Operating Guidelines

1. Ashburnham 
2. Templeton  
3. Athol Orange
4. Townsend Ashby (TAYBS) 
5. Gardner
6. Westminster 
7. Fitchburg
8. Winchendon 
9. Lunenburg

Starting in the 2023 season, the East and West divisions of the North Central MA Softball League were dissolved. Beginning with the 2025 season, we will follow the rotation as outlined below. The Board will be led by two Co-Directors, and Directors will commit to a staggered 2-year term (i.e., both Directors should not end their term in the same year). The same City or Town cannot serve as the Director for consecutive terms; 2 years must pass to be eligible again. 

2023-2024 Fitchburg       

2024-2025 Templeton 

2025-2026 Ashburnham

2026-2027 Athol/ Orange

2027-2028 Gardner

2028-2029 Townsend/Ashby

2029-2030 Winchendon

2030-2031 Westminster

Directors will take on the responsibilities of the administrative roles of the NCMS League. Representatives will be chosen by the individual town/city during their year to serve on the Board no later than January 1st. If any new town/city joins NCMS, that town/city will not be eligible for the Director position for 2 years. 

The mandatory kickoff meeting for NCMS Town/City Directors will be held before January 31st each year to go over Rules and Dates for the season. The Playoff meeting will be held 1 week before the start date each year. A wrap-up meeting will be held each year at the end of the fall season.  

There will be one meeting scheduled before the season starts to provide an overview of Official Babe Ruth rules and the locally adopted NCMS rules for all coaches. This will allow for consistency across all participating divisions and teams. 

The Babe Ruth Rule(s) will be the primary governing document describing the rules to be adhered to for this year’s season. To supplement this book, the Directors of each town have agreed on the following rules and clarifications in addition to the standard rules. 

Therefore, the Babe Ruth Official Rule Book, along with the items below, are the criteria that will be used by all towns for this year’s softball season. If it is not specifically addressed in these local options rules, the Official 2023 Babe Ruth Softball rules apply for that division. Any exception to this must be approved by the “Inter-League Committee,” which formulated them. If there is a tie presented during the vote, the NCMS Board will serve as the vote of tie-breaker.

To help ensure that all towns use the same set of dates for determining official league ages, we wanted to post these to help everyone stay on the same page. 2026 Official Softball Ages - https://www.baberuthleague.org/league-resources/softball-age-chart

2026 Date Ranges -

• Softball 8U Rookies - 9/1/2016 to 8/31/2019
• Softball 10U Minors - 9/1/2014 to 8/31/2016
• Softball 12U Majors - 9/1/2012 to 8/31/2014
• Softball 16U Juniors - 9/1/2008 to 8/31/2012

Few notes -

• These age ranges are for all three seasons in 2026, spring, summer & fall.
• Younger kids can be moved into older divisions without any prior approval.
• Older kids cannot be moved into younger divisions without all three approvals -
• NCMS approval, Babe Ruth approval & Insurance Carrier approval.
• League Age determination date is August 31st of the previous year - not the current one.