This event has completed. This information has been preserved for archival purposes.
Looking to sign up for an event you heard about? You may be viewing last season's page. Go back to the leagues/tournaments pages to find your event.
All Leagues All Tournaments
This event has completed. This information has been preserved for archival purposes.
Looking to sign up for an event you heard about? You may be viewing last season's page. Go back to the leagues/tournaments pages to find your event.
All Leagues All Tournaments
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.
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 rights to dismiss any player from the event without refund.
Length: All games will run 55 minutes or at the conclusion of 7 innings of play, whichever is shorter.
Run Rules: Games will be declared over by "run rule" if the winning team is ahead by 20 runs at the conclusion of the 3rd inning, 15 runs at the conclusion of the 4th inning, or 10 runs at the conclusion of the 5th inning or later.
Extra Innings: Games tied at the conclusion of the time limit will go into extra innings. During extra innings play, the batting team will have a runner automatically placed on second (must be the last out from the previous inning) and all batters will face a 3-ball, 2-strike pitch count when they approach the plate.
Home/Away: The coaches will meet the umpire at home plate ahead of the game, and the game timer will start. During pool play, the umpire will flip a coin to determine home team. During tourney play, the higher seed has the option of selecting home or away.
Umpires: Excessive arguing and/or abusive language will never be tolerated. Umpires may issue warnings and dismiss players from a game if they are found to be abusive. Event officials reserve the right to ban players from the event with no refund if abusive behavior continues.
Pitching Screens: These screens are intended for safety, not to create an extra defensive player on the field. Screen must be positioned no more than three feet ahead of the pitching rubber. One of the pitching screen support legs must be lined up within the width of the pitching rubber and cannot be set to the side of the rubber. There's no multiple swapping between screen and helmet during an inning.
Pitcher Defense: If the screen is on the field, the pitcher must use it for partial protection whether or not they are also wearing safety gear. After pitching the ball, the pitcher must obtain at least partial cover behind the net and must have at least a shoulder behind the screen when the ball is struck by the batter. If the pitcher is not using a safety helmet, their head/face must be positioned behind the screen upon contact. Once the ball is struck by the batter, the pitcher is allowed to move from behind the screen to attempt to field the ball if they can do so safely. A pitcher may field a slow moving ground ball in front of the screen if they can get to it before it hits the screen. If the ball contacts any portion of the screen, it is immediately ruled a foul ball. If the umpire sees the pitcher extending away from the net prior to the ball being struck, they may call "no pitch" and issue a warning to the pitcher to get at least partial cover behind the screen. Subsequent violations may result in automatic balls or awarding of first base, subject to umpire discretion.
Unsafe Throws: No batter may be thrown out at first following a ball hit into the outfield unless by an infielder brought into the outfield through defensive actions.Hitting Middle: It's not illegal, but it is dangerous and some of our novice players may not be able to control it. But for those of you that can - don't be a jerk. If you feel the other team is hitting middle a lot, don't take revenge and escalate.
Injury Exceptions: In the cases of injury, some rules may be bent to avoid placing players in harm's way. Coaches facing a situation that they believe requires an adjustment must discuss with the opposing coach a recommended solution. Opposing coach must approve the solution, and such approval should not be unreasonably withheld.
Injured Player / Can Not Continue: If a player is significantly injured in the course of play and cannot continue, they shall be removed from the lineup. When their batting position comes up, it shall be skipped and not counted as an automatic out. Player is unable to return to play for that game and, at a minimum, the game following.
Commitment Line: Seniors Only - On the third base line, there will be a line drawn on the dirt. If the runner passes that line, they must commit to finishing their run to the plate and may not return to third base. Once you cross the commitment line, the play at the plate will be considered a force out, and the running player must cross the Score Line to score before the ball is caught at home plate. If a runner advancing from third touches home plate, they will be called out - the runner must cross the run line to score. Runners may not touch home plate and if they do so, they will be called out.
Equipment (Bats): Any USSSA 240-certified bat may be used in this event. Bats must be in good condition, and not modified in any substantial way (i.e. shaved). Compression equipment will be onsite to test bats to ensure bats do not exceed safety standards. We reserve the right to test and disqualify any bat that doesn't pass the standard. We will hold the DQ-ed bat until the end of the tournament and it is the player's responsibility to retrieve it. Senior division may use Senior approved bats.
Equipment (Balls): All balls will be supplied for this event, external balls are not allowed. Each team is responsible for providing the opponent with 1 12" ball for male batters and 1 11" ball for female batters. Non-binary players will play under the rules of the gender found on their official state ID.
Defense: A minimum of 2 female players must be on the defense at all times. If only one female is present on the field, she may not play catcher.
Walks: If a male batter is walked with a female batter coming up to bat, the male batter is awarded second base and the female batter is given the option to choose an automatic walk or to hit as normal. The decision to walk is up to the sole discretion of the batter and coaches shall not force a walk on any player who wishes to hit.
Home Runs: Three and One Up. Three homeruns and then you can hit more as long as you don't hit more than one more than the opposing team.
Courtesy Runners: Three courtesy runners per inning. Each runner may only run for one person per inning, but may run for that same person multiple times in the inning. Runners who wish to run should not be forced/pressured to take a runner in all situations.
Score Limits: Senior Division Only: A maximum of 5 runs can be scored in an inning prior to switching the teams. The last inning will be an open inning without a maximum run cap.
Minimum Innings on Defense: During Pool Play, each rostered player must complete a minimum of three defensive innings in the field. During the final tournament, the minimum innings played requirement is reduced to two.
Home/Away: The coaches will meet the umpire at home plate ahead of the game, and the game timer will start. During pool play, the umpire will flip a coin to determine home team. During tourney play Top Bracket, the higher seed has the option of selecting home or away. During tourney play Bottom Bracket, home team is determined by coin flip.
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.
This league follows the USSSA rules for Slowpitch Softball. Please use the following link to download and read full rules.
