EQUIPMENT

1. Only "Official Softball" bats may be used. "Baseball" bats are prohibited.
2. Appropriate athletic shoes are required. No metal spiked or metal tipped spiked shoes may be used.
3. Gloves are not provided

TEAMS & PLAYERS

1. Teams consist of 10 players with a minimum of 8 needed to start the game. Any team that plays withonly eight must choose which 6 defensive positions to play (pitcher & catcher are required). Opposingplayers, umpires or any non-roster persons may not take the place defensively of any missing player. Ifa 9th or 10th legal player shows up after the game begins, they may be added to the end of the battingorder with the League Director’s permission.
2. Forfeit time is 5 minutes after scheduled game time.

GAME RULES

1. Games will be 6 innings or 1 hour, whichever comes first. No new inning will start after 50 minutes.
2. 4 complete innings constitutes a legal game.
3. A team may choose to bat up to 18 players if they wish. Free defensive substitutions will be allowed forall players listed in the starting batting order. Once the game begins, the batting order must remain thesame unless late arriving players are added to the bottom of the lineup (see Teams & Players #1). If ateam starts the game with 10 players in the batting order but has extra players there, substitutionsbecome straight player-for-player substitutions.
4. A 10-Run Rule after the 5th official inning will be enforced.
5. If a player from another field touches a live ball it shall be the umpire’s decision as to where all runnerswill end up.

PITCHING

1. A "Legal Pitch" is one that is higher than the batters head and not higher than 10’. On any illegal pitchthe umpire will declare "Illegal Pitch" to the batter. A batter may choose to swing at any illegal pitch.
2. A "Strike" is called if a legal pitch hits the plate or the strike zone mat behind the plate. On extremelywindy days, the umpire may expand the strike zone a little in order to give the pitchers a better chance.On these occasions, they will inform both teams prior to enforcing this rule.

BATTING

1. Batters must take a full swing and may not chop, bunt, or half swing at a pitch.
2. A batter will be out if they hit a foul ball with 2 strikes.

BASE RUNNING

1. A runner may not lead off the base until the ball is hit.
2. All batter/runner’s must hit the "RED BASE" on all plays at first base - batter/runners who step on thewhite base at first on a force play will be declared out without warning. The runner may use either basewhen they are rounding first or continuing toward second base. When returning to first base, they mustuse only the "WHITE BASE".
3. Runners going forward must slide feet first only. Diving back to a base is permitted.
4. Any runner who deliberately makes contact with an opponent in a harmful manner will be automatically ejected.
5. Base runners will be awarded 1 base (the umpire will determine where the runners were at the time theball went out of play) when a thrown ball goes into any out of play area.
6. If a defensive player catches a ball in play and their momentum carries them out of play, all runnersshall be awarded 1 base only (see #5 for umpire ruling).
7. An umpire need not wait for an appeal in the case of a runner leaving too soon on a tag or missing a base.
8. All plays at home plate shall be force plays. The catcher will use the plate and the runner will use thestrike zone mat for stepping on. Any intentional contact, however slight, will result in immediate ejection of the offending player.

CO-ED MODIFICATIONS

1. Teams need a minimum of 4 female players to start the game. However if a team has only 2 or 3 it maychoose to start with 8 or 9 players only (including the female players) but must list the missing 3rd or 4thfemale in the batting order and take an automatic out when that spot comes up. If the missing playershows up, she may enter the game in her batting order spot.

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