Wakefield Twi-League By-Laws 

1. American League rules with free substitution. Player must be reinserted into the same spot in the batting order in which he started. The starting player may come back into the game only once. The substitute may not return once he is removed. A pitcher may return to a game in the same spot but may not return into the field to pitch. He must return to another position in the field. This includes pinch-hitting the pitcher. Pinch-hitting is considered removing a pitcher from a game. 

2. DH Rule – DH can bat for anyone in the line-up or a team can bat a 10-man line-up. If an injury or other event leaves a team with 9 players, the DH may be inserted into a position on the field but that position in the order is dropped. The DH maintains his spot in the order. Play will continue with 9 players. Teams can not drop the DH out of their lineup to bat 9 players unless an injury occurs. The DH is allowed to switch to any position. The DH may not be added back into the line-up once dropped. The team may not add the 10th spot in a lineup after going through the batting lineup. 

3. Roster – Each team can carry 24 players. This includes 3 out of town spots. • If a player is a native of Wakefield, (Out of high school) or currently lives in town, he will be considered a resident for league purposes. • If a player graduates from Wakefield High School, he is considered a lifetime resident for league purposes. • If a player is from Wakefield and graduates from the Northeast Vocational or any other private high school, he will be considered a lifetime resident for league purposes. • If a player is not a WHS graduate or graduated high school while living in Wakefield, he must reside in Wakefield to be considered a resident for roster purposes. If player moves out of town, he is now an Out of Town roster player. • If a team has an out of town player who has played in the league for 15 consecutive seasons, he can be designated an in town player. Each team may only have one player on their roster with this designation. (approved 6/2019) • Roster must be submitted immediately following the draft. 

4. Forfeits – If 9 uniformed players are not ready by 15 minutes after the official start time, that team will forfeit the game. If a team starts with 9 players and one player leaves, the same rules apply. Rules apply for both regular season and playoffs. 

5. Rain Dates – Rained out games will be made up at first possible rain date. The first Sunday after rainout is the automatic date unless field is not available or the Sunday falls on a Holiday Weekend. ALL TEAMS MUST adhere to the makeup policy to keep the league on schedule. In any case, refer to schedule. Rains out times are 5:00PM Sunday, 2:00PM Sundays. If dates at Walsh or Sullivan are available, that is also an option. Saturdays will be used as a last resort. 

6. Uniforms – All teams must wear same tee shirts as uniforms or team will forfeit 

7. Bat Rule – Since 2004, Wooden or composite wooden bats will be used. No aluminum bats are allowed. 

8. Regular Season Curfew – All games are to start at 6:00PM, with a 15 minute grace period if a team does not have a legal lineup. (9 players) No inning is to start past 8:00PM during the regular season. If a game is called due to darkness, the game reverts back to the score at the last completed inning. 

9. Ejections – Any player who physically assaults or verbally threatens to assault an umpire will be thrown out of Twi-League for one year. Player may be banned from Twi-League pending a league review / vote. Any player / coach who is thrown out of a game for misconduct or arguing with an umpire will be suspended for that game and miss the following scheduled game. Misconduct examples from MLB section 6 are: a. Taunting opposing players b. Swearing at other players and / or umpires / spectators a. Other baseball misconduct per MLB rules, (spiking, running a player etc.) c. Any player thrown out for a 2nd game is suspended for the remainder of the current season including the playoffs. d. If a player / coach are thrown out of a game, he must leave the premises until the end of the game. Players are not allowed in the stands or near the benches if they have been ejected. 

10. Moulton Ground Rules – Any ball hit into the trees will be played if ball falls within play. If a ball hits a tree and goes out of the ballpark, it will be a homerun. A ball cannot be caught out of any tree for an out. Trees will be considered walls. Since the left field foul pole is in play, the same ground rules will apply. 

11. League Decisions – If a rule change is to be made in Twi-League, all representatives will be notified for a vote. Commissioner breaks the tie. 12. League Payments – All league payments are to be completed by the Game 2 of the Regular Season. Teams will forfeit games if the full team fee is not received by Game 2. 

13. Playoffs – Will be held at Moulton Park according to the following format. • Home team in each playoff series, may choose which bench they want for each game. (added 6/2019) Semifinals (Best 2 of 3) 1 vs 4 2 vs 3 Team 1 & 2 are home team for game 1 & 3 #1 seed in playoffs is rewarded with the ability to choose their times / schedule for the 1st round. If we start on a Sunday with 2 games, #1 seed can choose the 2:00PM or 5:00PM game. #1 seed can also choose when they play game two. (Either Monday or Tuesday) If Playoffs start on a Monday, #1 Seed can choose to play game one on the Monday or Tuesday. Finals (Best 3 of 5) Team with best overall record is home team for games 1, 3 and 5 

14. Tiebreakers – Head to Head Each team receives 2 points for a win and 1 point for a tie. Please see Tiebreaker section at the end of the bylaws. 15. Playoff Curfew – In the playoffs, no inning will start after 7:45 PM and in the finals, no inning will start after 7:30 PM. 4 ½ innings is a complete game, 5 innings if home team is behind. If an inning starts and is not completed, the game reverts back to the last completed inning. 

16. Playoff Eligibility – Each player must appear in 6 regular season games to qualify for the playoffs. An appearance is defined as: a. Officially entering a game in any capacity (pinch runner, hitter etc) b. Officially entering a game that was “STARTED” and rained out c. A forfeited game by the opposing team gives each player a game appearance. This does not give the forfeiting team the same appearance status. d. Players, who start the year but are subsequently injured in games, can be eligible for the playoffs. 

TWI-LEAGUE DRAFT 

1. Each team has the option of drafting a player from a lottery pool. All teams MUST be present to hold a draft unless a team opts to not draft any players. The draft order is as follows: 1. 6th placed team from regular season 2. 5th last placed team from regular season 3. First round playoff loser with worst regular season record 4. First round playoff loser with high regular season record 5. 2nd Playoffs Runner Up 6. League Champion (Amended June 2021) 

2. Any player from Wakefield has to notify the Twi-League of his intention of playing. All players will be placed in the lottery pool. When available, a tryout will be held for all players wishing to play in Twi-league. 

3. Any out of town player brought into the draft by a team, must be picked by that team and is considered a territorial pick. The member team will use its first pick for such a player. Second player – second pick, etc. 

4. If a team brings an out of town player into the draft that they do not want, he must go through the draft as non-roster and non-territorial pick. All information on the player must be disclosed at the draft. If player has a stipulation that he will only play for a particular team, the prospective player must be taken with a draft pick by that team. (revised 6/2021) 

5. Territorial players also include brothers or sons whom already play for a team. The same rule applies as territorial out of town players. In the event a team has a brother and an out of town player coming into the same draft, they must be their first two picks. (revised 6/2019) 

6. If a player is NOT included on a team’s roster the previous year, he reenters the draft as a non-roster player. If a player wants to switch teams and an agreement cannot be worked out, the player may sit out a year voluntarily and reenter the draft as a non-roster player. 

TIEBREAKFER RULES (Amended February 2021) 

Head to Head 

1. Head to Head Record 

2. Runs Scored Head to Head 

3. Record against other 2 playoff teams 

4. Run Differential against other two playoff teams 

5. Regular Season Wins (Just in case a team has two ties, where as another team has 1 more win) 

6. Coin Flip 

Multiple Teams 

3-Team Tiebreaker 

1. Head to Head Record against the other tied teams 

a. If one team has a winning record against the other two, they move on no problem. 

b. Then run head to head tiebreaker for the remaining two teams. (Only time to rerun the head to head tiebreaker) 

2. If All 3 teams somehow have the same record against each other 

a. Run differential against all tied teams 

b. If tied - Run differential against all the other playoff teams that clinched 

c. Regular season wins (Give the team with most wins over teams with ties) 

d. Coin Flip 

4 - Or More Team Tiebreaker 

1. Head to Head total record against the other tied teams 

a. If one or more teams have a better winning record against the others, they move on.

b. If still tied, use run differential against all teams bidding for the playoff spots 

c. If still tied use record against just the playoff teams that clinched 

d. If still tied use run differential against just the playoff teams that clinched 

e. Regular season wins (Give the team with most wins over teams with ties) f. Coin Flip