Softball Rules
Scroll Down for Men's 12" & 16" Rules
Co-ed 12" & 16" Rules
1. 10 players play at time. 6 men and 4 women play on the field. Teams may start with 8 players, but 3 must be women. A maximum of 6 men may play on the field.
2. Teams must have at least 3 women playing to start and continue a game. Teams playing with 3 women must take an automatic out in the batting order in the spot that the 4th woman would bat.
3. A maximum of 2 male batters may bat in a row at any point in the batting order.
4. Teams may bat as many batters as they want as long as they do not bat more than 2 males in a row at any point of the batting order. Teams may move players in and out of any fielding position as long as they remain in the same spot in the batting order.
5. No player may re-enter the game once he/she has been removed from the batting order. Teams must take an out in the batters spot once they have left the line-up before the end of the game.
6. Batters begin with a 1 and 1 count.
7. Pitchers may not use any type of fake, jump or intentional hesitation while pitching
8a. The arc limits for a pitch is:
Co-ed 12" - 6-foot minimum 14 foot maximum
Co-ed 16" - 6-foot minimum 14 foot maximum
8b. Pitches outside these limits will be called automatic balls, unless the batter swings at the pitch.
9. Strike Zone/Strike Mat: Pitches that touch the home plate or strike mat that are within the arc limits are a strike. The strike mat is used only for determining strikes. Runners coming home must touch the home plate.
10. Intentional walks are not allowed. If, in the opinion of the umpire, a pitcher is intentionally missing the strike zone in order to walk a batter, the next batter is automatically awarded 1st base.
11. 3rd strike foul is an automatic out.
12. There are no lead-offs. Runners may only leave the base when the batter has hit the ball and may only advance to the next base if the ball has been hit into fair territory.
13. There are no restrictions on what positions are played by men or women.
14. Coed 16" - women may wear baseball gloves.
15. Slaughter Rule is 10 or more runs after 5 innings - 4 1/2 innings if Home team has 10 run lead.
16. No Metal Spikes or metal tipped spikes are allowed under any circumstances.
17. Bat Restrictions - SEE IF YOUR BATS ARE ALLOWED!
- Coed 16" - Open bat rule - any bat may be used.
- Coed 12" - PSG adheres to the the Amateur Softball Association guidelines for banned bats. Please click here for the most updated list of A.S.A. banned bats.
Approved bats must bear either the ASA approved 2000 certification mark or the ASA 2004 certification mark. To see a picture of these logos, click here.
17a. This rule shall be upheld in the following manner:
- If, prior to the start of the game a banned bat has been identified, it may not be used in the game.
- If the game has begun and a banned bat has been used, at the time of the identification of the banned bat that bat thrown out of the game.
- If the bat has been discovered after a hit but prior to the first pitch to the next batter, the user of the banned bat will be called out and any base runners will return to their appropriate bases.
- If the banned bat has been identified after the first pitch to the next batter, any runs or runner advancement that occurred as a result of that previous at-bat stands. The banned bat will then be thrown out of the game.
18. The NO CONTACT rule is in effect for base runners. A runner must do everything possible to avoid contact. Runners do not have to slide.... just avoid contact. Fielders are not entitled to block a base without “having a play" on the runner. Runners that initiate contact will be called out, and may be ejected from the game at the umpire’s discretion. In the event of contact, it is an "Umpire's Judgment"call, as to which player caused the contact.
19. No inning will begin 55 minutes after game time
FORFEITS:
Forfeit time is GAME TIME.
If your team forfeits a match during the season, the following rules apply:
- First Offense: game recorded as loss and warning issued.
- Second Offense: game recorded as loss and PSG staff reserves the right to remove team from league and playoffs with no refund for games not played.
- Third Offense: Removal from the league and playoffs with no refund for games not played.
If you know in advance that your team is going to forfeit a game, we encourage you to call our office so as to help us schedule your opponent a game however this does not mean that your team will not receive the loss as a forfeit.
Softball Playoff Seeding Rules:
1) Winning percentage is used to determine place in standings and will be used to determine playoff seeding.
2) If two teams are tied in winning percentage/game record:
a. Head to head result(s)
b. Least amount of forfeits
c. Overall run differential (10-run max per game)
d. Earliest sign up date/time
3) If three or more teams are tied in game record:
a. Head to head game record versus all tied teams
b. Least number of forfeits
c. Overall run differential (10-run max per game)
d. Earliest sign up date/time
Men's 12" & 16" Rules
1. 10 players play at time. Teams may play with 8 players
2. Teams may bat as many batters as they would like. Any late arriving player must be placed at the end of the batting order. Teams must take an out in the batting spot of injured or early-leaving player.
3. No player may re-enter the game once he has been removed from the batting order
4. Batters begin with a 1 and 1 count.
5. Pitchers may not use any type of fake, jump or intentional hesitation while pitching.
6a. The arc limits for a pitch is:
12" - 6-foot minimum 14 foot
maximum
16"
- 6-foot minimum 14 foot maximum
6b. Pitches outside these limits will be called automatic balls, unless the batter swings at the pitch.
7. Intentional walks are not allowed. If, in the opinion of the umpire, a pitcher is intentionally missing the strike zone in order to walk a batter, the next batter is automatically awarded 1st base.
8. 3rd strike foul is an automatic out.
9. Strike Zone/Strike Mat: Pitches that touch the home plate or strike mat that are within the arc limits are a strike. The strike mat is used only for determining strikes. Runners coming home must touch the home plate.
10. There are no lead-offs. Runners may only leave the base when the ball crosses home plate or the ball is hit by the batter.
11. There are no restrictions on what position a player plays. There is open substitution for fielders that are in the batting order.
12. Slaughter Rule is 10 or more runs after 5 innings
13. No metal spikes are allowed under any circumstances.
14. Bat Restrictions for 12" ONLY - SEE IF YOUR BATS ARE ALLOWED!
- Men's 12" - Only 12" style bats may be used! No baseball or wide barreled bats may be used. Furthermore, PSG adheres to the the Amateur Softball Association guidelines for banned bats:
Click Here for a list of banned bats according to the ASA.
14a. This rule shall be upheld in the following manner:
- If, prior to the start of the game a banned bat has been identified, it may not be used in the game.
- If the game has begun and a banned bat has been used, at the time of the identification of the banned bat that bat thrown out of the game.
- If the bat has been discovered after a hit but prior to the first pitch to the next batter, the user of the banned bat will be called out and any base runners will return to their appropriate bases.
- If the banned bat has been identified after the first pitch to the next batter, any runs or runner advancement that occurred as a result of that previous at-bat stands. The banned bat will then be thrown out of the game.
15. The NO CONTACT rule is in effect for base runners. A runner must do everything possible to avoid contact. Runners do not have to slide....just avoid contact. Fielders are not entitled to block a base without “having a play" on the runner. Runners that initiate contact will be called out.
16. In the event of contact, It is an “Umpire's Judgment" call, as to which player caused the contact.
17. FORFEITS:
Forfeit time is GAME TIME.
If your team forfeits a match during the season, the following rules apply:
- First Offense: game recorded as loss and warning issued.
- Second Offense: game recorded as loss and PSG staff reserves the right to remove team from league and playoffs with no refund for games not played.
- Third Offense: Removal from the league and playoffs with no refund for games not played.
If you know in advance that your team is going to forfeit a game, we encourage you to call our office so as to help us schedule your opponent a game however this does not mean that your team will not receive the loss as a forfeit.
18. No inning will begin 55 minutes after game time
Softball Playoff Seeding Rules:
1) Winning percentage is used to determine place in standings and will be used to determine playoff seeding.
2) If two teams are tied in winning percentage/game record:
a. Head to head result(s)
b. Least amount of forfeits
c. Overall run differential (10-run max per game)
d. Earliest sign up date/time
3) If three or more teams are tied in game record:
a. Head to head game record versus all tied teams
b. Least number of forfeits
c. Overall run differential (10-run max per game)
d. Earliest sign up date/time
CLARENDON PARK FENCE/HOMERUN RULE
- A ground rule double will be awarded when a batted ball hits branches of an outfield tree, and in the judgment of the umpire, play is severely impacted. (This does not include tree trunks).
- Teams are allotted 2 hits over-the-fence (fair or foul) per game. Starting with the third team homerun an automatic out will be ruled.
- Teams must supply game balls when they hit their third ball over the fence (fair or foul)
