Longer games that may run in a shorter time was the result of a change adopted at the Fort Frances Slo-pitch League’s annual meeting Monday night at the Memorial Sports Centre.
Team representatives voted to switch from the previous rule of allowing a team to score unlimited runs each inning to a five-run maximum for every inning but the last, which will still allow for unlimited scoring.
Games will continue to be nine innings, and the implementation of the five-run rule is based on the concept that more games this season will be able to keep the games more competitive as well as helping them reach their nine-inning maximum before darkness sets in.
The alterations were made with an eye on trying to entice more teams to join the league. Last year, 32 teams took part, down from an all-time high of 56 approximately five years ago.
Registration for the individual leagues, running one per night from Monday through Thursday, begins today, with the cost remaining at $265 per team. Exhibition play will run for two weeks starting May 12, with the regular season to begin May 26. All games will start at 6:45 p.m. until further notice.
Playoffs will start the second week of August, so as to accommodate university students who have to leave the area to return to school in the fall. There will be a winner determined from each nightly league, and the four survivors will play off for the overall league championship.
Another change will see teams being able to make unlimited substitutions during the course of a game. Last year, players were forced to sit for the duration of the game after coming out of the contest, unless an injury to their team necessitated them being put back in the line-up.
Teams who pull no-shows without calling in advance to announce they won’t be making it for a game will get a warning after the first such instance, and be removed from the league for the season for a second infraction. Makeup games must be played within a two-week time frame, weather permitting.
A minimum of six male and three female players must be present for a team to be able to play, with a list of spare players available for emergency purposes to be made available to all teams.
Other plans included the publication in the Fort Frances Times of league standings and a player of the week selected within each team; the possibility of one or more open tournaments being hosted by the league; and a year-end banquet tentatively being looked at for late August.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
