THE FOLLOWING RULES WILL APPLY TO THE SCSL:
The SPN (Slo-Pitch National) Rule Book is to be used with the following exceptions:

AGE REQUIREMENTS: The minimum age requirement for any player in the SCSL is 15 years of age by the start of the season.

EQUIPMENT: Players may NOT wear metal cleats. Bats that are not approved by the SPN will not be allowed. Any questions on the legality of a bat should be directed to the Umpire-In-Chief.

TEAM RESPONSIBILITIES: The team named FIRST on the SCHEDULE is designated the HOME TEAM.

Home Team shall provide: 2 bases with 2 pegs/base, a safety base for First with 4 pegs, foul poles with flags or orange pylons. The Umpires will provide Game Balls. Home Team shall provide the Score Book. Each team shall provide a scorekeeper.

Score sheets must be filled in completely – include the two teams’ names, the date of the game, players' first AND LAST NAMES (tournament eligibility hinges on this), and the final score. The completed Score Sheet is given to the Umpire at the end of the game.

During the game, only the Coach or Captain from each Team will be allowed to approach the Umpire if a problem occurs.

REGULATION INNINGS: A normal game is completed after 7 innings. In the event of darkness or inclement weather, 5 innings is considered a full game. Extra innings may be played to resolve ties, BUT ARE NOT NECESSARY (A Tie gives one point to each Team). Umpires have details on the format. Both Coaches and the Umpire must agree to play extra innings.

The decision to cancel any game will be made by the CITY, the LEAGUE, or the UMPIRE at the field of play (if inclement weather exists, or conditions are too poor to play.)

PLAYER ELIGIBILITY: No Player may play on more than one Team in the SCSL (with the exception of SCSL Constitution Article Amendment #1). ROSTERS AND GAME SHEETS MAY BE CHECKED THROUGHOUT THE SEASON. If a Player and Team mutually agree to part ways and another team in the SCSL wishes to “pick up” such a player, there is legal recourse that will allow it to happen without penalty. If this situation arises, please contact the League BEFORE including such a player on the Scoresheet.

A Player is required to play a minimum of 6 REGULAR SEASON GAMES to be eligible for tournament play. Eligible players are determined from names recorded on score sheets that have been entered into the game.

BATTING ORDER:  The batting order MUST alternate guys and girls through the first 6 batters with girls batting in positions 1, 3, and 5 and guys in 2, 4, and 6, or with guys batting 1, 3, and 5 and girls batting 2, 4, and 6. In the event that a team is fielding 4 or more girls the order must continue to alternate (odd or even batters) until all girls are inserted into the batting order or there are no guys left to place in the slots between female batters.

i.e. a team fielding four girls must place them in batting positions, 1, 3, 5 and 7, or 2, 4, 6 and 8, etc.

If a team has 12 or more players they may choose to bat an even number of batters (12, 14, 16, etc.). The players are then allowed to sub in and out of the game at will as long as the minimum number of girls (3) is present on the field without notifying the umpire. When batting 12 or more the batting order will differ somewhat in that the first 6 batters will alternate guy/girl then any batters beyond 10 will alternate guy/girl following the same pattern.

i.e. A team batting 12 may bat as follows: 1 – girl, 2 – guy, 3 – girl, 4 – guy, 5 – girl, 6 – guy, 7 – guy, 8 – guy, 9 – guy, 10 – guy, 11 – girl, 12 – guy
or 1 – guy, 2 – girl, 3 – guy, 4 – girl, 5 – guy, 6 – girl, 7 – guy, 8 – guy, 9 – guy, 10 – guy, 11 – guy, 12 – girl

If a team is batting 12, 14, etc. but has one other player that they wish to play that player must be subbed into the game according to the normal format and the player subbed out may not re-enter the game until the next game with the exception of an injury. When batting 12 or more if an injury occurs and a player is unable to take their normal place in the batting order, and there is not an eligible substitution that can be made (girl for girl, guy or girl for guy), an out will be awarded each time that player is up to bat.

HOME RUN RULE (MATCH +3):  SCSL has adopted a match plus three rule for home runs hit out of the park. What this means is that during a game a team (Team A) is allowed to hit up to three home runs out of the park unmatched by their opponent (Team B) without penalty. If said team (Team A) should hit another unmatched home run out of the park, that home run and any subsequent unmatched out of the park home runs, will be considered an out. If the opposing team (Team B) should hit one or more home runs out of the park then team A is allowed an equal number of home runs without penalty until they once again have a + 3 out of the park home run advantage. For tracking purposes please indicate home runs hit out of the park by marking an HR adjacent to it on the score sheet. Inside the park home runs are not taken into consideration by the match plus 3 rule as they are a ball hit in play that the opposing team has an opportunity to field and gain an out on.

Scenario 1: Team A has hit 3 home runs out of the park (+3). Team B has 0 home runs. Team A hits a fourth home run (+4). This will be marked as an out.
Scenario 2: Team A has hit 3 home runs; Team B has hit 2 home runs. Team A (+1) hits a fourth HR (+2), a fifth HR (+3) and a sixth HR (+4) unmatched by Team B. The sixth home run is an out since Team A has exceeded match plus 3.

WALK-OFF HOME RUNS: All out of the park homeruns are walk-off the field homers. The batter shall immediately drop his bat and go retrieve the ball while any and all baserunners shall immediately leave their base and return to their team's bench.

DEFAULTS: Games for all Divisions will start at 6:30 p.m. If at 6:30pm a team does not have 10 players but does have 9, the game will still be started. The team of 9 players will receive an automatic out at the start of each inning's turn at bat until the 10th player arrives. If the player is a girl, she will be inserted in the batting order in the 6th position. If the player is a guy, he will be inserted in the batting order in the 10th position. The batting position will simply be skipped over until a 10th player arrives and no second automatic out will be awarded when the batting position is skipped over. When the 10th player arrives they will immediately be allowed to enter the game. Once the 10th player has entered the game, the team cannot go back down to 9 players except through injury AND at the umpire's discretion.

No game will begin with only 8 players. If at 6:30pm a team only has 8 players then the first game will be forfeit and the offending team will have 15 minutes to get a player to the game or the second game will be forfeit as well and the team will be responsible for the forfeiture penalties as laid out by the league. A fine of $34 per game shall be charged to an offending team.

RESCHEDULING: Your DIVISION REP must receive at least 48 hours notice to postpone a game; otherwise it will not be rescheduled. The League will do its best to reschedule games postponed due to inclement weather. There is a maximum of 2 reschedules allowed per team and then a $50 fee will be charged for each subsequent request.

INJURY: Any game started with 10 players must be finished by 10 players except in the case of an INJURY as ruled by the umpire. In the event of an injury that occurs during the course of a game, if said injury reduces the number of players eligible to be on the field at that time to 9 (no female available to sub for a female or no male or female available to sub for a male) the game or games that evening may be continued with only 9 players, if the umpire deems the injury significant enough that the player should not be allowed to continue to play. The team with the injury would then assume an automatic out every time the injured player's turn came up in the batting order. If the injured team had previously subbed out an otherwise eligible player, then the Re-Entry rule would be waived to allow for the use of that sub in order to allow the game to continue and not be forfeit. In the event of another injury that reduced the number of players to 8 the game would then be forfeit and not completed. If an injury in the first game reduced the number of players to 8, the team with the injury would have 15 minutes to get a player to the game or forfeit the second game as well. No forfeiture penalty will be assessed to the injured team aside from the loss(es).

TWO-BASE WALK RULE:  If a male batter, ahead of a female batter, is walked with four straight balls and no strikes, that male batter shall be awarded second base.

EQUIPMENT FOR PITCHERS: Personal protective equipment for pitchers, such as shin pads, chest proector and especially face mask, shall not be mandatory but is strongly encouraged.