1. Teams must consist of “Public Safety Personnel” only. To be considered “Public Safety” one must be a Federal, State, or local level Police Officer, Firefighter, Corrections Officer, EMT/Paramedic, or Military member. Military players still qualify if “Retired” or if they hold an “Inactive Reserve” ID Card. If any Military member is a “Wartime Veteran”, to honor their service to our Nation, they will receive lifetime qualification into G & H Tournaments. Department, Agency, or Military Branch ID is required and enforced.
   
   
2. Teams will be allowed to “combo”, meaning they can have players from various agencies/departments as long as they are within the realm of the “Public Safety” community mentioned above.
   
   
3. Team Captains are responsible for ensuring all team members have “Checked in” and have Signed the “Team Waiver Roster” at the registration table at least 30 minutes prior to the start of their first scheduled game.
   
   
   
4. Most G & H tournaments will be played under modified “SCMAF” rules and ASA Bat List restrictions. Occasionally a Tournament will be hosted with other rules, such as USSSA, 1-Pitch Tourney, Unlimited Home Runs, etc and will be advertised as such prior to the tournament. Co-ed Rules will apply to the Co-ed Division.
   
   
5. For 2010 we are going with a trial run of USSSA “Strike Zone” pitching. With this format, the pitching is still underhand, with an arc of 6-10 feet and the umpires will call strikes and balls similar to baseball.
   
   
6. A coin toss prior to each game will determine home team.
   
   
7. Game times will be 1 hour or 7 innings, which ever comes first. No new inning will start after the 55^th minute of the game. This includes the “Championship game” as well.
   
   
8. Batters will start with a 1 ball and 1 strike count. (Unless 1 pitch Tourney)
   
   
9. The pitching arc is a 6 foot minimum and a 10 foot maximum height limit.
   
   
10. Pitchers are allowed to pitch from as far as 8 feet “directly” behind the pitching rubber. This is a safety issue and is highly recommended by G & H Tournament Directors. In addition Guns & Hoses Softball Tournament also recommends pitchers use a pitching mask (purchased at sports equipment dealers) for safety precautions as well.
    
    
11. Pitchers are allowed 5 warm up pitches before they pitch the first inning. One warm up pitch is allowed before all other innings.
    
    
12. Once a batter has “2” strikes, the ball must be hit in fair territory. Any foul ball with 2 strikes and the batter will be ruled “out”.
    
    
    
13. Only “1” “over the fence” Home run per team per inning. Any “over the fence” home runs after the initial home run of the inning, will be ruled an out. (Unless a pre-determined “Unlimited Home Runs” Tournament)
    
    
14. Courtesy runners are “Unlimited”. If a team wants to run their fastest player into the ground, then that is their option
    
    
15. A runner may only leave his base once the ball crosses the plate. No lead offs. If a runner leaves early, he will be called out.
    
    
16. The “out of play” lines are the fences that run parallel to the base lines and extend out on an imaginary line.  Umpires will determine if a ball is “in” or “out” of play.
    
    
17. On a “catch and carry”, we rule the player, not the ball. If the fielder catches the ball while still standing in fair territory, it will be an out. If the fielder continues out of bounds, each runner will advance one base (unless the player intentionally carries the ball out of play, it will be 2 bases.)
    
    
18. The dugouts are considered “out of play”. A ball that enters the dugout will be considered a dead ball.  If the fielding team is responsible for the ball entering the dugout, all runners will advance one base.  Any equipment left out of the dugout can only hurt the team that left it out (umpires ruling). The teams playing are responsible for ensuring their bats/equipment are inside the dugouts unless used by the batter at the plate or the on-deck batter.
    
    
19. All outfield light poles that are in fair territory are considered “in play”. If a ball hits an obstacle in the field of play, it is considered “live”. The exception is if a ball is caught after hitting an obstacle and before touching the ground it is not an out, but is still considered live.
    
    
20. Metal cleats are not allowed and shoes and shirts must be worn at all times.
    
    
21. If a ball hits any part of a tree that is extending over the fence into fair territory, it will be the umpire’s decision as to the ruling on that particular field. For example, if the tree is over the fence in the outfield and a batter hits a ball that would normally be a home run, but the tree prevented the ball from going out of the park, the hit would be ruled a home run. Umpires have final ruling at the time of the incident.
    
    
22. The batters “box” will be enforced.  If a batter steps out of the box before making contact with the ball, it will be ruled an out.  If a batter steps on home plate prior to contact, it will be ruled an out.
    
    
23. If a batter brings an illegal bat to the batters box, as soon as the pitcher throws the first pitch to the batter, the Umpire will rule the pitch a dead ball and the batter will be called out.  If there is a question regarding an illegal bat, ask the umpire or see the illegal bat list upon the registration table.
    
    
24. No game can end in a tie. Guns & Hoses Softball “Do or Die” rules will apply.  The next batter that is due up in the order for the visiting team will be up.  The batting team will load the bases (unlimited runners). The batting team will start the inning with “2” outs.  The batting team will continue to bat until the third out of the inning is made. Same scenario applies to the home team.
    
    
25. Any player ejected from a game will be prohibited from playing the remainder of that game and must leave the dugout and bleacher area immediately. The next time (only) that player comes up to bat in the batting order will be considered an out for the ejected players team. The ejected player must immediately head to the registration table and be cleared to play by a Tournament Director for that teams next scheduled game. The sub for the ejected player will have to wait for the batting order to come around again before being able to bat.
    
    
26. All calls made by the umpire are final. If there is a specific rule in question, time can be called and the tournament director will make the final decision.
    
    
27. Any foul ball hit into any street, parking lot, or children’s play area upon any of the facilities used by Guns & Hoses Softball, will be ruled an out.
    
    
28. At the Huntington Beach SportsPlex, “ANY” foul ball hit onto the street (specifically fields #1, #4, #7 & #8) will be ruled an out. On field #7, if the ball is hit foul into any children’s playground area this will also be ruled an out. For fields #2 & #3, if the ball is hit foul over the second fence and into the pond area, this will be ruled an out (Umpires will point out the second fence adjacent to the pond area). For field #5, if any ball is hit into the landfill area on the other side of the fence adjacent to the right field line, this will be ruled an out. For field #4, any ball hit into the parking lot will also be ruled an out.
    
    
29. Game time is “forfeit time”. If you do not have enough players to start the game at the scheduled game time (when ump says its Start time) then your team will forfeit that game.  Ensure your team is ready to go at game time, to avoid this ruling.
    
    
30. No Tournament entrance fees “refunds” will be made once the tournament pools have been drawn. No exceptions!
    
    
    
31. Once pool play is completed, seeding for playoffs will be determined by: Record  2) Head to Head  3) Fewest Runs allowed. 4) Run Differential
    
    
32. If a player touches in any way physically (including person to person or by using any equipment, dirt, water, food, etc) or “cusses out” any umpire that player must immediately leave the venue (or his team will forfeit that game). That player will also receive a lifetime ban from Guns & Hoses Tournaments!!!! Keep your tempers in check!
    
    
    
33. Team Captains are responsible for ensuring the dugouts are cleaned out of any obvious large trash, drink containers, etc upon finishing your game.
    
    
34. If there is any question regarding a possible illegally modified bat being used in a G & H tournament the team Captain of the team with the concern must bring the questionable bat to the attention of the Umpire. The umpire will do his/her best to inspect the bat. If the umpire feels there is potential for that particular bat being modified in some way, the umpire will then bring it to the attention of a G & H Tournament Director. If both the tourney director and the umpire are in agreement that the bat “might” be modified, the team using that bat then has two options:  1) Put the bat in question away for the remainder of the tourney and all future G & H tourneys. 2) Allow the opposing team to use the same bat as well.
    
    

ILLEGAL BAT LIST

Guns & Hoses Softball will utilize ASA bat restrictions. No “modified”, “altered”, or “juiced” bats are allowed at any time! If caught with an altered bat, you will receive a lifetime ban from G & H! No exceptions!

Download a PDF copy of the rules