2022 Girls Fast-Pitch Softball State Tournament Thursday-Friday, June 9 ...

2022 Girls Fast-Pitch Softball State Tournament Thursday-Friday, June 9-10 Caswell Park, North Mankato

Guidelines for Participating Schools

CONGRATULATIONS on qualifying to the Girls' State Fast-Pitch Softball Tournament. The following

guidelines have been established for this year's tournament. Please take a moment to review and discuss these items with your team, coaching staff, school administrators, and spectators. Also, be sure to review the tournament information that's posted on the Coach's Dashboard. With such a short turnaround, it is essential to be aware of all information and procedures. Please direct any questions to the following:

Lisa Quednow Associate Director 507-440-3867 lquedow@

Sheila Robinson Administrative Assistant 763-569-0493 srobinson@

TOURNAMENT SEEDING MEETING

A seeding meeting to determine state tournament pairings for all classes will be held on Saturday, June 4.

Seeding Process: Participating coaches will use an electronic process to seed the top five teams in their respective class. Following the electronic rankings, which are due not later than 7:30 am on Saturday, each

coach will participate in a Zoom meeting where the tournament pairings will be announced. The Zoom meeting

is at 9am on Saturday, June 4 for all Classes.

Seeding instructions--will be emailed to Coach's and A.D.'s on Wednesday and the Zoom link will be on the Friday evening email.

LODGING: Teams are responsible for making their own lodging arrangements at the hotels that are contracted with the City of North Mankato. The MSHSL staff will share information about the procedure for making reservations during Saturday's seeding meeting.

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BALLPARK INFORMATION

Caswell Park is located at 1875 Howard Drive West, North Mankato, 75 miles southwest of Minneapolis. The ballpark is easily accessible from I-35 and I-90.

TOURNAMENT HEADQUARTERS. The small trailer near Field 3 will serve as tournament headquarters. Each coach

MUST check-in at tournament headquarters an hour prior to each game. Todd Waterbury will serve as the game manager. Sharon Euerle will assist Todd. If you have any questions, please direct them to these individuals.

Each head coach is required to report to Tournament Headquarters an hour prior to each game to pick up game balls, line-up cards and/or participate in the coin flip.

ADMISSION AND TOURNAMENT. Players and coaches must check-in at the Team Pass Gates to gain access into

the ballpark. The pass gates are located on the East and West ends of the ballpark.

Class 4A and 3A teams playing on fields 1 and 4 should check in at the West Pass Gate

Class 2A and !A teams playing on field 5 and 6 should check-in at the East Pass Gate.

Each team must complete the Official Squad Form and Pronunciation Sheet and email it to Sheila Robinson at srobinson@ on or before 8:00 a.m. Sunday, June 5. Again, the Official Squad Pass List will be used to admit official squad personnel into the tournament. Only those coaches, student athletes, student managers, and school administrator listed on this form will be admitted into the tournament at no cost.

BUS PARKING. Team parking is reserved in Parking Lots "B" and "C", which is located on the west and east ends of the ballpark.

Teams playing on fields 1 - 4 should park in Lot "B" on the west end of the ball park.

teams playing on field 5 and 6 should park in Lot "C" on the East end of the ball park.

Bus drivers (with a valid bus driver ID) will be admitted into the ball park for free when their team is playing. Bus drivers must enter the ball park through the team pass gate on the west end of the ballpark.

Spectator Parking. Spectator parking is free and is available in the parking lots closest to the ballpark--Lots A and C. Handicap parking is available in all parking lots on the ball park grounds.

Additional spectator parking is available at the following locations:

Crossview Covenant Church (2000 Howard Drive West).

Dakota Meadows Middle School (located directly across the street from Caswell Park on Howard Drive)

Caswell Park Overflow Parking Area West of Lot B.

GAME MANAGEMENT

OFFICIAL SQUAD SIZE. The official squad for tournament participation is 18 players, 2 student managers and 3 coaches, i.e., a total of 23. The official squad may include LESS than 18 players (number who dress for games), but schools MAY NOT include additional student managers, coaches, or faculty representatives to reach the maximum squad size.

DUGOUT PERSONNEL. Personnel in each dugout is limited to the official squad plus one additional person (additional coach or administrative representative). Please note that grade school students (grades K-6) or younger children may not be on the team bench/dugout or serve as ball girls/boys, mascots, student/team managers, or cheerleaders. This rule will be strictly enforced. No waivers will be granted.

SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION REPRESENTATIVE. Each school is responsible for the proper conduct of team members and spectators. The school administrator representing your school is expected to report to the tournament director at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start of your game to review security procedures.

LOCKER ROOMS. Teams should come dressed to play as there are NO LOCKER ROOMS on site.

HOME & VISITOR. During the quarter final games, the high seed will be the home team. The HOME team for any games beyond the quarterfinals will be determined by a flip of the coin. NOTE: The coin flip will take place onehour prior to the scheduled start of your game. The home team will occupy the dugout along the third base line. Each school shall furnish their own resin bags.

INFIELD PRACTICE. Each team will be allowed 10 minutes infield practice before the start of each game. The HOME team will begin its 10-minute infield practice 30 minutes before game time; the VISITING team begins its 10-minute infield practice 20 minutes before game time. The game manager will inform the coach of each team when to begin their infield practice.

Bench and Field Conduct Rule Modification and Emphasis Coaches, players or other team personnel must be in the dugout (bench area) or dead-ball territory (as defined by Rule 2, Section 22, Article 4 of NFHS Softball Rules Book) during the opponent's infield practice prior to the start of each game. Penalty: The umpire shall warn the offender unless the offense is judged to be major, in which case an ejection shall occur. Any subsequent offense shall be result in restriction to the dugout and/or ejection of the offender(s).

Also note that music may be played in the dugout only during the infield practice. Music may not be played in between innings.

ON-DECK CIRCLE: All on-deck batters must use the on-deck circle that is located behind the batter.

TEAM INTRODUCTIONS. The announcer will introduce each team beginning with the visiting team. As each team is introduced, the players will run from the dugout to their respective first base or third base line. Teams will remain on the field until both teams have been introduced and the National Anthem if played.

During the quarterfinal games, the announcer will introduce the entire team, beginning with the reserves, then the student managers, two assistant coach(s) and the head coach.

During the semifinal, third place and championship games the announcer will introduce the starting lineups according to the batting order and the head coach. The umpires will be introduced prior to the start of each game.

Game stats. Stats will be available online at one hour after the completion of each game.

NATIONAL ANTHEM. The National Anthem will be played prior to the first game of each day.

TOURNAMENT TRAINERS. The MSHSL will hire a certified trainer to tend to any player who is injured. The trainer will be stationed in the medical tent located between fields 1 and 4 and fields 5 and 6. Please note that schools are required to bring their own taping supplies if they want the trainers to tape athletes. Schools that wish to utilize their own medical personnel may do so with the following understanding.

The MSHSL tournament physician, who has coverage of that event, has the ultimate responsibility in regard to the athletes' participation in that specific tournament event. Schools utilizing their own physician, chiropractor, or other health care personnel to be involved in the team's care during the tournament must sign a transfer of care form provided by the school athletic director. This transfer of care applies to the usual bench/dugout activities; however, catastrophic events on the field will remain under the jurisdiction of the tournament physician. Where there is some disagreement with regard to the athlete's injury, it shall be the responsibility of the assigned MSHSL tournament physician to determine a course of action. An athlete injured during tournament play must be given clearance by the MSHSL physician before he can return to play.

Suspended Game Rule: This is a reminder that a suspended game is any game that ends before it becomes a regulation game (at least 4.5 or 5 innings with each team having an equal number of completed turns at bat) or a regulation game that has a tie score when it is ended. If weather, darkness or other causes interfere with play and the game is called (ended) by the umpire before it is a regulation game, the game will be suspended and continued from the point of suspension. The lineup and batting order of each team shall be exactly the same as the lineup and batting order at the point of suspension.

Definition of Regulation Game: It is a regulation game if: (a) five full innings have been played or if the home team at bat has scored an equal or greater number of runs in four or 4.5 turns at bat than the visiting team has scored in five turns at bat; or (b) play has gone beyond five full innings. In (b), if the game is called when the teams have not had an equal number of completed turns at bat the score shall be the same as it was at the end of the last completed inning; unless the home team, in their half of the incomplete inning, scores a run (or runs) which equals or exceeds the opponent's score, in which case, the final score shall be as recorded when the game is called.

The 10-Run Rule and the 15-Run Rule are effective for state tournament play.

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4 Game Termination Policy for Championship Round Games: All quarterfinal, semifinal and championship games will be seven (7) innings (6.5 innings if the home team is ahead), unless: 1) the 10-run rule or the 15-run rule applies; or 2) extra innings are required because of a tie score. If a game is suspended before seven innings, the game will be continued at the point of suspension when conditions permit. This game termination policy does not apply to consolation or third place games.

Please Note: With agreement from faculty representatives of both teams, the tournament director can still terminate a regulation game as identified in the NFHS Softball Rules Book.

POLICIES FOR SUSPENDED AND POSTPONED GAMES: In the event of a postponed game(s), spectators are advised to check the MSHSL web site at for revised game schedules.

Quarter Final Games: If possible, postponed or suspended games will be played in the same order and on the same date as scheduled. If necessary and if additional fields at the site are playable, games may be conducted simultaneously. If it is impossible to play the games on the day scheduled, the games will be played in the

same scheduled order the following day at a time to be determined by the Tournament Director. EXCEPTION:

The schedule may be adjusted to accommodate a school with a graduation conflict.

Semifinal Games: Postponed or suspended semifinal games will have FIRST PRIORITY in the time schedule after the completion of the quarterfinal games. If possible, semifinal games will be played on the same date and in the same order as scheduled. If necessary and if additional fields at the site are playable, the semifinal games may be conducted simultaneously. If it is impossible to play the semifinal games on the day scheduled, the games will be scheduled the following day at a time to be determined by the Tournament Director. The day's schedule will be adjusted accordingly.

Championship, Third Place & Consolation: In case of postponement, the championship games will have FIRST PRIORITY in the time schedule after the completion of the semifinal games. If possible, the games will be played on the same date and in the same order as scheduled. If the third place games cannot be played as scheduled, or if the tournament must be delayed one day, the third place games may not be played. If necessary, duplicate medals and trophies will be awarded.

OTHER INFORMATION

AWARDS CEREMONY. Awards will be presented immediately following each third place and championship game.

Procedures for Presenting Trophies and Medals. Medals will be presented to each member of the official squad including two student managers, two assistant coaches and the head coach. The P.A. Announcer will use the lineup in the program to introduce the official squad. Each team shall line up on their respective first and third base line in the order that they will be introduced. Each team member and student manager will step forward to receive their medal when their name is called. Upon completion of the medal presentation the captain(s) will be called forward to receive the team trophy.

CONCESSIONS. Concessions will be open throughout the tournament.

SOUVENIR TOURNAMENT MERCHANDISE. Tournament programs, T-shirts and other tournament souvenirs are available online at .

TICKET PRICES/GATE TIMES. Only spectators with a valid ticket or event credential are permitted into Caswell

Park. Single session tickets and one-day and two-day tournament passes will be sold online via the League web site. A color-coded wristband will be issued to buyers who purchase a tournament pass. Note: All tickets purchases are online. There will be no cash purchases onsite. Prices for single session tickets and tournament passes are:

Single session tickets: $11.50 - Adult; $7.50 - Student One-day Tournament Pass: $ 21.00 - Adult; $14.00 Student Two-day Tournament Pass: $31.50 - Adult; $19.50 Student (Buyers will be issued a color-coded wristband. The wristbands must always be worn and visible)

There is no charge for non-school age children (five and younger) when accompanied by an adult with a valid ticket.

Gates open for admittance one (1) hour prior to the first game of the day. VIDEO TAPING POLICY. The use of hand-held video cameras is permitted as long as the camera is not obstructing the views of others. Tripods and other camera stands will not be allowed into the tournament. Video footage from the tournament cannot be used commercially (including live streaming) without permission from the Minnesota State High School League. Still cameras are welcome. Avoid obstructing the views of others when taking pictures. Photography taken at the tournament cannot be used commercially without written permission from the Minnesota State High School League.

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