News and Announcements
Due to the rain and wet fields, all practice sessions are canceled for Tuesday, 4/8.
Practice resumes on Thursday per the Practice Schedule.
Executive Committee, Board of Directors and Annual Meetings
Monday, March 31st was a busy afternoon and evening for OTS. Three meetings were held at the Bethany Beach Town Hall - the Executive Committee meeting, the Board of Directors meeting and the Annual meeting.
Minutes from these three meetings can be found on the Meeting Minutes webpage.
Here's a summary:
Several changes were made to the By-Laws:
- Base paths were extended to 70' (used to be 65').
- Time limits on games were eliminated. All 7 innings will be played unless the manager of the losing team chooses to concede the game. In hot weather, speed up rules will be enforced - no infield ball after the 1st inning, limited warm up pitches and a little extra hustle getting on and off the field.
- The last Wednesday of every month during the season will be scheduled for rain make-ups.
- A new Code of Conduct was added.
- Game times will not start earlier after July 4th as in past years. The first games will be scheduled at 9:00 a.m. for the entire season.
- Illegal bat rules were clarified.
- Tiebreaker rules for the end-of-season tournament seeding were enhanced.
- A new position on the Executive Committee was added. The Information Officer will maintain the league website, maintain a repository for leagu documents, assist the Vice President in schedule and serve as a back-up to the league Secretary. Tom Wendorf was appointed by the Executive Committee to fill this position for an interim term.
- Change from ASA to SS-USA rules as guidelines for the league with the exception of rules pertaining to bats.
- Teams will now be required to keep a scorebook for their own team. Keeping the scorebook for the opposing team is optional.
- Batters will start with a 0 - 1 count (no balls, one strike).
Minutes from March 31, 2014 Board of Directors Meeting
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
March 31, 2014
Present: Bo Wood, Harry Gowl, Keith Purdy, Dick Mullins, Tom Wendorf, Jesse Bare, Johnny Allen, Grady Meredith, Dave Sroka, Pat Sherry, Mike Bahr (voting for Mike Luke), Terry Shifflett, Chris Houlday (voting for Paul Litwin). Also present were Wayne Peaper, Neil Fleming, Terry Thomas, John Bokop and Mike Fleetwood. Arriving later were Mike Luke and John Mancuso.
1) Bo brought up the position of Information Officer, the proposed newly created position on the Executive Committee. This position will take over the management of the OTS web site, and will communicate with the league members. Motion and seconded, passed unanimously. Tom Wendorf was appointed by the Board at this time. This position will be up for re-election with the President and Treasurer during even years.
2) Teams and managers discussed. James Gang, Custom Woodworking are out, Fox’s Den Pizza, Pepper's Tavern and Robinson Furniture are added. Depending on the number of teams the league will have, Harrington will or will not be used. Ireland's Four Courts has changed names to James Joyce Irish Pub.
3) Discussion on when the sponsors of a team must be taken in the draft took place. This was clarified for the managers. When a team is picking players in the draft, they cannot take a player at or below their sponsor's rating before they take that sponsor. This does not include the first (leveling) round, since some teams may not have the ability to do this due to their ratings in round 1. No opposition to this.
4) Discussed the number of teams for the league this year. Dick stated there were 162 players registered at this point for the 2014 season. The Board in September voted to allow a maximum of 156 players. This could be accomplished by having 12 teams with 13 players per team, or 13 teams with 12 players per team. After discussion, a motion by Grady Meredith, seconded by Pat Sherry was made to have 12 teams with 13 players per team for the total of 156 players. 8 votes For, 3 votes Against, motion Passed.
5) Changes to the By-Laws were listed for the Board, with changes recommended by the Executive Committee earlier tonight. Also, the Code of Conduct portion was discussed in detail by Harry, and clarified for the Board. Discussion took place on changing to 70' bases. A motion was made by Jesse Bare, seconded by Terry Shifflett to keep the bases at 65'. Motion failed. Then the Board voted on the amended By-Laws. Approved.
6) A motion was made by Jesses Bare, seconded by Grady Meredith to mandate that all teams keep a scorebook. Discussion took place. The requirement is only to keep score for your team. You do not have to keep the other team's scores. The motion Passed unanimously.
Richard B. Mullins
Secretary, OTS
Minutes from March 31, 2104 Annual Meeting
OTS ANNUAL MEETING
March 31, 2014
Meeting started at approximately 6:00 p.m., as soon as the Board of Directors meeting ended.
1) Bo introduced the Officers and Managers to the membership. Since numerous new players were at the meeting, Bo went over the basics of the league, how it operates, etc.
2) Practices are on Tuesday and Thursday, a schedule was distributed by Tom Wendorf. Returning players will practice with their 2013 team until the draft. New players will practice every Tuesday and Thursday at 9:00 a.m. on Field 2. The managers scheduled for 10:30 will conduct the practice for the new players. This is not a time for a game, but for infield, outfield and batting practice. Managers are encouraged to come and assist with rating the new players. Also, there will be Monday practices at 9:00 am starting next week for anyone who wants to come and have more practice time.
3) Field work to be done before the season starts includes:
a. Weed and feed both fields and roll the fields. Rollers will be rented to roll both outfields before the season.
b. Fence to be installed on Field 2.
c. Finish the work on the warning track on Field 1. The membership will be asked to help with this effort.
d. The gravel road off the main road into the fields needs work. This is owned by the church and they will be involved in the work. Bo told John Walker the league would contribute a load of stone if needed. They will discuss and work on a solution to the ruts and holes in the gravel driveway.
4) Bo announced that Keith Purdy would be coordinating an OTS Wednesday night league. They anticipate 4 teams. Rules of play would be Senior Rules, which are different than what we have during the day. One example is they would be allowed to use senior bats. Anyone can play. Players would get a shirt. Cost per player is $15 for OTS members (cover cost of balls, shirts), and $30 for non-OTS to also cover their share of the liability insurance the league must carry for the church.
5) A question was asked about going to the tournament in Olney this year. Bo stated they had a couple things to straighten out and if they got them done, then yes. If we don't come to an understanding, then no.
6) A motion was made by Walt Peaper, seconded by Keith Purdy to start the count at 0 - 1, rather than 1 - 1 as in the past. This would help limit the number of walks. After a vote by the Board, the motion Passed 11 - 3.
7) A question regarding the need for a fence on Field 2 was asked. They're installed for a couple reasons. One is to define the field for maintaining the outfield. Also, Boog Laird has offered to host tournaments at the field, which would bring the league revenue. Need fences to do that.
8) Johnny Walker informed the league that the ladies who sell food and drinks at the field will have a concession stand constructed.
Richard B. Mullins
Secretary, OTS
Minutes from March 31, 2014 Executive Committee Meeting
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING
March 31, 2014
Present: Bo Wood, Harry Gowl, Keith Purdy, Dick Mullins. Tom Wendorf was also in attendance.
1) Bo discussed the teams we have so far. If the Board votes to go to 13 teams, we may have to use Harrington Casino, since we already have the shirts. Teams are James Joyce, Dynamic, Ocean View Family Restaurant, B & E Tires, All Out Sports, LTCI, Edward Jones, American Legion, Robinson Furniture, Pepper's Tavern, Colonial East and Fox’s Den Pizza. Most managers are in place, will need more if the league goes to 13 teams.
2) Discussed the revisions to the By-Laws that Harry Gowl and Tom Wendorf worked on for the past several weeks. These changes will be presented to the full Board tonight for consideration. These changes include:
a. Extending the base paths to 70' - being done by most leagues and tournaments, basically a safety issue. Players may still play in front of the bases, so the throws may not be any longer.
b. Elimination of the mercy rule was already voted into affect by the Board in September.
c. Elimination of time limits for games. Games will be 7 innings with one extra if a tie. A provision to speed up games when they're being played in high temperatures (over 90°F) needs to be included. No infield practice after first inning, limited pitcher's practice pitches, etc. Getting people moving a little quicker to speed up play.
d. Make up of games postponed due to weather. The last Wednesday of the month will be reserved for this, however managers may elect to play the game before that. Wording will be changed to say "on or before" the last Wednesday. Managers are responsible for ensuring they have umpires for the makeup games.
e. Code of Conduct discussed. Harry Gowl went over each item changed in the By-Laws. One change to be made is under section 5.12 (Rough Tactics), to change the wording on using the auxiliary plate at home to have the same wording as using the orange bag at first base.
f. Elimination of earlier start times. Game times will not change after July 4. First game starting times will remain at 9:00 a.m. the entire season.
g. Strengthens the wording on the use of illegal bats. Photos of older illegal bats are included in the By-Laws. These are not all the illegal bats. Some players use older bats with no ASA stickers. Those need to be approved by the Executive Committee.
h. Season ending tie breaker rules. Clarified procedure to be used.
i. Additional Executive Committee member - need to create an "Information Officer" position to assist the Secretary with communication to the league, management of the OTS web site, etc. This will be a 5th Executive Committee member, to be appointed at this time by the Executive Committee, and then elected in the rotation with the President and Treasurer.
j. Change from ASA to SS-USA rules as guidelines.
3) Discussed using the total team number (sum of player ratings after draft) to limit the placement of players on at team from the wait list. The Board voted this into affect in September, some on the Executive Committee feels this is too restrictive and will inhibit our ability to utilize the wait list. Any changes must be approved by the Board.
Richard B. Mullins
Secretary, OTS
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