NUMBER OF PLAYERS
- Style: Teams will play with 10 players on the field.
- Min Number of Players: A game may start and end with a minimum of 8 players without being declared a forfeit. Teams must take one automatic out in their batting order when having 9 players and two automatic outs in their batting order when having 8 players. Teams MAY intentionally walk the batter prior to the “automatic out” if they wish to get to the automatic out spot in the lineup.
- Min Number of Females: There must be a minimum of 3 females on the field, HOWEVER teams can play with 2 females in BOTH the regular season AND playoffs without the game being declared a forfeit, but must take an automatic out every 10 batters).
- Picking up Players: Please read our FAQ section in regards to the picking up of players to avoid a forfeit in the regular season.
EQUIPMENT
- Each team is responsible for supplying its own equipment including bats, jerseys, bats, gloves, & protective gear.
- Metal Cleats are NOT allowed
- Bats: All bats must be a slowpitch bat with either ASA, USSSA, or NSA stamp. NO senior or fastpitch bats allowed.
- Ball:
- Women: .44 core & 375 compression or below stamped 11-inch yellow balls (NSA, ASA, USA, USSSA, WSL, One Nation)
- Men: .52 core & 300 compression or below stamped 12-inch yellow balls (NSA, ASA, USA, USSSA, WSL, One Nation)
- When a new ball is throw in directly to the pitcher it is their responsibility to check the ball or give it to the umpire to be checked. If the pitcher fails to do so as did not give to umpire to check there is no penalty given to the batter and the ball is thrown out at the time it is found to be illegal.
REGULATION GAME
- Innings—A regulation game shall consist of seven innings; in the event of rain or darkness, 4 complete innings or 30+ minutes of game time constitutes a regulation game in the regular season. In the playoffs, only 4 complete innings shall constitute as a regulation game.
- Time Limit—1 hour. No new inning shall begin after 55-minutes
- Mercy Rule—A game is complete when a team is leading by 15 runs after 3 innings
- Mercy Rule—A game is complete when a team is leading by 12 runs after 4 innings
- Mercy Rule—A game is complete when a team is leading by 10 runs after 5 innings
- Home Team–The home team shall be determined prior to the game via a coin toss (except in DH leagues).
BATTING ORDER/SCOREKEEPING
- Scorekeeping: The umpire will be responsible for keeping score of each game. It is not required but is recommended that each team have a scorekeeper as well
- Substitutions: Teams may bat all players on their team for each game (15max may play per game). Players can rotate in and out of the field each inning without reporting to the umpire; however the batting order must remain the same unless a substitute who has not played is being used.
- Re-Entry Rule: If a player is taken out of the batting order for a substitute, that player can “re-enter” one time but must return for the player that replaced him/her in the batter order. A player that starts the game as a substitute CANNOT re-enter once being removed from the game.
- Use of Females:
- Minimum number of Females: Teams must have a minimum of 3 ladies in the batting order and in the field, HOWEVER teams are permitted to play with 2 ladies provided they take an out in the 10th spot of the batting order and remain with 7 or less males in the field. THIS APPLIES FOR BOTH THE REGULAR SEASON AND PLAYOFFS.
- Batting Order: The batting order must be submitted to the umpire prior to game time. Each team must have 2 females within the first six people in the batting order.
- Batting More than 10: Teams may bat more than 10 players but the male/female ratio shall be
- 7 males require 3 females by the 10th spot. An 8th male can hit in the 11th spot without an additional female.
- 8 males require 4 females by the 12th spot. If only batting 11 the team can bat 8 and 3. IF batting 12, the team MUST have a 4th female by the 12th spot.
- 10 males require 5 females by the 15th spot. If only batting 14 the team can bat 10 guys and 4 girls but MUST have a 5th female by the 15th spot.
- Walking a Female: You may not walk a male to get to a female. The male will advance to second base (must touch 1st base first) and the female has the option of batting or advancing to first base.
EXTRA INNINGS
- Starting Situation: If the game is tied at the end of regulation, extra innings will be played with a runner on 2nd base and 1-out. Teams will play until a winner is declared
- Courtesy Runner in Extra Innings: The runner on 2nd base can be replaced with the courtesy runner for the inning, however the original runner must first take possession of 2nd base and be replaced after 1 pitch is thrown.
FOUL TIP
- The definition of a foul tip is a ball that is hit and goes “sharp & direct” from the bat to the catcher’s glove and is caught in flight. If the ball goes more than 6 feet in the air the umpire will call it an out. If the ball is under 6 feet, it will be the umpire’s discretion based on the sharpness of the batted ball.
- The batter may foul the third strike once, but will be declared out on a second fouled third strike.
BASERUNNING
- Courtesy Runners: Teams may use one male courtesy runner & one female courtesy runner per inning. That runner can be anyone in the game or on the bench but if that person is on base and it’s their turn at bat, it’s an out. Runner MUST be of the same gender.
- Sliding: The runner must avoid a fielder who has the ball when waiting to make a play. The runner does not have to slide, but has the option to.
- Safety Bag: On a throw of a live ball that is coming from foul territory or appears to be going into foul territory (first base side) the defense may take the orange bag and the batter the white bag to avoid a collision. The runner may use the white or orange bag to start from tag up and any time to advance to second it’s their choice.
FIELDING
- Outfield: There is no regulation as to how far back in the outfield an outfielder must stand when a female is batting.
- Number of players in the infield:
- Teams may only have 4 players on the infield (plus the pitcher and catcher).
- Teams may NOT play a “5-Man Infield”. An outfielder may not enter the infield until the ball is hit.
PITCHING
- The ball must be pitched underhand at a slow speed
- The ball arc at least 6-feet from the ground before it crosses home plate and shall not rise higher than 12-feet above the ground.
- Hitting up the Middle: Teams will receive ONE WARNING each for an “up the middle” violation and after that point, every ball deemed “up the middle” will be an OUT. After the warning has been issued and the umpire determines a ball is hit “up the middle”, the umpire shall call the play dead and declare the out while making all runners return to their initial base. The batter will ALWAYS be declared out if the pitcher is hit on a line drive in the air; provided the pitcher is within 1 foot of the pitching rubber. The glove is NOT considered part of the body.
- What is considered “up the middle”: If the ball is hit with excessive speed up the middle (approx 1 foot off each side of the pitching plate) the warning will be given. The pitcher does not have to be on the pitching rubber to get the warning (some pitchers move off as soon as the ball leaves there hand), rather the determination of a warning shall be made by the location and speed of the ball. This is not a gender bias warning/out. It can and will be given due to a male or feel make hitting the middle.
STRIKE ZONE
- The strike zone is any part of the area over home plate that is lower than the top of the batter’s highest shoulder, or higher than the bottom of his back knee.
- A ball will be declared when a pitched ball strikes the ground before crossing the plate, when the ball hits the plate, or when the ball crosses the plate over the batter’s head
- All batters will start with a 1-1 count
HOMERUNS
- Each team is permitted a maximum of 5 ‘over the fence’ home runs per game. Any homerun exceeding 5 will count as an OUT against the batter. Female homeruns do NOT count towards the overall total.
- If the batter hits the ball off of an outfielders glove and the ball goes over the fence without touching the ground, the ruling is a “4 base error”. It does NOT count against the teams homerun total but the batter/runner does NOT have to run the bases.
TIE BREAKERS
- If two teams are tied at the end of the regular season, their seeding will be determined by…
- 1st- Head to head wins
- 2nd- Run differential (max differential per game is 15)
- 3rd- Coin toss
PLAYOFFS
- In most leagues, playoffs will consist of a single elimination tournament for all teams. At times a double elimination tournament may be in effect for all teams depending on the number of teams or possibly a single elimination tournament with a best 2 of 3 championship series.
- All regular season rules are in effect and NO PICKING UP PLAYERS IN THE PLAYOFFS
- To be eligible for the playoffs a player must BOTH be on the teams roster by the cutoff date and have played in a minimum of one regular season game.
CONDUCT
- Only captains are permitted to stop the flow of the game to discuss a call with the umpire.
- If a player is ejected from a game, he will sit out that game and the following game. A 2nd ejection of the year for a player will result in that player being kicked out of the league.
