Town league softball starts next week

Opening day Wednesday, May 28, speed of play rules adopted

By Than Acuff 

Maybe, just maybe, Crested Butte Town League softball (CBTLS) will bring normalcy back to the valley and the world. Not that Crested Butte is the center of the universe, but we like to think so, right? So, with that in mind, bring on some normalcy. Because we could use it. There’s a big development starting just outside of town, more planned for the future and they’re building a field with a retractable roof at the school just for Than.

Or so I’ve heard.

Until then, let’s all gather at the fields this summer, have pleasant conversations with each other and enjoy a little softball, with or without habeas corpus.

Believe it or not, while local softball has been going on for decades, every season something new pops up and the big changes this year involve time. Much like the MLB, the CBTLS will be adopting a couple new rules this season to increase the speed of play and allow players to get to the early game from work a little easier.

“We’ve got a couple of decent changes this year,” says town of Crested Butte Recreation, Open Space and Trails supervisor Joey Carpenter. 

First, the time change. The 5 p.m. game will now start at 5:15 p.m. with the second one still at 6:30 p.m. Secondly, CBTLS has always carved out 90 minutes for games but, after looking at softball leagues throughout the nation, it turns out CBTLS is the only league that provides that much time for games. Most other games are 60 minutes with some 75 minutes. So, game times will now be trimmed down to 75 minutes.

“We think this will really help out later in the season and in the playoffs when it gets dark earlier,” says Carpenter. “Hopefully it will reduce conflicts.”

In addition, the league has adopted rules concerning time for pitchers and batters. Once the umpire calls time, the next batter has 10 seconds to get in the batter’s box ready to hit. Once a batter is ready, the pitcher has five seconds to pitch. If one or the other is not ready in time, the umpire may call a ball or a strike depending on who is in violation.

“I was kind of surprised when we brought it up at the captain’s meeting,” says Carpenter. “The captains were like, that makes sense. We’ll see and then make adjustments if things aren’t working.”

A couple final changes include no games at Pitsker Field this year and they’ve officially clarified in the rules what bats can and cannot be used.

Games will still be Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays and there are six teams in the Tuesday/Thursday league, down from eight last season, and eight teams in the Wednesday league this year. And yes, the Gray Hares are back, including the unstoppable Sam Lumb.

Play ball!