At League Joe, we are doing our best to bring the fun back to the game of softball. As umpires, I don't need to tell you that our game has gotten too serious and too competitive - you are often the bearers of the brunt of an overly-competitive, me-first culture. What I do need to tell you and emphasize strongly is that we support you in doing what you need to do to make sure the fields are safe and fun for new players. Rules are great and all, but we all know that sometimes you're going to screw them up, or make a bad call, or a player is going to misinterpret something and create a scene. We will relentlessly drive into our coaches and players an attitude of "Let it go, it's just a game" and want to take some pressure off of your shoulders. We don't expect you to be perfect - we expect you to be human. And if players are treating you as anything less than, then you have my full blessing to remove players from the field or the entire league if you see and know that their presence is toxic.
The vast majority of the players you are going to see on the fields are new to the game of slowpitch. For some, that means they have literally never held a bat before. For others, that means they haven't played since their high school days, and they maybe have some of those bad habits. You're going to see a field with players who are 18 years old and 68 on the same team. That's the beauty of our style of play, and we ask you to be protective of that culture since many players will look to you first on the field as the leader of that diamond. We encourage you to engage with, laugh with, and enjoy a fun evening of ball with our players. If you see a brand new player who is super nervous against a tournament player who is dropping knuckle balls, we encourage you to NOT give the pitcher that strike 3 call that caught the corner and we encourage you to tell that pitcher to serve some meatballs to the new players. And if the knuckle heads don't get it through their skulls what kind of game they are playing - that's where you let us know and we'll take care of it.
One rotten apple spoils the bunch. You have our permission and encouragement to remove those apples.
Play the Game. We will preach to the coaches that they need to work with each other to be understanding of situations with subs and odd things with their lineups. Sometimes a team is going to show up and only have one girl instead of 3 and they couldn't find a sub. The coaches will be encouraged to negotiate how to make the field of play "even" and get the game in to respect the results. We try to avoid force forfeits - just get the game in!
These are the most common and/or most unique rules being used for this event. Please see "Official Rulebook" for exhaustive list of playing rules. When in conflict, rules written here shall supercede those in the official rulebook.
As a player, you are responsible for knowing all official rules of the game. By participating in the event, you are agreeing that you are aware of all rules associated with the league and the sport, and agree to abide by them at all times.
GOLDEN RULE
This event is intended to be FUN first. We welcome players of ALL SKILL LEVELS to our fields, and therefore set rules that ensure the safety and enjoyment of our skilled players and our novices equally. Be supportive of one another. Fighting, excessive verbal abuse, and poor sportsmanship will not be tolerated. Event organizers reserve the right to dismiss any player from the event without refund.
All rules are subject to unique situations. Coaches should work together to resolve anything that comes up. Ultimately, the goal is to play the game and have fun.
Game Length: 50 minutes, finish the inning. Extra innings — last batter of the previous inning starts at second and cannot receive a courtesy runner until one batter has completed a full at bat. In pool/regular season play, max 1 extra inning and ties stand. In bracket/playoffs, play until a winner.
Run Cap: 7 runs max per inning for the first 3 innings (league & tournament pool play only). No cap after inning 3.
Run Rules: 20 runs after 3 innings, 15 after 4, 10 after 5 or 6.
Pitch Height: 6'–10' from the ground.
Pitching Gear: Pitchers must wear an approved helmet with face mask and/or utilize the provided pitching net. If using the net, the pitcher must have the majority of their body behind the screen when the ball strikes the bat. A ball batted into the screen is a foul ball.
Defensive Innings: All players must play a minimum of 2 defensive innings by the end of the 3rd inning and 3 by the end of the 5th. (Bracket play: 1 by end of 3rd, 2 by end of 5th.) Any player who does not meet the minimum is ineligible to bat.
Females on Defense: No more than one female may sit defensively per inning.
Outfield Throw to First: No batter may be thrown out at first following a ball hit into the outfield. If an outfielder attempts the throw, the batter-runner is automatically safe and play continues. Only infielders brought into the outfield through defensive actions may throw to first.
Courtesy Foul: No courtesy foul.
Legal Bats: USSSA stamped non-banned bats. Seniors (males 60+, females 50+) may use senior (SSUSA) stamped bats.
Balls: Balls will be provided. Chase down any balls hit out of the playing field.
Home Runs: Three plus one up. Each team gets 3 free home runs. After that, you may only hit a home run if it does not put your team more than 1 ahead of the opponent's total. Any excess home run is an out (not inning-ending). A ball touched by a defender before clearing the fence is a 4-base award and does not count toward the HR total. Hit & Sit — on any home run, all runners score automatically and do not need to run the bases.
Courtesy Runner: 3 courtesy runners per team per inning. Any player in the lineup may run. A runner may only run for one person per inning, but may run for that same person multiple times in the inning. If the courtesy runner's turn to bat comes up while on base, that spot is an automatic out.
Walk & Sit: If a batter is walked and will be receiving a courtesy runner, they do not need to touch first base. The courtesy runner may go directly to the base.
Male/Female Walk: If a male walks with a female immediately behind him in the lineup, he automatically gets second base and she has the option to bat or take first base — provided the female is clearly visible in the on-deck circle with no confusion about who bats next, or she is clearly announced as the next batter. If these conditions are not met, the male takes first base only and the female must bat.
Ghost Out / Female Disparity: If one team has 2 or more fewer females than the opposing team, an automatic out is added at the bottom of the lineup for each missing female beyond 1. This ghost slot is treated as a real player — if a male walks before it, he gets second base and the ghost slot is an automatic out.
ADA Runner: A player with a permanent or semi-permanent injury preventing safe running may use an ADA runner. The runner starts ~5 ft outside the first base line and 10 ft behind home plate and may run on contact. Any effort by the batter to run results in an out and loss of ADA status for the event.
These are guidelines and rules for the event that all coaches must acknowledge and follow. Please review all rules carefully.
The official rules for the sport, which may or may not be from a sanctioning body.
