The Division II Softball Committee took steps to keep a weather-related policy implemented at this year’s championship from having to be used again.

The committee met July 11-13 in
Boston.

The 2006 Northeast regional, hosted by Bryant College, was deluged with storms that caused severe flooding throughout New England, and the teams were unable to play the regional to its completion by the Monday before the start of the finals. Under the existing policy, Le Moyne College advanced to the finals in Salem, Virginia, since it won Game 11 of the truncated regional and was the last undefeated team left in the double-elimination bracket.

Committee members discussed alternatives in case such a scenario occurs again. They recommended that when conditions threaten the completion of the standard format, tournament officials be allowed to adjust the order in which the games are scheduled to be played and to consider moving to a single-elimination bracket.

The committee emphasized that even if the Division II Championships Cabinet approves the change, it should be implemented only as a last resort.

"We found that we had some criteria that weren’t logical," said incoming committee Chair and Central Missouri State University Associate Athletics Director Kathy Anderson. "We ended up having to play some games that had no bearing on who was going to advance in that regional once it became apparent that it couldn’t be finished in time."

The obvious goal is to do everything possible to reach a conclusion on the field, Anderson said.

"But this was a unique situation," she said. "It may never come up again, but having teams play games in the losers’ bracket when there was no way for those teams to continue on due to the weather needed to be looked at. We were going to run out of time."

The committee also developed a weather policy for the finals. Since the eight teams aren’t seeded as they are in the regionals, members recommended that the committee have the flexibility to reformat the event to a single-elimination tournament in the unlikely event of sustained inclement weather, Anderson said.

In other action, the committee agreed to allow officials from the umpire improvement program to choose umpires for regional and finals assignments. However, the Division II Softball Committee retains the right to make umpire changes if necessary.

Other items on the agenda included reviewing the Division II regionalization model that will be implemented for softball in 2008-09. The committee also agreed to solicit bids this fall to host the 2010 championship finals.