball teams adhere to the twenty (20) minutes practice rule for Sectional and District Tournament games. The motion states that no baseball team can practice (warm-up) on any tournament baseball field until forty (40) minutes prior to starting time of game. This also applies to double-headers.

7. The tournament managers are to use the approved list of officials voted on by the coaches for the sectional tournaments. The list of approved officials will be provided by the district board. Officials pay for sectionals is $55.00; for districts $70.00; mileage is $1.00 per mile when traveling in excess of 50 miles (one way) to the contest.

8. The decisions of the umpires are final and protests arising from the decisions of the umpires will NOT be considered.

9. Changes in schedule after drawing will be done at the discretion of the Tournament Manager or by the District Board.

10. Admission for all sectional tournaments is $5.00 for school age children and older.

11. Admission to District Tournament games will be $6.00 per session.

12. If a team fails to appear and is not ready to play within thirty (30) minutes of scheduled starting time of tournament games, the space on the bracket shall be declared vacant. The opposing team will then be awarded a bye into the next round of competition.

13. Per recommendation by the Coaches’ Association and adoption by the District Board, the first two rounds of the sectional tournament will be played on the field of the highest seeded team. The home team must have a regulation field and be able to charge admission to the game. If the aforementioned expectations can not be met, then the team must forfeit its right to host the game and the opponent will host. Sectional finals will be held on a neutral field, and the highest seeded team will still be the home team.

14. Per a recommendation of the Baseball Coaches’ Association and adoption by the District Board, the sectional tournament will open on Monday, May 9, and District finals will be held on Friday-Saturday, May 20-21, 2011. The first two rounds of the sectional tournament will be as follows: Divisions III and IV will play on May 9 and 11, while Divisions I and II will play on May 10 and 12, 2011. Sectional finals will be as follows: Divisions III and IV will play on Wednesday, May 18, and Divisions I and II will play on Thursday, May 19, 2011. Schedule for District Finals: Divisions III and IV will play on Friday, May 20, and Divisions I and II will play on Saturday, May 21, 2011. Games can not start before 5:00 p.m. on Friday and games on Saturday will be scheduled at 11:00 a.m., 2:00 and 5:00 p.m.

15. District Tournaments will be managed by the following individuals and at the listed spots:

Division	Sites – High Schools	Managers	Game Date
Div. I	Western Hills, Fairmont	Bill Stewart Brian Donoher	Sat., May 21, 2011
Div. II	Mason	Scott Stemple	Sat., May 21, 2011
Div. III	Franklin, Kings, Urbana	Robin Spiller	Fri., May 20, 2011
Div. IV	Centerville, Lebanon, Newton	Bob Huelsman	Fri., May 20, 2011

16. The District Board will furnish three balls per game and each participating school will provide one ball.

17. ALL FINANCIAL REPORTS MUST BE SUBMITTED WITHIN TEN DAYS ATER THE TOURNAMENT IS CONCLUDED IN TYPED FORM USING THE OHSAA FINANCIAL REPORT. E-Mail your report to Bob Huelsman at uc69@earthlink.net in order for him to review.

IF REPORTS ARE NOT SUBMITTED WITHIN 10 DAYS AFTER THE COMPLETION OF THE TOURNAMENT, YOU MAY BE ASKED TO MEET WITH THE DISTRICT BOARD TO REVIEW YOUR STATUS AS A MANAGER. THE BOARD HAS ESTABLISHED A 30-DAY PERIOD FOR ALL TOURNAMENT REPORTS TO BE FINALIZED. [OHSAA Auditor Management Letter, Balestra, Harr, & Scherer, CPA’s, Inc.].

Send no monies or reports to the OHSAA until we have reviewed your financial work copy. Reports should be emailed to Bob Huelsman (uc69@earthlink.net) as quickly as possible. If it is mailed it should be sent to Bob Huelsman, P.O. Box 277, Covington, Ohio 45318

Rev. 1-20-11