NEW ENGLAND CLUB BASEBALL ASSOCIATION

Official League Charter

MISSION STATEMENT

The New England Club Baseball Association (NECBA) was formed in 2000 with four schools (University of New Hampshire, Boston University, University of New England, and Central Maine Technical College).  The purpose of the league is to offer a competitive baseball experience that meets the needs of the student-athlete and provides a structure to promote collegiate baseball within the region.

The NECBA will continue to enhance collegiate baseball within the region by offering a season schedule in the fall semester which will included a regular season and play-off structure.  The NECBA will continue to assist new teams with the goal to increase playing opportunities for college students by allowing new clubs membership within the league.

I.ORGANIZATIONAL

A.Board Of Directors

1.The Board of Directors shall consist of a commissioner, and whatever additional positions deemed necessary by either the commissioner or a majority of the participating schools.

2.Each school will have one vote in selecting individuals for Board positions.

B.Meetings

1.The league will hold two meetings annually, one before September of each year, and one shortly after October.

2.The commissioner will chair all meetings.  No official business may be conducted without the presence or approval of the commissioner or a majority of board members present.

3.The commissioner will call for additional meetings as needed.

C.Voting Guidelines

1.Each active club is entitled to vote on any motions brought forth during meetings.  Active clubs must be present at the meeting in order to vote.

2.A majority is required to pass a motion.

3.In the event of a tie, the board members will vote to break the tie.  If the tie is not broken after the board votes, the motion does not carry.

D.Treasury

1.The commissioner or treasurer will cut invoices for each club on September 1 of each year.  The bill for each club will consist of three line items: league dues, umpire fees for the regular season and umpire fees for the playoffs.  The amounts for each line item shall be set by the commissioner at the annual preseason meeting.

2.Payment of the annual invoice is due by September 30.

3.In the event that any club has not paid their invoice by the due date, that club may be subject to forfeit off all subsequent games until dues are paid.

4.No club that has any outstanding dues, umpire fees or fines due to the league at the date of the preseason meeting may participate in the league for that season.

II.GAMEPLAY

A.Supplies

1.In any game, whether it is a regular season game or a playoff game, the home team is responsible for providing baseballs.  Baseballs do not need to be any particular brand, but should measure 9 inches and 5 ounces with a “cushioned cork center”.

2.The home team should have any equipment necessary to ready the field for game play, including rakes and shovels in the event of rain.

B.Rules

1.NCAA rules shall be used for game play except where otherwise noted in this charter.

2.All clubs should keep a copy of the NCAA rulebook on hand at games.

3.In any regular season game, a visiting team that has a lead of ten runs or more after five innings of play, or a home team that has a lead of ten runs or more after four and a half innings of play shall be declared the winner of the game.  There will be no such mercy rule for any playoff game.

4.The NCAA rule concerning bats put into effect on January 1, 2011 will not apply for any games.

5.A club may play any game with eight players.  Any less than eight players constitutes a forfeit.  If a club is playing with eight players, an out will be recorded for the ninth spot in the batting order.  If a ninth player shows up to a game in progress, that player may immediately enter the game in the field and in the ninth batting spot.

6.A player or coach who is ejected from a game will not be subject to suspension from any subsequent game unless the umpire that issued the ejection makes a special recommendation to the board and the board approves.

C.Umpires

1.For regular season games outside the showcase weekend, the commissioner will be responsible for providing two patched umpires for each regular season home game.

2.The fee for umpires will be set by the commissioner at the annual preseason meeting.

3.The commissioner or treasurer will remit payment to umpires from the league treasury.

D.Player Rosters

1.Any enrolled student may play for a maximum of four seasons during a six year consecutive period.

2.Each club may carry a roster of up to twenty-four players, with no limit on adjustments up to and including September 30.  Each club will submit a roster of players to the Commissioner no later than September 30.  Failure to present a roster to the commissioner by this date may result in a $50 fine.

3A club may play under protest any regular season game after September 30 against an opponent who has not submitted their roster to the commissioner, and the opponent may be subject to forfeit.

4.The commissioner may approve additional players added to a roster after September 30 if deemed necessary.  Any request to add to a roster after September 30 must be approved by the commissioner. 

III.GAME SCHEDULE

A.Regular Season

1.Each club will submit to the commissioner no later than the date of the preseason meeting of each year a listing of dates for which they may not be available to play at home or travel to play on the road.  All clubs will be expected to be available to play either home or on the road on any Saturday or Sunday starting with the weekend after Labor Day through the last weekend in October that was not requested as a blackout date as of the date of the preseason meeting and may be subject to forfeit if they fail to field a team to play a scheduled game or rainout makeup.

2.The commissioner will compose the regular season schedule considering the availability submitted by the teams.

3.The regular season shall consist of twelve games.  Each club will play six games as the visiting team and six as the home team.

4.All regular season games will be seven innings in length.

B.Forfeits

1.A forfeit shall be defined as an occurrence in which a club fails to attend a scheduled game with at least eight players ready to complete an official game.

2.Occurences that do not constitute a forfeit include the following:

a.inclement weather

b.academic obligations

c.no field available at or near the scheduled site

d.no available umpires

3.In the instance of an occurrence not listed above, the board will make a judgment as to whether that occurrence constitutes a forfeit.

4.Any club that forfeits a single regular season game or two games scheduled on the same date will be fined $75 for each game forfeited.  The total fine amount will be payable within 30 days of the forfeit date.

5.Any club that forfeits two or more regular season games scheduled on two or more different dates will be fined $75 for each game forfeited and disqualified from the playoffs.  The total fine amount will be payable within 30 days of the forfeit date.

6.Any club charged with a forfeit may file an appeal to be reviewed by the board.

C.Playoffs

1.The playoffs will consist of six clubs.  The two division winners with the best winning percentages will be seeded one and two and each earn a bye.  The other division winners will be seeded three and four.  The two clubs with the next best winning percentages will be wildcards seeded five and six.  The commissioner may close the regular season as soon as six teams clinch all of the playoff spots whether there are remaining games on the schedule or not.  If there is time and field availability, the commissioner may keep the regular season open through the end of October so that more games can be played.

2.In the event of a tie in the standings, head to head results between the tied teams shall be used as a tiebreaker.  If that does not resolve the tie, an index will be used, in which each club will be awarded points for each regular season game won amounting to the final winning percentage of the opponent.  If that does not resolve the tie, the win and loss record between clubs in the same division will be used.  If that still does not resolve the tie, the win and loss record against other clubs that make the playoffs will be used.

3.In the first round, the number three seeded club will play as the home team against the number six seeded club, and the number four seeded club will play as the home team against the number five seeded club.  In the second round, the number one seeded club will play as the home team against the winner of the game between the number four seeded club and the number five seeded club, and the number two seeded club will play as the home team against the winner of the number three seeded club and the number six seeded club.  The two remaining teams will play in the championship game with the higher seeded club playing as the home team.

4.The semifinal playoff games will be seven innings in length, and the championship game will be nine innings in length.

IV.AWARDS

A.Trophy

1.The commissioner shall make arrangements with club that won the championship the preceding year to retrieve the presentation model trophy to be available for the championship game of the current year.

2.The commissioner shall present the trophy to the club that wins the championship immediately following the championship game.

3.The club that wins the championship may keep the trophy in their possession until they receive their individual championship trophy from the commissioner.

4.The commissioner will install a plaque on the league trophy each year to document the champion using funds from the treasury.

B.All Stars

1.An all star team will be compiled by the commissioner based on nominations received by the clubs following the postseason meeting.

2.To be eligible for all star selection, batters must have had at least twenty-four regular season plate appearances, and pitchers must have had at least fifteen innings pitched.