Softball
Fast pitch softball is played between teams with 9 fielders. Teams alternate batting and fielding; each half-inning ends after 3 outs. A normal game has 7 innings, and the team with more runs wins. The visiting team bats first and the home team bats second in each inning.
Rules
The game and winning
Fast pitch softball is played between teams with 9 fielders. Teams alternate batting and fielding; each half-inning ends after 3 outs. A normal game has 7 innings, and the team with more runs wins. The visiting team bats first and the home team bats second in each inning.
Scoring runs
A runner scores by legally touching first, second and third base, then home plate, before the inning ends. Runs depend on the kind of final out, not simply on which player touches a base first. A run cannot count when the final out is a force out or the batter-runner is retired before reaching first base.
Extra innings and the tiebreaker
If the score is tied after 7 innings, play continues. From inning 8, each batting team starts its half-inning with a runner on second base. That runner is the player scheduled to bat ninth in that particular half-inning, not automatically the last player who made an out.
The run-ahead rule and shortened games
A game ends under the run-ahead rule at a lead of 15 runs after 3 innings, 10 after 4, or 7 after 5. If the visiting team reaches the margin in its batting half, the home team still gets its corresponding turn. If the home team reaches it, that inning need not be completed.
The field and pitching distances
Adjacent bases are 18.29 m apart. The pitcher works from a flat pitching plate, not a baseball mound. In adult fast pitch, the plate is 13.11 m from home plate for women and 14.02 m for men. Age categories and modified fast pitch can use different distances.
Legal fast pitch delivery
The pitcher takes the signal with separated hands and the pivot foot touching the plate, then brings the ball into both hands and pauses for 2–5 seconds. Fast pitch delivery is underhand, with a continuous forward action. A windmill delivery may make only one full arm revolution. The step must go forward toward home plate.
Pitch timing and illegal pitches
After receiving the ball or the umpire’s play signal, the pitcher has 20 seconds to release the next pitch. Exceeding that limit gives the batter a ball and makes the ball dead. This timing penalty is different from the full penalty for an illegal pitching action.
Balls, strikes and the strike zone
The fast pitch strike zone extends over home plate from the bottom of the batter’s sternum to the bottom of the kneecap in the natural batting stance. A missed swing or a valid pitch through that zone is a strike. A pitch outside the zone that is not swung at is normally a ball.
Batting order and the batter’s box
Players bat in the order recorded on the official line-up card; the order carries over between innings. The batter must enter the box within 10 seconds of the umpire’s play signal. Before the pitch, both feet must be completely inside the box; touching the marked lines is allowed.
Fair balls, foul balls and catches
Fair or foul depends on the ball’s position and the applicable path or first-touch rule, not where the fielder is standing. A ball on a foul line is fair. A legal catch of a batted fly retires the batter even in foul territory; the fielder must control the ball before it touches the ground.
The dropped third strike
When the catcher fails to catch the third strike before it touches the ground, the batter may run to first if first base was empty with fewer than 2 outs, or whenever there are 2 outs. The ball remains live, and the defense must retire an eligible batter-runner by a legal tag or play at first.
Force outs and tag outs
A force play occurs when a runner loses the right to their base because the batter becomes a batter-runner. A fielder controlling the ball can retire that runner by touching the required next base before the runner arrives. Without a force, simply touching a base normally does not retire a runner.
Stealing and leaving a base
In this edition, a runner must remain in contact with the base until the pitcher’s non-pivot foot touches the ground during the pitching movement. After that point, the runner may try to steal while the ball is live, at risk of being put out. The trigger is not simply the release of the ball.
Tagging up and touching bases
On a caught fly, a runner must remain on or return to their original base until the ball is first touched by a fielder. They may then advance at their own risk. It is the first touch that matters, not the later moment when the fielder finishes securing the catch.
The infield fly rule
The infield fly rule applies to a fair fly that an infielder can catch with ordinary effort when first and second, or all bases, are occupied and there are fewer than 2 outs. It excludes line drives and attempted bunts. The umpire declares the batter out to prevent an easy deliberately manufactured multiple-out play.
Interference and obstruction
Interference generally involves an offensive player hindering a defender’s play, such as blocking a fielder trying to field a batted ball. Obstruction generally involves a defender illegally hindering a batter or runner, including blocking a runner without the ball while not fielding a batted ball. They have different consequences.
Substitutes and re-entry
Substitutions are made with the ball dead and must be reported to the plate umpire. A starting player may leave and re-enter once, returning to the same batting position. A non-starting substitute who has been replaced cannot normally return as a player. Position changes do not create a new batting order.
The designated player and FLEX
The optional DP/FLEX arrangement must be declared in the starting line-up. It uses 10 listed players but only 9 batting positions. The designated player bats, while the FLEX is listed in the non-batting position and plays defense. This is not an extra hitter added to the batting order.
Bats, balls and protective equipment
Use approved softball bats and balls meeting the WBSC standards. An altered bat is not acceptable merely because it originally carried an approval mark. Batters must wear an approved helmet. Catchers need a mask, throat protection, helmet, body protector and shin guards; protection is also required when receiving warm-up pitches.
Appeals and protests
An appeal asks the umpire to decide a specified infringement, such as a missed base or illegal re-entry. A protest challenges a misinterpretation or misapplication of a rule, or player eligibility. A disagreement with judgment alone, such as whether a pitch was a strike or a runner was safe, is not a valid protest.
Based on the supplied official rulebook. References use PDF page numbers; topic numbers are editorial.