PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota High School Activities Association board of directors has implemented a mercy rule for the newly sanctioned high school softball league in the state.
Mercy rule type situations are no stranger to high school sports in South Dakota. Sports such as football and basketball have running clocks, while football also has point margin limits for most of the seven classes of competition.
The board decided on a 10-run rule after five innings and 15-run rule after three innings.
Another rule adoption for softball was what classifies as ‘regulation’ if a game has to be suspended due to weather or darkness.
For instance, five full innings have to be played, or the home team batting has scored equal to or a greater number of runs if it ends after the top of the 4th. If a game is tied after five innings, and the game is called off due to weather or darkness, games will be labeled a tie and seed points will reflect that a tie occurred.
The spring of 2023 will mark the beginning of sanctioned high school softball in South Dakota. The newly developed sports will have three classes of competition. Teams can start practice on March 20th with first games scheduled to begin March 25th.
