Slow-pitch softball

Reserve a diamond and prepare both teams

Use a permitted, maintained softball diamond with a backstop, clear outfield and marked foul lines. This format uses 70-foot base paths and a pitching rubber 50 feet from the back point of home plate. First base must have a white half in fair territory and a contrasting half in foul territory. Confirm the field's dimensions and any booking, weather, footwear or bat restrictions before inviting everyone; a small lawn is not enough.

Bring at least two intact 12-inch .52 COR/300-compression softballs and one or more slow-pitch bats compatible with that ball. Check the exact bat model on the current USA Softball approved and non-approved lists, its manufacturer's ball compatibility and the park's restrictions; a certification stamp alone is not the whole check. Reject cracked, dented or altered equipment. Each fielder needs a glove. House equipment requirements are batting helmets for batters and runners, suitable pitcher face protection, and a properly fitted catcher mask/helmet with throat protection. Share helmets only when their fit is suitable; have enough for the batter and up to three runners. Wear athletic shoes or permitted molded cleats; this house game excludes metal cleats. Bring water and a paper lineup/score sheet.

Split 20, 22 or 24 players into equal teams of 10, 11 or 12. List everyone once in each team's fixed batting order. Only ten defend at a time: pitcher, catcher, first base, second base, third base, shortstop and four outfielders. With 11 or 12, rotate the resting players into defense between half-innings without changing the batting order. Do not quietly treat an odd headcount or missing player as this format; stop and agree a separate game if either team cannot keep ten fielders.

Flip a coin for home and away. Away bats first; home bats second. A willing catcher calls pitches from a protected position behind the batter, outside the swing path; fielders nearest a base call its plays. This self-officiating arrangement is a house choice. An available nonplaying umpire can instead make all calls, but is not required or included in the player counts. Write the house choices down before the first pitch: 0–0 starting count, no steals or leads, no gender-based walk awards, all listed players bat, no home-run quota or run-ahead ending, and extra innings start with empty bases. House pitching uses the rubber itself, rather than the permitted USA rec pitching area behind it. There is no pitch-clock penalty. These choices replace the corresponding competition procedures.

Walk the live-ball boundaries together. Fence-clearing fair fly balls are home runs; a fair ball bouncing out is a two-base award from the bases held at the pitch. Keep bags and spare equipment behind the backstop or in the team area. Warm up with easy throws, fly-ball calls and a few unscored pitches, then point out the route home → first → second → third → home.

Pitch, hit, run and change sides

Resolve close calls and keep the field workable

Demonstrate a force at first, a tag at second and tagging up before scoring begins. Put a confident communicator at pitcher and someone ready to call fly balls in each outfield area; catcher is not permission to stand close to a moving bat. Tell runners whether to hold or go from outside the baseline. Help a new batter wait for the descending pitch instead of rushing the swing.

House dispute procedure: stop after the play, before the next pitch. Each captain gives one account and the designated caller decides. A genuinely unseen close play is replayed from the prior count, outs, runners and score. For a missed base or early tag-up, make the appeal before another pitch; an upheld appeal retires that runner and cancels their run if applicable. Check unusual appeals against the rulebook rather than guessing. Out-of-play throws are dead and award two bases from each runner's last touched base when the throw left the fielder's hand; an overthrow staying inside the boundary remains live. Our house boundary simplification gives one base from the last touched base for a fielder carrying or accidentally dropping a held ball out of play.

House contact procedure: no deliberate collisions, fake tags or blocking a base without a play. A runner deliberately interfering with a fielder's play is out; return others to the bases held at the interference. A defender obstructing a runner without fielding the ball gives that runner the base they would have reached, as judged by the caller. Stop immediately if a collision or injury occurs. These are simplified house remedies, not the rulebook's complete interference and obstruction cases. Do not require someone to slide; slow or give up a play rather than collide. Pitchers and infielders face hard batted balls even with protective equipment. Stop for lightning, poor footing or inadequate light and follow the venue's reopening instructions.

Say the current inning, score, outs and count aloud so both benches follow. Confirm the score sheet at each side change. If someone must leave, stop and reorganize before continuing; this packet does not invent automatic missing-player outs or a substitute roster. For a new game, reset scores, recheck equipment and choose home/away again.

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