Winter Haven Senior Softball

GOOD NEWS FOR WINTER HAVEN SENIOR SOFTBALL PLAYERS


The City of Winter Haven has notified the Board of Directors that the fields at the Diamondplex will be available for March of this year. That means we will be able to extend our season into March and not have to leave the Diamondplex. There are several tournaments that are currently scheduled that may impact some of our Friday games. The Board will be working closely with the City to minimize those impacts.


The Board of Directors met today to determine the parameters of the season for the American League and the National League. As of today, the leagues will begin at the same time but have different ending dates due to the number of teams in each league. Listed below are the parameters for each league:


AMERICAN LEAGUE  
The first official game of the season will be on Friday, January 8th. The American League will play an 18 game schedule with playoff games at the end of the season to determine the championship team. The last game is scheduled for Friday, March 18th. Rainouts or missed games will be made up by 7 inning double headers.


NATIONAL LEAGUE
The first official game of the season will be on Friday, January 8th. The National League will play a 15 game schedule. Playoff games at the end of the season have not been determined yet. Rainouts or missed games will be made up at the end of the 15 game schedule. If the National League does not have a playoff at the end of their scheduled games, the winner of the National League will be determined by the point standings. If their is a tie, a championship game will be played to determine the winner of the National League. If there are no rainouts, missed games or playoffs, the National League will continue to play as teams until March 18th.


ALL LEAGUES
On Tuesday, January 5th, the 2016 season will officially kick off with a preliminary round of games. There will be a league meeting prior to the games to make everyone aware of new rules and remind everyone about the old rules that we have forgot. After the games on Tuesday, Kentucky Fried Chicken will be providing a meal for players and their families. The Board of Directors will be providing drinks and condiments. The new uniforms and hats will be given to the team managers prior to Tuesday, January 5th. At the end of the season, Friday, March 18th, the Board will sponsor an end of the season lunch with drinks and condiments provided by the Board.


The schedule for the 2016 season should be published on the website by the end of the weekend. We will be using 5 fields this year. The National League will have to play some of their games on Field A. There are special rules for Field A which will be discussed during the league meeting in January.


There will be no games this Friday. I hope all of the WHSS players and their families have a Merry Christmas on Friday and look forward to seeing all of you again on Tuesday.


Don Witmer, Commissioner