How We Roll: Navigating a Huge Roster & Crushing the Fall 2026 Season!

Hey Ham Slams family! 🐷🔥

We are getting closer to taking the field for our Fall 2026 season in the Smithfield Fun & Fellowship Co-Ed League, and the energy is already incredible. Our squad has grown into a massive, powerhouse roster of over 30 players!

Having a big family is amazing, but it also brings up some great questions about how game days are actually going to work. How do we make sure everyone gets to play? How does batting work?

We’ve got a master plan to ensure everyone gets plenty of action, stays fresh in the North Carolina heat, and most importantly, has a blast. Here is exactly how the JoCo Ham Slams are going to operate this season:

🔄 The 3-Platoon System (Keeping It Fresh!)

Instead of having a few people sit on the bench for a whole game, we are running a Full-Field Platoon Rotation. We’ve divided our active game-day roster into three set groups of 10 players.

• How it works: Platoon A fields Inning 1, Platoon B fields Inning 2, Platoon C fields Inning 3, and then we repeat!

• The Perks: This guarantees everyone gets a predictable mix of playing time and solid breaks to rest up, hydrate, and cheer from the dugout.

🪵 The Mega Batting Lineup (Yes, Everyone Bats!)

Some of you veteran ballplayers might be wondering, "Wait, don't standard rules limit the batting lineup to 10 players?"

Not in this league! The Fun & Fellowship league rules explicitly state: "Teams may bat as many players as they have present. It is highly recommended to use a continuous batting order."

• The Rule: Your place in the batting lineup has nothing to do with whether you are currently on the field or resting on the bench.

• The Flow: All players present are written into one long master lineup. If the 3rd out happens while Batter #7 is up, Batter #8 leads off the very next inning. It keeps the game completely fair, and everyone gets the exact same number of turns at the plate over the course of the season!

💥 The "Wave" Batting Strategy

To keep our offense moving, we aren't stacking all our heavy hitters at the very top. Instead, we are using a "Pod System" to space our power and experienced contact hitters evenly throughout the entire lineup. This ensures we always have a rally starter or a base-clearing power hitter coming up, no matter where we are in the order. Continuous waves of pressure! 🌊

🦅 Why Our Deep Roster is Our Secret Weapon

Between vacations, shift work, and family commitments, we know not everyone can make every single game, and that’s exactly why we built such a deep squad. Whether we have 30 players show up or 14, we will always have a full field, plenty of depth, and we will never have to forfeit.

We can’t wait to get everyone out to our first practices to start locking in our positions and getting a feel for the diamond. Get ready to play hard, laugh a lot, and bringin' home the bacon! 🥓