SOFTBALL RULES

Team Composition
1. Each team's roster size is limited to 20 players. Ten (10) players will play in the field. Teams may bat their entire line-up (if over 10 players) in a continuous order, but it must be determined prior to the start of the game and must continue to do so throughout the entire game.

2. A team must have 7 players to start a game. Players who arrive late must be added to the bottom of the line-up.

3. A team must finish a game with 8 players, except in the event of an injury. If a team starts a game with 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12 players and players have to leave with no available substitutes, play will continue as long as 8 legal players are available to play. When a player leaves a game early for any reason (injury, disqualification, ejection) and no substitutes are available, an out will be recorded when that player is scheduled to bat.

4.  Teams may not have current varsity players on their roster. If they were on a fall 2011 or spring 2012 roster they are ineligible to play.

Equipment
1. Softballs will be provided for game use only. Teams must otherwise bring their own equipment (i.e. softballs for warm up, bats, gloves, ect.) to each game as they will not be provided by Rec Sports.

2. Any bat that is banned by USSSA or ASA is banned by us:

3. Shoes: Regulation rubber-soled cleats, plastic cleats, detachable rubber cleats that screw into the shoe, and tennis shoes are the only permissible footwear. Sandals, street shoes, hiking boots, combat boots, or metal spikes are not allowed. No player will be allowed to participate in bare feet. No steel cleats or shoes with detachable steel cleats that screw onto the shoes may be worn.

4. Jewelry: No jewelry or any other item deemed dangerous by the Intramural Staff may be worn such as bracelets, earrings, necklaces, ect. Any player wearing exposed permanent jewelry (i.e. body piercings) will not be permitted to play.

Timing
1. A game will consist of seven (7) innings or 50 minutes, whichever comes first. No new inning will begin once the 50-minute time limit has expired, however, any inning which has been started prior to the time limit expiring will be completed.

Start of Game
1. A captains meeting will take place before the game. A method of deciding choice will be determined by the umpire(s) of the game (i.e. coin toss, odd or even, rock/paper/scissors, ect.).

2. The winner will get the choice of home (field first) or away (bat first).

3. During playoffs the higher seed will be the home team.

Game Play
1. Any balls hit over the fence in fair territory are home runs.

2. Any fair ball that goes over the fence after a defensive player touches it is declared a four-bases award and does not count toward the total of over-the-fence home runs.

3. Home Run Rule:
-In regular leagues the default home run rule is teams cannot hit more than one home run more than another team (equalizer). Any home run hit after the limit will be counted as an out. Captains may agree on other homerun rules at the captains meeting. Every homerun hit must be brought back to the umpire before the end of the game. A fee of $5 will be charged for every ball that is not returned or searched for at least 20 minutes. The fee must be paid before the next game.

-In no home run or fun leagues no over the fence home runs are not allowed. If a home run is hit the batter is out.  The second time a player from his team hits a homerun the batter is out and the inning will automatically end and any runs resulting from the home run with not count.

4. Batting
-Each batter will begin each at-bat with a count of 1 ball and 1 strike.
     -In ALL leagues there are no walks. Once ball 4 is pitched by the opposing team, the batter will receive 2 pitches from a teammate. If the batter does not hit the ball fair or swing the bat by the second pitch he/she are out.        
 -If the third strike is fouled off, the batter is out and the ball is dead.
-There is no bunting. The batter must take a full swing at the ball. A batter who bunts or chops the ball (fair or foul) is out. A bunted ball that strikes the ground is immediately dead and runners must return to their original base. Bunted balls that are pop-ups may be caught and any runners may by doubled off (put out); runners, however, may not tag up and advance. Bunt pop-ups not caught still result in an out and an immediate dead ball.
-If a player unintentionally throws his/her bat, the team will be given a warning. Each subsequent offense will result in the batter being called out and all runners returning to the base they occupied at the beginning of the at-bat. Any player who intentionally throws his/her bat will be called out and ejected from the game.

5. Pitching
-The pitcher may pitch from the rubber or anywhere behind it as long as he/she is within the same plane as the plate and the rubber.
-A legal delivery shall be a ball that is delivered underhand and a slow to moderate speed. The strike zone is an umpire’s judgment call and cannot be argued.
-Any pitch that fails to reach an arc of six feet, exceeds the 12 foot limit, or is thrown with excessive speed in the opinion of the home plate umpire, will be declared an illegal pitch. This will count as a "ball" unless the batter chooses to swing, in which case the ball is live. Once an illegal pitch is swung at, all action following the swing will be legal (a strike, out, hit, etc.) and the "illegal pitch" will be disregarded. Once again these measurements are at the discretion of the umpire and cannot be argued.
-The pitcher has 15 seconds between pitches. If he/she exceeds this time, an automatic ball is called.
-A ball that slips from a pitcher's hand during his/her back swing, the ball will be dead and a "no pitch" will be declared. If intentional, a ball will be called.

6. Running
-No stealing is allowed. Base runners may leave the base when the pitch is hit. If a runner is off base before the pitch reaches the plate, the runner is called out and a "no pitch" is declared.
-The base path for a runner is the direct line between the player and the base to which he is advancing at the time a play is being made on that specific base runner and the three feet to either side of that direct path.
Note: this path may be different from the straight line connecting two bases. For example, a player who has run past 1st base a distance of about 10 feet decides to run for second. His/her base path for any tag plays is the direct line from where he/she made his turn towards 2nd base (10 feet down the line from 1st) and 2nd base. This is different from the direct line from 1st to 2nd base. For plays between home plate and 1st base, the runner shall run in the 3-foot lane of the foul side of the foul line.
-A player who runs outside his base path (including the 3-foot lanes on either side) in an attempt to avoid a tag shall be declared out.
-A fielder has absolute right to any position on the field to field a ball and all runners must avoid a fielder in these cases. When a fielder not in possession of the ball or not in the act of fielding a batted ball impedes the progress of a runner, obstruction will be ruled. This is a delayed dead ball; play continues as normal. Once the play has ended, the umpire shall award the runner and each other runner affected by the obstruction the bases they would have, in the umpire's opinion, reached had there been no obstruction.
-On tag plays, the fielder must be in possession of the ball before attempting to block a base or home plate. Blocking a base without the ball at any base or home plate is considered obstruction. It is also obstruction when a fielder without the ball fakes a tag. For a fake tag, bases are awarded as a normal obstruction AND the fielder will be ejected from the game.
-Any runner in fair territory and not in contact with a base that is struck by a fair batted ball is out except when (a) the ball has passed an infielder and in the judgment of the umpire, no other fielder had a chance to make an out, (b) when a runner is hit with a fair batted ball over foul territory and no other fielder had a chance to make an out, or (c) when a runner is touched with a fair batted ball after it is touched by any fielder, including the pitcher. In the event of one of these 3 exceptions, all runners must return to their previously occupied base and the batter-runner is awarded first base. If the award of first to the batter-runner causes another runner to be forced, that runner will advance to the next base.
-In case of a possible double play, the base runner must slide into the base or get out of the way of the thrown ball. Base runners who fail to get out of the way may be charged with interference resulting in both the base runner and the batter-runner being called out on the play.
-When a defensive player has the ball and is waiting for the runner, and the runner remains on his feet and deliberately, with great force, crashes into the defensive player, the runner is declared out. The ball will be declared dead and all runners must return to the last base they legally occupied. If the act is to be judged flagrant by the umpire, the offending player will be declared out and ejected from the game and the runner closest to home will also be called out.
-Overthrows that land out of play will result in the following awards:
     -On an initial overthrow by an infielder, the award is 2 bases from the time of the throw; i.e., batter gets second base, any base runners are awarded 2 bases from where they were at the time of the throw.
     -On an overthrow by the outfielder, the award is 2 bases from the time the fielder releases the ball, not when it goes out of play; i.e., if a man is one step away from second when the outfielder released the ball, the runner is awarded second and third.
-When a fielder carries the ball over an out-of-play line, the play becomes dead and the base runners are awarded one base (if unintentional) or two bases (if intentional) from the time the fielder carried the ball out of play.
-All base awards are based on the position of the lead runner. For example, if two players are between 1st and 2nd at the time of an overthrow which lands out of play, the first runner will be awarded 2nd and 3rd (two bases) and the second runner will receive 2nd base only.
-A courtesy runner may be used for injured players only. The last out of the inning, or previous inning if there are no outs in the current inning,  will be the courtesy runner. 
-The ball remains alive until the pitcher has possession of the ball in the infield and all immediate play has apparently completed. Runners not advancing return to the last base legally touched. Umpires have the authority to grant timeout when the ball is in possession of another fielder and all immediate play has apparently ended.

7. Sliding
- Runners must slide feet first when approaching a new base. A runner sliding head first will be automatically called out.
- The only time a runner may slide head first is when they are going back to a bag they have already touched.

8. Infield Fly Rule
-An infield fly occurs with all of the following conditions:
      -A fair fly ball (not including a line drive) which can be caught by
       an infielder with ordinary effort.
      -There are 0 or 1 out in the inning.
      -There are runners on 1st and 2nd OR runners on 1st, 2nd, and
        3rd.
-When all three conditions are met, the umpire will declare an "infield
fly" and rule the batter out immediately, whether or not the fly ball is caught. Base runners must tag up if the fly ball is caught. Base runners may advance if the fly ball is dropped, but are not required to run and may not be forced out at the next base.

Mercy Rule
1. If a team is up by 20 or more runs in the 3rd inning, 15+ runs in the 4th, or 10+ runs from the 5th inning on the game will be over.

Substitutions
1. All substitutes must notify the Home Plate Umpire and the Scorekeeper upon entering the game. Any starting player may re-enter the game once (the player must bat in the same position in the line-up at which he/she started the game). Any substitute (a player who did not start) who is then substituted for is out of the game and cannot re-enter under any circumstances. The starting player and his substitute may not be in the line-up at the same time.

2. There are free defensive substitutions if a team is doing a continuous batting order.

CoRec Modifications
1. Teams must alternate males and females in the batting order. If a team bats and odd number of players, an out will be recorded in the line-up where two males or females are batting consecutively. Note that the difference between the number of males and females may not exceed one.

2. Any player that takes a position in the field must be listed in the batting order and participate as a batter.

3. Position requirements are as follows:
-The pitcher and catcher must be of opposite sexes.
-The infield and outfield must each have two males and two females.

4. CoRec teams must have at least 8 to start (4 of each gender) and can bat entire roster.

5. If a team walks a male batter, that male batter is automatically awarded second (2nd) base. The next batter, a female, must bat with less than two (2) outs. However, if there are two (2) out the female batter has the option to automatically walk or to hit. The female must make this decision before the next legal pitch is thrown.

6. A 200-foot CoRec line (arc) must be maintained in the outfield by the defense during CoRec games. All outfield players must be positioned behind this line during each offensive player’s turn at bat. Outfielders may cross the line once the ball has been contacted by the batter.

7.  For the No HomeRun Division teams may not have more than 2 players that play in the homerun divisions on your roster.  Men count as 1 player Women count as .5 players So basically you can have 2 men, 1 man & 2 women, or 4 women.