OCC Rules and Regulations

Equipment:

-Tennis Balls

-Aluminum Baseball bats

-Baseball gloves

-Three soda cans (preferably filled with water)

League Rules:

-A team wins by having more points than the other team at the end of the match.

-9-inning matches, each team bats their active players every inning.

-Each active player on a team gets a chance to bat every inning.

-If at the end of an inning a team leads by atleast 10 points, the match is won. (Min. 5 innings)

-3 strikes and out rule

-Any physical fights result in immediate suspensions, as little as 3 games.

-Verbal fighting over a play can result in a suspension, max 3. Unlikely to be enforced unless a player persists with a complaint and disrupts the flow of the game.

-Balls intentionally thrown into a gutter result in forfeit.

Bowling:

-The ball must bounce once or twice and go over or immediately next to the wickets for a strike. Also a swinging miss by the batsman also counts as a strike regardless of where the bowl was located or how many times it bounced.

-If bowler hits a can on a bowl:

The bowling team earns 1 point if the bowl hits either of the outside cans

The bowling team earns 3 points for making contact with the center can.

The batsman is immediately out in either circumstance.

The play can not count if the ball failed to bounce once or twice prior to contact with any cans.

In the event that multiple cans are hit, the one worth the highest point value is the one that counts towards the bowling team's score, not the added point value.

This is the only way a team can score on defense.

-If the bowler bowls beyond the space alotted to him (varies from venue to venue), the batting team is awarded 1 point, the batsman remains at-bat and the pitch does not count unless contact was made. If contact was made, the point awarded to the batting team because of the penalized bowler is added on to any points scored after contact was made.

Batting and Scoring:

-The Batsman can score if he/she makes contact with the ball and runs past the pole before being called out. That is worth 1 point. The batsman can continue to score by turning around and running past the wickets. If this is done a second point is awarded. The batsman can continue to the pole again for a third point and so on. This process continues until the batsman is out. This is the most effective way to score points.

-The batsman can be safe if the wickets are hit and the batter is not between the wicket and the turning pole.  This batsmen may continue to run after a subsequent batter hits the ball.  This does not apply during the last at-bat of an inning. 

-Balls hit into indoor areas, or into unreachable areas in a tree result into 4 points for the batting team, batsmen safe at the wickets. Enclosed environments with 4 walls (e.g. a bacyard) are considered unreachable.

-Balls that go into the gutter are 4 points for the batting team. Batsmen remains at-bat. -If the bowler bowls beyond the space alotted to him (varies from venue to venue), the batting team is awarded 1 point, the batsman remains at-bat and the pitch does not count unless contact was made.

-In the event that an animal steals the ball after contact has been made by the batsman, the batsman is out and the batting team is awarded 5 points. (It has happened before...)

Getting out:

-A batsman can be struck out by the bowler or have his wickets hit by the bowler.

-The batsman get out if the batsman's hit is caught before the ball makes contact with the ground.

-The batsman can be tagged out by a fielder if the fielder touches the batsman with the ball (The ball can NOT be thrown at the batsman).

-The batsman is out if his/her wicket is hit after contact is made between the bat and ball.

-The batsman is out if the ball hits him/her after contact with the ball is made and the fielding team has yet to touch the ball.

-The batsman is out if the ball is no longer playable, though runs are scored. (This excludes gutters, in which the batsmen remains at-bat.)

-The Batsman must drop any aluminum bats used on grass, rather than concrete. If the batsman fails to comply with this, he is called out immediately.

-A batsman can call him/herself out.

Substitutions:

A substitution must be announced in the middle or end of an inning. Player's can be moved to any position or be benched and replaced at anytime. A bowler can be substituted during play if the batting team's captain allows this move to be played. The utility player can move locations unannounced during play. There is no limit to the amount of substitutions a team can make.

Team Allegiances:

Players can be traded by agreement of the captains involved. Captains may not be traded, however they can be if their captain status is revoked. A captain's status is revoked by 3/4s team vote. Once a team has revoked it's captain, a new captain must be decided on before the next game. If a team fails to vote a captain it, it either forfeits it's game or returns the captain status to it's former captain.

Team Songs and Batter Dittys:

-A team or player must have the song on CD in order to be used as a team song or ditty.

-Team Theme Songs are played immediately before their home games, with the exception of a team's inaugural game, in which the team may play their song no matter the location.

-Rally Songs will be played for the home team in the middle of the sevent inning, with the exception of the league's inaugural game, in which the road team's rally song will be played at the end of the sixth AND the home team's rally song will be played in the middle of the seventh.

-Victory songs are played by the victor of the game immediately following the game, whether home or away.

-Dittys may be played by a batter once every game, max. 45 seconds in length.

Quitting Players and Free-agency:

A player can quit a team at anytime except during a game, in which a player must remain with the team for the duration of the game. A player that quits a team can not play any matches during the week that he/she quit and the following week. A player that quits a team must wait 5 days to be contacted by any teams. Quitting players can be allowed back on the team that they had quit at the captain's discretion.  If a player foricibly exits a match the team with the quitting player forfeits automatically.  All stats are compiled from the game to the point where it ended.