Rules of Play & ADA Guidelines

Registration: All players must register with proper identification before they are eligible to play. If a player does not register, a team could forfeit the game. All players must be “Checked in” before the end of play on Saturday.  Players can Register on Friday at the Registration Party or on Saturday at your Softball complex.  The player must have a Proper ID – No Exceptions! – Reminder, No “Check In” on Sunday!!!

Team Caps and Division designations:

C Division: No C Division team can exceed a cap of 140, and no player can exceed a rating of 15
D Division: No D Division team can exceed a cap of 110, and no player can exceed a rating of 12
E Division: No E Division team can exceed a cap of 75, and no player can exceed a rating of 8
Women’s Competitive Division: No Cap or rating.  A team can comprise A, B, C, or D-rated players
Women’s D Division: The team cap is 430 which can be composed of E and D-rated players (16-43), additionally, the team is allowed up to three (3) “C” rated players with ratings between 44 and 49. The total team rating is determined by the sum of the ratings of the top 10 highest-rated players, which must not exceed 430.

Per ASANA Guidelines, To play within the Women’s D Div. – Players MUST have a 2024 “Player Rating” within the ASANA database. (No Exceptions)

***Players are only eligible to play for one team***

• Roster:  Players must have a “Verifiable” rating within iPride or ASANA database for A/B, C, D, E, and Women’s D – No exceptions.  If not in the database, please have your league officials update the appropriate database.
• Roster:  Meltdown does not have a limit to the number of heterosexual players, however players/fans may be ejected due to poor sportsmanship
• Age:  Player must be 18 or older
• Ball Count: 1-1 count, with one courtesy foul
• Home Team: Double Elimination tournament –  Higher Seed is Home Team (Including Loser Bracket)
• Championship (1st & 2nd): Undefeated team (Winners Bracket) is Home Team… If game, coin flip will determine Home Team
• Team line-ups must have at minimum 9 players ready to play at the start of the game. Line-ups are permitted to contain up to 12 players (two extra hitters.) Line-ups must include each player’s Number, First Initial, and Last Name.
• Pitching Arch:  6ft – 12ft
• Stealing: No Stealing allowed!
• Run Rule: 20 after 3, 15 after 4, 10 after 5 innings – Run Rule not in effect during Ice Breaker (Round Robin) games
• Courtesy Runner: Teams will be permitted one courtesy runner per inning. The courtesy runner can be any player in on the lineup card for that game (subs must be listed). If the courtesy runner is due up to bat while on base, an out will be recorded in that player’s spot in the batting order.
• Equipment: Bats – Must meet current USA/ASA Guidelines
• Equipment:  Orlando Meltdown recommends that infielders, including but not limited to pitchers and catchers, consider wearing safety equipment to play those positions. This equipment includes face masks, mouth guards, chest protectors, shin guards, and athletic cups as appropriate.
• Balls: Provided by tournament…
• No metal cleats!
• Game Time: Round Robin: 50 minute drop-dead time limit!  Score is recorded at that time, does not revert to previous inning.
  **Round robin games may end in a tie**
• Tournament  Time: No new inning will begin after 55  minutes! Game Time is Forfeit time – No grace period
• Championship game (1st & 2nd): Full 7 innings, no time limit (Run-Rule applies)
• Tie Game:  One pitch playoff format after 7 full innings or time limit, whichever comes first!  Last batted out goes to second base! This playoff format is referred to as Kansas City Tiebreaker!
• Home Runs: (over the fence) Including round robin games
  • Women’s Comp. Division – 3 HR
  • C Division – 1 HR
  • D, E & Women’s Rec. Division – 0 HR
    Note: ‘Over-the-fence’ home runs beyond divisional limits are recorded as an out.
• Uniform Rule – Teams are not required to have like-colored uniforms; Players without numbers will not be permitted to play.  Players must wear appropriate pants or shorts. Revealing pants or shorts for men or women are not permitted. Umpires may ask offending players to change into appropriate sportswear.
• Artificial noisemakers:   These are not be permitted. This includes, but is not limited to money shakers, horns, cowbells, and such other devices. Offending fans (either with offensive comments or noisemakers) will be asked to stop and teams may be subject to forfeit if fans are not kept under control.

Protest:
Umpire decisions on balls, strikes, out calls, other judgment calls will not be considered grounds for protest!

• If a player protested above the player-cap within Division – The player will be disqualified from the tournament.  That game will be counted as a loss for the team.
• If a protest results in a player rating change that also causes a team to move up a division, the protested team forfeits the protested game and the opponent is named winner of the game. The protested team is also eliminated from the Meltdown Tournament.
• If a protest results in a player rating change that does not cause a team to move up a division:
  • The result of the protested game stands. The two exceptions to this would be if (1) a team has three or more protested player rating questions upheld. If this occurs, the protested team will be declared the loser of that game, and be eliminated from the tournament, or (2) the result of the protest makes the player in question ineligible for the division or the tournament. If this happens, the protested team will be declared the loser of that game.
  • The protested team can continue to play.
  • If a protested player’s rating is increased by only one point, the player can continue to play, as long as the player’s new rating is within the division’s maximum rating.
  • If a protested player’s rating is increased by 2 or more points, the player will be deemed ineligible for the remainder of the tournament, even if his/her new rating is within the division’s maximum rating.
• No rating protest allowed during trophy games

***Illegal Bat use: ***
If a batter enters the batters box or hits a ball either fair/foul and found to have used an illegal bat, the batter/runner will be called out.  Any advancement of runners on base or runs scored, the runners will be returned to the base that they originally occupied. – Warning will be given to team

If a batter from the same team that received a warning enters the batters box or hits a ball either fair/foul and found to have used an illegal bat, the batter/runner will be disqualified from the tournament. (no debating or discussion)

Suspension of Play:
The Umpire or Field Maintenance Supervisor can suspend Play if inclement weather is approaching or present. If the weather is such that play must be suspended or cancelled during the tournament, the contingency plans are to, speed up play (i.e. one-pitch).

Sportsmanship:
It is the intent of the tournament to provide fair play for all teams. Additionally, the tournament encourages participation through a culturally diverse mix of players. If at any time disparaging remarks are expressed, implied or said from any player(s), that/those player(s) will then be immediately removed from the tournament and the complex at which the event is taking place for the remainder of the tournament. In other words, play nice and respect one another.

• Note: Some of these rules have been modified for the purpose of this tournament. The rules listed above override the ASA rules in the official ASA Rules of Play Guidebook. All other rules of play, not outlined above, are per ASA guidelines.

ADA Runner Guidelines:

This rule intends to provide an accommodation for a player to enjoy this recreational sport. The intent is not to provide an unfair advantage to a player or a team. Accommodations for Permanently Disabled players are made on a case-by-case basis – and the Tournament Director reserves the right to modify this rule at any point, should it be necessary. This aligns our tournament with that of IPS (International Pride Softball), ASANA (Amateur Sports Alliance of North America), and other tournaments.

Please Note: This accommodation is not to be used for recovering injuries nor any temporary physical encumberment.  Please be respectful of this accommodation and its intent.

• At any time, the ADA player refuses the use of a pinch runner, the ADA player shall lose the pinch runner accommodation for the remainder of the tournament.
• All ADA players are to be indicated on a team roster upon submission.  Upon receipt of final rosters, no additional ADA players shall be added or allowed without express written consent from the Meltdown.
• Lineup cards shall indicate the ADA players with an asterisk, even when listed as a sub. A copy of this lineup shall be given to your opponent and to the Umpire.
• Before the start of the game, the umpire shall be notified that the team has an ADA player on their lineup.
• The ADA runner shall be the player that is the last recorded out. If that player is on base, then move to the second recorded out.
• If the last recorded out used a courtesy runner, the courtesy runner is not able to be used as an ADA runner. You must use the last recorded out as the runner.
• The ADA player does not have to reach 1st base on their own before receiving the ADA runner. The ADA runner shall stand as indicated on the diagram below, from the batter. The pinch runner shall not pass the line before the ball is hit by the batter.  If the pinch runner crosses the line before the ball is hit, a dead ball is called, and the batter is out.