KIAC Softball ByLaws
Sport Chair for Softball: Todd Buckingham,
1. REGULAR SEASON PLAY
A. Each participating conference member must schedule and play every team in the conference during the regular season.
B. Regular season competition will consist of four games against each participating member, two games at home, two away.
C. Competitions will be held as doubleheaders consisting of two seven inning games.
D. If two teams cannot agree on dates, then the schedule will be set by the conference softball chair in consultation with the KIAC Commissioner.
E. Rainouts for conference play should be made up at every exhaustive effort by both teams. If need be, a conference member may have to cancel or move a doubleheader with a non-conference opponent to ensure that every effort was made to play all KIAC contests. All KIAC games should take precedence over non-conference games, but such actions as previously mentioned would be required only if By-Law F was not going to be met.
F. Teams must complete 75% of their conference schedule in order to qualify for the post-season KIAC tournament.
G. All conference contests must be scheduled before the Monday prior to the conference tournament. The Tuesday prior to the tournament may be used as a rainout date.
H. Except in the case of natural catastrophe or emergency, a visiting team will forfeit the first game of a doubleheader if they are more than 30 minutes late for the contracted start time of the first game as filed with the commissioner’s office. After 75 minutes, both games are forfeited.
I. All rules and regulations for conference play will be those adopted by the NCAA with NAIA modifications.
J. The team with the best record in conference play will be the conference regular season champion, and the top seed for the KIAC tournament. If teams have not played an equal number of games, but have met the minimum standard for post-season qualification as set forth by By-Law 1-F, the team with the best winning percentage in conference play will be declared the KIAC regular season champion. The KIAC Regular Season Champion will be awarded a trophy for their accomplishment. If there is a tie in KIAC winning percentage, the regular season champion will be determined using the following tiebreakers, in order:
1. Head-to-Head
2. Runs scored in Head-to-Head
3. Overall season winning percentage
4. Coin toss
2. CONFERENCE POST-SEASON PLAY
A. A double-elimination tournament will determine the KIAC tournament champion. The KIAC tournament champion will receive a trophy for their accomplishment. A tournament runner-up trophy will also be rewarded. No team will be required to play more than four games in one day.
B. Date of the tournament will be the first weekend in May.
C. The site for the conference tournament will rotate among conference schools, ensuring that every institute has an opportunity to host. If the designated host school is unable to host the tournament, they must inform the KIAC prior to the start of the season in which they were scheduled to play host. If the KIAC commissioner concurs, then the tournament will pass to the next school on the list.
D. Sites for the next 6 playing seasons:
2008 Alice Lloyd
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013 Midway
E. Seeding for KIAC tournament will be determined by final regular season standings. In the event of a tie for a position, the same tie-breaker method will be used as used in By-Law 1-J. Disputed seedings will be resolved by the softball chair, in consultation with the KIAC commissioner.
F. The host institution will be responsible for assigning officials for the event, at the rate set by the conference.
G. The following will be the operational/expenditure procedures for KIAC tournament play:
1. Officials’ fees and expenses for the tournament will be paid by the KIAC.
2. Admission must be charged and all gate receipts are the property of the KIAC.
3. Host institution and softball chair are responsible for filling out paperwork to pay officials. Official’s vouchers, gate receipts, advertising revenue, and financial statement must be sent to the KIAC treasurer within 48 hours of the tournament’s completion.
4. Host institution is responsible for providing scorers, scoreboard operators, statisticians, sports information, athletic trainers, and other auxiliary personnel.
3. POST-SEASON PLAY (BEYOND CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT)
A. Qualifications for post-conference tournament play (Region XII or National Tournament) will be awarded by the following order:
1. KIAC tournament champion
2. KIAC regular season champion (If applicable)
3. KIAC regular season runner-up (If applicable)
4. STATISTICAL REPORTS
A. All conference teams are required to use the DAKSTATS program to report scores
B. Scores for the preceding week must be reported to the softball chair by 6:00pm on Sunday.
C. All scores, statistical reports, and player of the week nominations must be reported to the KIAC Sports Information Director by Noon the proceeding Monday.
D. Failure to report scores to the softball chair and all information to the conference SID will result in the following sanctions:
1. First miss = reminder letter from conference SID
2. Second miss = warning letter from conference commissioner
3. Third miss = student athletes ineligible for post-season awards
4. Fourth miss = team ineligible for post-season competition
E. If an institution has issues with DAKSTATS or other concerns on statistical reporting, they need to contact conference commissioner immediately to avoid sanctions listed above.
F. Conference SID will be responsible for releasing weekly reports and players of the week. He/She will also be responsible for making sure website is updated.
4. AWARDS
A. The KIAC provides awards for softball listed below. Awards will be ordered by the conference commissioner in time to ship to host site. It is the responsibility of the softball chair to give the list of award winners to the commissioner and conference SID by no later than the Monday after the tournament.
B. An All-Conference team of 17 (according to NAIA rationale) members will be elected by a vote of the conference coaches. The team will consist of 8 position players, a designated player, a utility player, 4 pitchers, 1 infield “at-large”, 1 outfield “at-large”, and 1 any position “at-large”. A Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, and Coach of the Year will also be determined by a vote of conference coaches.
C. Blank nomination forms will be distributed to all conference head coaches in mid-April. Completed forms must be re-submitted to softball chair no later than 6:00 pm the Monday prior to the conference tournament.
D. The following nominating and voting procedure will be used:
1. Nominations
a. When coaches receive the nomination forms, each coach should list all corresponding stats for each player they wish to nominate directly from the DAKSTATS program. This will ensure that a consistent form of stats is being used for all-conference consideration.
b. Sheets can be mailed or faxed back to conference softball chair, but are void and will not be considered for nominations if received after 6:00 pm on the Monday prior to the conference tournament.
c. Only those stats provided on the nomination sheets should be considered when voting for All-Conference.
2. Voting
a. The softball chair will have prepared a packet of each position nomination and will be give a copy to each coach during the coaches’ meeting, to be held at the place of the conference tournament, the night before the tournament begins.
b. Voting will begin with Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, and Coach of the Year awards. All coaches will have an opportunity to nominate any non-pitching player from their nomination sheet for Player of the Year, and any of their pitchers on the nomination sheet for Pitcher of the Year. Each coach will have the opportunity to speak on their player’s behalf. Voting will then be done by silent ballot, and their must be a designated person to tally votes prior to the beginning of voting. If there is a tie, only those players involved will be voted on again. AT NO TIME CAN A COACH VOTE FOR THEIR OWN PLAYERS. Once we have the two P.O.Y. awards, and the C.O.Y. award, we will move to the All-Conference voting. Whomever wins the Player of the Year and the Pitcher of the Year awards will be removed from consideration for All-Conference Team voting, as they have received the highest award possible.
c. Voting will proceed with the voting for the All-Conference firstbaseman. The same procedure used for P.O.Y. voting will be used.
d. Voting will then proceed for each position.
e. Voting for the “at-large” positions will be done last. Any infielder nominated but not winning their respected position is eligible for the infield “at-large” position. Likewise, any outfielder not winning their respected position is eligible for the outfield “at-large” position. Any player all, regardless of position, that did win their respected position, is then eligible for the any position “at-large” pick.
E. KIAC Scholar-Athlete Team : All softball players who have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 after at least one completed semester at a KIAC institution shall be named to the Scholar-Athlete Team. The list of qualifying students must be submitted to the conference softball chair prior to the tournament. The conference softball chair will submit the list to the conference SID and commissioner. Schools will be given certificates from the commissioner’s office which they may complete and present to the student-athletes.
5. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS
A. Outfield fence distances must be a minimum of 200 feet. If the field has fencing that permanently exceeds 225 feet, it is mandatory that a temporary fence be used to keep the field at a maximum distance of 225 feet.
B. The official ball for the KIAC will be the same as the official ball for the NAIA.
C. Sunday play policy will follow section L of the NAIA handbook.