2303

Marion County Softball Association
Girls Youth Organization (ages 7-14)

Minutes from the February 3, 2003 meeting....

President - Phil Shepler                           Prospect- Teresa Staton                       St. Marys- Bobby Vitek
Treasurer - Angela Harvey                      Green Camp- Mike Claggett                                  Fred Richardson
Ridgedale -Rondel Hicks                                        Steve Ault                          Cardington- Darren Rogers
               Tami Galloway                       Pleasant- Bob Swaney                          Marion- Rod Bosse
River Valley � Phil Shepler                                   Steve Allen                             Larue- Angela Harvey
                Jeff Duprey
Larry Borders also attended the meeting from River Valley
Names above in bold attended the meeting:

Rules:
� Amount of times a pitcher can hit batters per inning/game. After several discussions, a proposal was that a pitcher must be removed if she hits 3 batters in one inning or 5 per game. This is just for 10U and 12U leagues. It passed by a vote of 3-1.
� In the 10Uputting a time limit on the games. A proposal for no new inning after 1:45. This was adopted by a 4-0 vote.
� 8U- where the pitcher needs to be. (on the pitch and after). After a lengthy discussion, a proposal that the coach pitcher must have 1 foot on the rubber at 35�. This was adopted by a 4-0 vote.
� Review all 8U rules. No other changes were made although there was a lengthy discussion about the fielders throwing to the pitcher instead of 1st base. No changes were made.
� 10U- to eliminate the � way lines. Discussion that not all fields were marked. After discussion, it was decided that no change to this and the � line would stay in the rules.
� Forming a girls T-ball league. Discussion was to start a girls t-ball league to give them more opportunity to play skill positions. Some rules were discussed and Phil will merge those rules with the current county boys t-ball rules. We also want to advertise this concept so we will place an ad in the Star stating the new T-ball league. This was adopted by a 4-0 vote.
         � Starting rules
         � 50� bases
         � 11� optic yellow Diamond softie ball
         � 3 inning games, 1st two innings�3 outs or 7 runs max.; 3rd inning, everyone bats batter gets 3 pitches then hits off T
         � 1 Base per hit
         � A T-ball tournament will be held the same week as the others to be held at Green Camp. It will be a 2 game round-robin                    format. No winners. A small entry fee will be charged to cover the cost of medallions or trophys. Each girl will receive one               on every team.
� Sliding into home ruling. Discussed the rule and it is clear that you do not slide according to the rule book but you must avoid malicious contact. This will be left to the umpires discretion.
� 12U, 14U adding another EH or bat everyone, or free substitution. After discussion, a vote of 4-0 was to leave the rule alone.
� Ball type: last year it was adopted to go to a standard ball with last year being the transition year. For the 10U and younger, an 11� Diamond optic yellow softie ball was adopted. For 12U and 14U, it will be either ASA Rawlings or the Dudley. The ball must have raised seams, 12� and optic yellow. This was adopted last year by a 8-0 vote at the Feb. 12, 2002 meeting. This will take effect this year�..
� A concept of changing the 10U league to an 11� hard softball was discussed and was decided to go back to the coaches and get input from them and was tabled till next fall.

Dates:
� Start season May 19-Jun 27
� Girls T-ball league, Jun 2-Jun 27
      o Phil will create there schedule along with the rest.
      o Green Camp, RV, and Ridgedale have exclusive softball fields.
� Girls tourney Jul 7- Jul 12
      o Sites/director will be finalized next meeting
      o 14U River Valley will host, Phil Shepler will be director.
      o 12U Ridgedale will host,
      o 10U open
      o 8U open
      o Fees: a $70 cap will be put on the tournament entry fee. This covers umpires and field prep for a double elimination tournament.
       o
� Fall League Aug 24- Sep 28, rain Oct 5. (12U and 14U); Sep 7-Sep 21, rain Sep 28. (10U).
      o Shortened the league by one week for the older leagues.
      o Cost $20/$10 will remain the same
      o Hosts probably the same, not yet determined.

Misc:
� Fields at Pleasant was the biggest complaint this year. 5:00 start times, time limits for some games and other didn�t, coaches not getting enough notice for early games. After lengthy discussions, it was decided that if 2 games must be played on a field then the start times would be 5:30 and 7:15 with the following guidelines: These were adopted by a 4-0 vote
      o Must start on time
      o No infield balls after the first inning.
      o 3 pitches between innings and 5 for a new pitcher.
      o No new inning after 7:00 or 8:45.
      o Tie games will be accepted to keep a game from going over into the next game time, otherwise the international tie-breaker will be used.
� Teams only play 2 games a night max. during the tournament.
� All start times shall be 6:00 unless 2 games are scheduled on an unlit field. (see above)
� Conduct a county-wide rules interpretation meeting before the season. Phil stated that he would conduct this. A date of Sunday, May 11, 2003 was set at 5:00pm at a location to be determined.

New Business:
� Update reps., addresses and e-mail addresses
� New President: Phil stated he would like to find someone to take over as President of the county softball program. Will discuss at the next meeting

Next Meeting:
� April 7, 2003, at RVMS caf� 7:00pm
� Need the following:
       o # of teams per age group, names/phone #�s for all coaches, e-mail addresses if possible.
       o Need to fill tournament site with director names and tournament draw dates.
       o Set up Fall league date, sites�..