wpebl_rules

WESTERN PA ELITE BASEBALL LEAGUE (WPEBL)
RULES / GUIDELINES

League Objectives
The overall objectives of the WPEBL are to provide players the opportunity to compete against the best competition in Western PA and be recognized as the “Elite” league for players in this area. Subsequently, the league provides a “forum” for college coaches and/or professional scouts to watch players in an effort to evaluate their opportunities to play baseball beyond high school.

League Board
The WPEBL Board is comprised of the team coaches...each existing team carries one vote. All league decisions are made by a majority vote among the board members – each team has one vote on every issue and majority rules in all cases. In the event of a tie due to an even number of teams in the league, the Rules / Dispute Board will break the tie. All decisions are final for the upcoming or existing season. Modifications, revisions or new proposals are to be presented to the board during the off-season.

Rules / Dispute Board
A Rules / Dispute Board will be named at the start of each season to oversee and handle all disputes and rule interpretations that may arise during the season. The “board” will be 3 coaches elected through a vote of all teams and they will serve a 1-year term; being eligible to be re-elected and serve as often as voted in by his peers. The primary purpose of this “board” is to ensure all teams complete their season schedule by helping to coordinate rescheduling of cancelled games. In addition, they will handle any and all other disputes raised by league members. Decisions of the Rules / Dispute Board are final and not eligible for “challenge” by any team.

League Coordinator
The WPEBL will have a “League Coordinator” to handle the oversight of meetings and general organization of all teams, schedules, playoffs, etc. This is a volunteer position and will be elected prior to the start of each season through a vote of league coaches.

League Website
A WPEBL website (www.wpebl.com) will be maintained by the league to promote and enhance the overall objectives of the league…All team members are required to assist in the maintenance of the website, including timely notification of game results and periodic updates for player statistics.

A “Webmaster” will be responsible for the website and its content. This includes the initial season listing of team rosters and schedules, as well as daily updates of scores and schedules. The Webmaster is a volunteer position and subject to compensation as voted by the board.

League Entry / League Fee
Teams must petition or be invited to enter the WPEBL by an existing board member. League entry is based solely on the majority vote of the board members.

Insurance
Each team is required to purchase their own insurance. The WPEBL is to be named as additionally insured and copies of the insurance certificate should be carried by coaches at all WPEBL games.

Team Rosters
Team rosters may only consist of high school players - those players who competed in the preceding spring high school season. College players are not eligible for participation in the WPEBL. Roster makeup and size are not restricted by geographic boundaries and are at the sole discretion of the team’s coaches.

All rosters must be submitted to the League Coordinator and Webmaster by June 1 of each season. A roster “template” will be distributed to every coach to complete so that the format is consistent for every team in the league. The standard format will also make it easier for the coaches to prepare information sheets to coincide with the league Scout Day (details below).

Once a player is rostered on a team in the WPEBL, he may not switch to another team in the league until the following season. The league will not tolerate player movement within the league during a season…any attempts will result in that particular player being suspended from league play for the entire summer.

All teams should practice carrying copies of their rosters to each game in order to accommodate any requests from college coaches, professional scouts, PA Announcers, etc…Again, it is highly recommended to utilize the standard league format for rosters.

Field Designations
Each team is responsible for securing their own “home” field for practice and games. Any associated fees are the sole responsibility of each team and not the WPEBL. The WPEBL will coordinate, and pay if necessary, for the use of fields during the league playoffs and Scout Day.

A team may opt not to utilize a “home” field and play all “away” games. However, they are still responsible for their share of the umpire fees.

Home field designations and accompanying directions are to be provided to the League Coordinator and Webmaster prior to the start of each season.

Schedule
All teams within the WPEBL will play the same schedule with the intent that each team will play every other team at least twice per season…this could vary from year to year based upon the number of teams within the league.

All schedules must be submitted to the League Coordinator and Webmaster prior to the start of each season.

Each team will coordinate their own schedule. WPEBL games will take priority over any other game and/or tournament. Teams may elect to participate in another league and/or schedule tournaments as long as they understand that they must complete their WPEBL schedule for the given season. Any team not completing a full schedule is subject to being placed on “probation” for the following season or potentially voted out of the league by the Board.

PROBATION = Team may participate in the following season, but will not be permitted league “voting” rights. In addition, subsequent infractions of the rules may result in league dismissal.

The “home” team is responsible for determining whether a game is cancelled due to inclement weather. Once a game commences, the umpires are solely responsible for the pace of the game and whether the game needs to be cancelled / suspended.
Any game called due to weather, darkness, or other reasons will result in one of the following…

Game is “Official” if 4 ½ innings have been completed and the home team is ahead or 5 innings if the visiting team is leading.
Game is “Suspended” if the score is tied or if the aforementioned criteria have not been completed in terms of innings played. Suspended games will be rescheduled for a later date and the game picked up at the point of suspension.

Any game stopped in the middle of an inning, after 5 full innings have been completed without a tie, will revert back to the last whole inning played and the results final.

Forfeits will not be tolerated. Any team that forfeits a game is subject to league sanctions; including fines, “probation,” or league dismissal. All such decisions are the sole responsibility of the Rules / Disputes Board.

If a game is to be cancelled, the coach of the home team must notify the opposing coach and umpires. In addition, the participating coaches must communicate open dates on their schedule in an effort to reschedule the game as soon as possible. If one team experiences a lack of cooperation in rescheduling a game, the Rules/Disputes Board should be contacted with the details of the issue.

Game Results
The winning team of every game is responsible for reporting the score to the League Coordinator, Webmaster and all appropriate media on the day of the game. A listing of media will be provided to all coaches prior to the start of each season.

Coaches are encouraged to periodically check the league website (www.wpebl.com) to ensure the games were recorded and recorded accurately.

Umpires
The “home” team is responsible for scheduling 2 umpires to work each game. The cost of the umpires will be split evenly by the participating teams and paid to the officials prior to the start of each game.
The cost of umpires at each home field is to be communicated to all other coaches prior to the start of each season so that they may budget accordingly.

The umpire is the league official for each game. Protests of league rules must be communicated to the umpire at the point of infraction and filed with the Rules/Disputes Board immediately after the game.

Baseballs
The “home” team is responsible for providing the baseballs for each game, unless otherwise agreed upon by the participating teams.

Playing Rules
The National Federation of High School (NFHS) rules will be utilized by the WPEBL; including the following exceptions and points of emphasis…

Designated Hitter (DH) is permissible for the Pitcher only.
An Additional Hitter (AH / EH) is permissible to provide a team the opportunity to bat 10 in the order during any given game.
“Courtesy” runners are permissible for the pitcher and/or catcher, if a team so desires.
Re-entry of a player is permissible for all starters in the lineup submitted at the beginning of each game, as long as they return to their original spot in the batting order. This includes the DH & AH/EH, as long as the DH is still in effect.
A “Must Slide” rule will be strictly enforced…as opposed to the “avoid contact” rule in high school. Any malicious contact judged by the umpires will result in immediate ejection of that player.
All games are subject to the 10-run “mercy” rule after 5 innings.

The WPEBL will not tolerate any abusive or irresponsible behavior of its coaches in relation to the treatment of players, coaches, umpires, and fans. Any such offense is subject to review by the Rules / Dispute Board and sanctions including suspension or dismissal from the league.

Scout Day
Each year the WPEBL will conduct a “Scout Day” in which league players will be eligible to work out in front of college coaches and professional scouts. All WPEBL rostered players who have recently completed their Junior year of high school are eligible to participate….in addition, any “uncommitted” Senior may also participate. Sophomores may participate if nominated by their coach as a legitimate college prospect. The players’ coaches are responsible for identifying which players will participate and at what position…players are restricted to working out at a maximum of 2 positions.

Participating players will be assessed a fee to offset the cost of the field and equipment utilized for the event. Cost will be determined by the board prior to the event.

The date and location of the event will be determined by the board prior to the season and published on the website, as well as communicated periodically to the media, college coaches and professional scouts.

Playoffs
The top six (6) teams at the end of the regular season will qualify for a league playoff. Playoff Seedings will be determined by the win-loss record of the teams. Tiebreaking criteria will be…

Head-to-Head Results
Record against the highest seeded team not among the “tied” teams. This process will continue until the tie is broken. If the tie cannot be broken this way…

The format of the playoffs will feature a Bestof-3 Series in each round, with the teams agreeing to complete the 3 games in 3 days or less (DHs are permitted) unless inclement weather forces a postponement. The higher seeded team will have the right to “host” the playoff series if a field is available. However, field availability IS NOT as a reason to go beyond 3 days in a series.

The cost of baseballs and umpires will be covered by the WPEBL funds.