WACC (approved 10/2/24)
2400. The National Federation Rule Book, as modified by the CIF, NCS and the WACC shall be the official rules of the WACC.
2400.1The ten-run rule is in effect
2400.2The international tie breaker shall be used in the 10th inning.
2400.3 The seven-inning or two-hour rule and a “nine batters per inning” rule is in effect for JV games. The inning ends automatically at the conclusion of the 9th batter’s at bat.
2400.4The official NCS softball shall be used for league games.
2400.5 There shall be no pregame hitting except for whiffle ball or soft toss by either team 60 minutes before the scheduled starting time of a league contest.
2400.6 The pitcher, 1st base and 3rd base must wear a “game face” or other protective head gear.
2400.7 Each varsity coach shall be allowed one formal protest during each league game. A protest may only involve alleged misinterpretations of NFHS rules by the umpires. It must occur immediately after the action/call by the umpires that caused the protest. The protesting coach shall have a reasonable amount of time to verbally indicate the alleged misinterpretation of the NFHS rule; the opposing coach shall also have time to make his/her case to the umpires. The umpires shall then make a decision, in consultation with the NFHS rule book if necessary, which shall be final and the game continues. If the rule book is used by umpires, the protest shall be considered a formal protest. If the protest is upheld, the protesting shall be allowed another formal protest during that game. Further argument by either coach after the decision is reached by the umpires shall cause that coach to be restricted to his/her dugout.
2401 Softball games shall begin at 4:00 unless both schools agree otherwise. Infield practice shall be limited to 10 minutes for each team. The field shall be available to the visiting team at 3:50 and to the home team at 3:40 unless both coaches make other arrangements due to late arrival. In all cases both teams shall have equal access to infield time.
2402. Any postponed game shall be (re)played on the next date available to both schools, using the WACC definition of “next available date.” Athletic directors shall reschedule the make-up game.
2403. A tie game at the varsity level must be completed. Tie games are considered as suspended games. If a tie game occurs against a conference but not league, opponent, it shall be scheduled by athletic directors and played off. If a tie game occurs during the first round of the two games against a league opponent, it is to be continued until the tie is resolved, that continuance taking place as a preliminary to the start of, and at the site of, the second round game. If a tie occurs in the second round, it shall be “played off” only if it affects the ranking of teams for the league playoffs.
2404. Coaches shall prepare written ground rules and distribute them to league schools.
2405. The official score book shall be kept by the home school. The home school is also responsible for notifying local media of the results.
2406. The league commissioner is responsible for hosting the postseason meeting and organizing the nomination/balloting/voting for the all-league team.
2407. All-League Procedures:
2407.1The all-league nomination process shall be outlined in advance by the league commissioner.
2407.2 Each school has a minimum of two nominations. Additional nominations are based on the number of league wins based on the following scale:
Total WACC Wins Number of Additional Nominations
The league commissioner shall adjust the number of nominees should there be more or fewer than six teams in a league.
2407.3 Players shall not be nominated by position. Coaches shall prioritize their nominations.
2407.4 Coaches shall first select a “Player-of-the-Year.” Coaches shall then select a “Pitcher-of-the-Year.” These student-athletes shall automatically be placed on the all-league first team
2407.5 Each coach shall select nine players for an all-league first team (2 points) and nine players for an all-league second team (1 point). The nine players with the most points and the two POTY’s (2407.4) shall be placed on the first team. An all-league second team shall be composed of the nine players with the next most votes. Sportsmanship shall be considered in both nominations and voting. Coaches may not vote for their own players. If a tie occurs, and the tie can be resolved by determining which player received the most first-team votes, it shall be done. Otherwise, ties shall be voted off; the coaches of the players in the tie shall not participate in the vote-off. It is recommended that assistant coaches, selected in advance from at least two schools, tally the votes.
2407.6 Each school is then allowed to select two players as “Honorable Mention,” to be listed by the coach after the all-league balloting.
2408. The WACC league champions shall be the teams with the best league records. If there is a tie for first place, all schools involved in that tie shall be league co-champions The three WACC automatic representatives to NCS postseason play shall be the winner of the Foothill League end-of-season tournament, the winner of the Shoreline League end-of-season tournament, and the Foothill League regular season champion. If the Foothill League end-of-season tournament winner and the Foothill League regular season champion are the same school, then the 3rd NCS automatic entry shall be the Foothill League end-of-season tournament runner-up.
2408.1 Teams shall be seeded for the WACC postseason Foothill tournament based on league standings. If there is a tie in the league standings, the ties for tournament seeding shall be broken using the following prioritized steps:
2408.1.1The records of the tied teams against each other in head-to-head competition.
2408.1.2 The records of the teams within the tie against the team in 1st place in the league standings (if this is a tie for other than 1st place).
2408.1.3 The records of the teams within the tie against the team in 2nd place in the league standings (if this is a tie for other than 1st place)
2408.1.4 If at any time in the above steps a team is eliminated from the tie, but a tie still exists (started with a three-way tie for example), the progression starts once again with 2612.1 and continues until the tie is broken.
2408.2 Teams shall be seeded for the WACC postseason Shoreline tournament based on
Attachment A below.
2408.9 Every effort shall be made to complete the league round robin season. If the WACC is unable to complete the league season by the Monday evening before the Tuesday start of the WACC tournament, the WACC tournament shall be seeded using league wins as the deciding factor.
2408.10 If the WACC is unable to complete the league tournament(s), the NCS representatives shall be the team(s) with the greatest number of league wins. Ties shall be broken using the prioritized steps in 2408.
ATTACHMENT A
The Shoreline Softball Tournament shall consist of six teams
First Round
The team ranked # 1 and # 2 shall be given a first round bye The team ranked # 3 shall host the team ranked # 6 The team ranked # 4 shall host the team ranked # 5
Second round
Team # 1 shall host the lowest ranked first round winner
Team # 2 shall host the highest ranked first round winner Championship Round
Semifinal winners
Seeding the six Shoreline teams
The four Shoreline A schools shall first be ranked based on their overall record, using all 14 games. Ties shall be broken using these revised softball special rules:
The records of the tied teams against each other in head-to-head competition. The records of the teams within the tie against the Foothill team in 1st place in the league standings The records of the teams within the tie against the Foothill team in 2nd place in the league standings The records of the teams within the tie against the Foothill team in 3rd place in the league standings The records of the teams within the tie against the Foothill team in 4th place in the league standings The records of the teams within the tie against the highest ranked Shoreline A team not involved in the tie The records of the teams within the tie against the next highest ranked Shoreline A team not involved in the tie The records of the teams within the tie against the Shoreline B team in 1st place in the league standings The records of the teams within the tie against the Shoreline B team in 2nd place in the league standings The records of the teams within the tie against the Shoreline B team in 3rd place in the league standings The records of the teams within the tie against the Shoreline B team in 4th place in the league standings A draw from a hat by the leagues’ AD’s
The four Shoreline B schools shall first be ranked based on their overall record, using all 10 games. Ties shall be broken using these revised softball special rules:
The records of the tied teams against each other in head-to-head competition. The records of the teams within the tie against the Shoreline A team in 1st place in the league standings The records of the teams within the tie against the Shoreline Al team in 2nd place in the league standings The records of the teams within the tie against the Shoreline A team in 3rd place in the league standings The records of the teams within the tie against the Shoreline A team in 4th place in the league standings
The records of the teams within the tie against the highest ranked Shoreline B team not involved in the tie
The records of the teams within the tie against the next highest ranked Shoreline B team not involved in the tie
A draw from a hat by the league’s athletic directors
The eight Shoreline teams shall earn one point for a victory in the six games against the three other schools in their Shoreline grouping
The eight Shoreline teams shall earn two points for a victory in the four games against schools in the other Shoreline grouping
The six teams with the greatest number of points shall earn a place in the postseason tournament, ranked by the number of points they earned, adjusted by the seeding and tie-breaking information above.
If at any time in the above steps a team is eliminated from the tie, but a tie still exists (started with a three-way tie for example), the progression starts once again and continues until the tie is broken. A draw from a hat by the league’s athletic directors.
