8 Coed Adult Recreational Softball Rules

TEAM ROSTERS/CHECKING-IN

All players must check-in with the umpire or league manager prior to taking the field. Be sure to have a form of identification, and sign the team’s official roster. Each team is allowed a maximum of 18 players on their roster.

A signature is only required prior to the first game played, however you must check in each night of play. Players not present during the first week of play will still be required to sign a waiver with our staff before participating. Anyone not abiding by this rule is subject to league suspension.

A line-up card (batting order) must also be filled out legibly by each team captain, consisting of each player’s first/last name, as well as the position they are playing. All players must be listed in the batting order, and that order must remain the same throughout the game. If a player is being picked-up to help a team short on players, that must also be indicated on the line-up card.

UMPIRES

An umpire will be provided by the League to supervise the game. It will be the umpire’s responsibility to coordinate and run the games, which include the following tasks:
Starting games on time, checking team equipment and bats to be sure they follow league standards, calling balls/strikes/outs, determining whether a ball was hit foul or fair, assist in the tracking of the score (announcing it between innings) and handling any discrepancies with regards to the coed line-up ratios. However, it is the responsibility of both teams to maintain their respective line-ups and scores each inning.

Please understand that any touching, threatening or abusive language and behavior towards the umpire will deem suspension from the league. If needed, the police will be called and reports filed. Any abuse towards the umpire will not be tolerated and action taken accordingly.

UNIFORMS

Players are expected to show up with the color that the schedule on our website indicates. If two teams playing each other have the same color preference, the team with greater seniority will be awarded the color. The other team must wear the color displayed on the schedule.

While uniforms are preferred, we understand that not every team will have one. However, we do expect teams to be color coordinated. Players may be asked to change shirts if the color they are wearing is conflicting with the flow of the game.

Players without the incorrect color shirt will be called out on their first time up to bat.

EQUIPMENT

Bats: Any bat can be removed or disallowed during the game as determined by the umpire(s) and is solely their decision. Amateur Softball Association (ASA) bats must be used, with a 2014 ASA stamp. Any bats with an older stamp than 2014 will not be allowed. See example below.

Females can swing any bats they choose, however the Miken Ultra 2 is banned from our league.

Senior bats may not be used by any player, as they are designed solely for senior leagues.

Softballs: 8 Coed currently uses a 12-inch Trump “Evil” 52/300 softball for males, and an 11-inch Trump “The Rock” 44/400 for females. We will provide each team with 4 male softballs for their entire season of play, as well as 2 female softballs. No other ball is to be used except the type we provide. Additional softballs can be purchased from the field manager for a cost of $5 per ball.

Females may request the male ball instead, if that is their preference.

Cleats: NO METAL SPIKES ARE ALLOWED. Metal cleats may result in an ejection.

Bat Holders: The league will provide bat holders in each dugout for teams to store their bats while not being used. Bats are to either be in the holder, or put away. No bats are permitted along the fence, on the ground, or in the field of play unless they are on the holder or are currently in use.

Pitching Screen: The league will provide a pitching screen for each field. It will be mandatory to use regardless of whether the pitcher is wearing a mask. After a ball is pitched, the pitcher is required to step behind the screen and stay there until contact is made with the ball. At this moment, the pitcher may come out from behind the screen and attempt to make a play on a batted ball. Any ball that is hit up the middle and makes contact with the screen will be called as a foul ball.

BATTING

After making contact with a pitch, the batter must release the bat toward the ground, as far away from the base line as possible. The bat cannot travel backward toward the catcher, or forward toward the pitcher after a ball is hit. The batter will be warned on the first offense, and called as ‘out’ on any proceeding offense.

8 Coed rules will allow a team to play with a minimum of 8 players, as long as they have at least 1 female. However, the minimum females at bats must meet the female to male batting ratios (the girl must bat three times to the seven guys). If the girl is on base, and a girl is due up to bat, it is counted as an out and she will stay on base and the team will move to the next batter regarding that it is not the third out. If a team has only 8 players, a batting order of 6 guys and 2 girls is sufficient.

Teams may bat more than ten players, however the first ten must be 7 men 3 women. This can be done in any desired combination; you may bat 7 men followed by 3 women if you choose. In all cases, the 11th batter must be a female. After this, any team batting 12 players or more can use males or females for batters #12-15.

When batting 12 players and only 3 females, girls must rotate the #11 batting space, but still follow after same female. Each time a different girl will bat twice within the 12 player order.

Example:

Cindy
Jessica
Katie
11 Cindy
——————
Jessica
Katie
Cindy
11 Jessica
——————
Katie
Cindy
Jessica
11 Katie
———————
Cindy
Jessica
Katie
11 Cindy

BALLS/STRIKES

All batters will start with a 1-1 (one ball, one strike count). From there, the umpire will determine all balls and strikes.

The pitcher must have a part of their foot on the pitcher’s mound prior to releasing the ball. The ball must be pitched underhand in an upward trajectory no lower than 6 ft, and no higher than 12 ft. The pitch must cross over home plate above the batter’s knee, and below their back shoulder to constitute a strike, and a pitch outside of this range constitutes a ball. A 3 strike count will count as an OUT against the batting team, while a 4 ball count will allow the batter to advance to 1st base.

All judgment decisions are final, please respect your umpire’s decision.
Any excessive disagreements will result in an ejection from the game and/or league if deemed necessary by 8 Coed staff.

WALKS

When ball #4 is called, the batter may advance to 1st base. If a male is walked, and a female follows him in the batting order, the female has the choice whether to take a walk, or to bat. Umpires will enforce this rule upon request. The male automatically advances to second in this situation, whether the female chooses to bats or not.

FIELDING

10 players (at least 3 females) are allowed on defense at any time. THERE ARE NO POSITION REQUIREMENTS of any players, (i.e. 2 in the outfield, etc.,)

On an infield fly (any fly ball to an infielder with significant arc and deemed an “easy catch”) with less than 2 outs and runners on 1st and 2nd or 1st, 2nd and 3rd, the batter is automatically out and runners can advance, BUT at their own risk.

All outfielders must remain behind the chalked and/or coned “outfield line” when a female is up to bat. If the “line” is not clearly marked it us up to the umpire’s discretion if an outfielder is too close to the infield. There can not be more than 6 players on the infield when a woman is batting. All infielders must be behind the base lines and in front of the outfield grass line when a woman is batting. Once contact has been made the outfielders may cross the line and infielders may cross the base line and/or go into the outfield grass. If an outfielder crosses the line before contact has been made or an infielder crosses the base line or goes onto the outfield grass before contact has been made the female may be awarded first base.

BASE RUNNING

No leadoffs or stealing allowed.

Base runner to defensive player contact will be closely watched. Any excessive contact or collision will result in an “out and/or ejection. This includes contact with the catcher. Any attempt to break up a double play, or any intentional interference with the defensive player will result in the runner and the runner nearest to home plate being called out.

Courtesy runners can be used from home plate but cannot run for the batter until after the batter has made contact with the ball. The umpire will draw a line for the courtesy runner to stand behind when running for the batter.

Pinch runners: At anytime a team needs a pinch runner, they may do so with the last male/female batted out. Last male batted out will run for a male batter, and last female batted out will run for a female batter. If the pinch runner is due up to bat, but is currently on base, it will be determined an out. The pinch runner will remain on base and the team will move to the next batter in the order.

After the ball is hit, the batter must not begin running toward 1st base if they have a pinch runner. In the case that the batter tags 1st base before their pinch runner, they will be called as out.

HOME RUN

There is no home run limit per team on a nightly basis. When a home run is hit, the player must touch all bases unless otherwise instructed by the umpire. Teams are expected to recover their own home run balls.

In the case that a batted ball is traveling toward the outfield fence and a tree limb stops the ball’s forward progress, the umpire will determine based on the trajectory of the ball whether to call a home run, or a ground rule double. Once the ball has hit the tree limb, the play is immediately dead regardless if a catch is made or not.

GAME DURATION

All league games will not exceed seven innings or one hour in duration, or will end if one team is ahead by 10 runs or more at the end of the 5th inning of play. The last inning will start 10 minutes from the end of the hour time limit. The Umpire will enforce this rule and will make the call at the top of the final inning.

Note: Due to differing circumstances in each and every game, some games will finish short of an hour in length, while others might run over the hour mark. Please respect your Umpire’s call in this matter. He/she must keep all games on time in fairness to teams playing later hours and due to facility permit restrictions. A complete game will constitute of 40 minutes of play or 4 full innings whichever comes first if the game is cancelled due to weather. If the game is cancelled before then the game will be played again with the remaining score going into the make up game. The make up game will be at least the remaining time and possibly a full time limit if conditions allow.

Games start on time!!! Teams must be prepared to play at the scheduled game times. Note – the clock starts for the 1st game scheduled that evening at the scheduled game time regardless of any circumstances.

Forfeit rule: 10 minutes after game time of 6:30 only. All other games are official to their scheduled time. If one team has less than the minimum number of players (1 female) at ten past 6:30 game only, it is up to the staff and opposing team as to what is allowable – this decision will ultimately be made by the staff. (During League Play teams are allowed to pickup players from other teams in order to start the game on time. A maximum of two player may be picked up) Also see Rule # 17

Game Time Limit – In extreme measures due to game delays with weather or lightning, 8 Coed Sports reserves the right for the last game of the night to play a 1 hour drop dead time limit. The clock will run for 60 minutes, and after the time expires, the game is over on the spot. Captains will be made aware during the coin flip if this is the rule for your game that night. In this circumstance, any intentional delaying of the game is considered unsportsmanlike, and therefore is not allowed. The team intentionally delaying the game will first be warned by the Umpire. If this behavior continues, the Umpire can call a forfeit for the team that was delaying the game, awarding the win to the opposing team.

RUN RULES

There will be a 5 run limit per inning through innings 1-4. (Exception: unlimited runs may be scored if one of the innings 1-4 is declared the final inning of the game.)

Once the 5th inning has begun, there is no longer a run limit per inning.

Mercy rule: If a team is up 10 runs or more after 5 complete innings, the game will be called.

TEXAS TIE BREAKER

In the event of a tie at the end of regulation, the game will proceed to a tie breaker inning. The inning will begin with no outs and the ‘last batter out’ on second base. Each hitter will receive only one pitch. A strike or a foul will result in an out, and a ball will result in a walk. The batter does not receive a courtesy foul during a Texas tie breaker inning.

The tie breaker will continue until one team has more runs than the other at the end of a complete inning. The team with more runs will receive the win for the game, and the team with less runs receives the loss.

STANDINGS

The updated standings will be posted weekly, displaying each team’s rank in their respective divisions. Rank is based on winning percentage. In the case of a tie after all regular season games are played, the winner of the head-to-head matchup during the season dictates the higher seed. A three-way or greater tie is determined by run differential (runs scored vs. runs allowed).

PLAYOFFS

Rosters will be checked prior to any playoff games in order to determine player eligibility. Any players who have not signed the roster will not be allowed to play, no exceptions. All teams must play within their roster and not pick up any players from other teams. Penalty is a team forfeit. Any player signing more than 1 roster will be subject to a league suspension.

Playoffs are single elimination.

Teams may be dropped from their regular season level based on the above criteria. Teams may be moved to a higher division during the playoffs only if permission is granted. Skill levels may be divided into separate divisions based upon size of level. Teams may play more than one game per day. Any questions regarding rules, policies, or eligibility must be addressed before the start of the game. Rec teams with two consecutive championship wins must move up to a higher division. The following season the team can do whatever they wish again.

FORFEITS

Forfeits must be communicated at least 3 hours prior to game time in order to give the league a chance to notify the opponent and make alternate arrangements. Forfeits which are not communicated in a timely manor can result in disciplinary action, since it is unfair to the other team expecting to play.

CANCELLATIONS/RAINOUTS

Softball may be cancelled for the night due to existing weather conditions, dangerous or unplayable field conditions, facility constraints, etc. Our staff makes every effort to play all scheduled games, thus we will not cancel games unless absolutely necessary. Please remember that we often will not have an answer until closer to games times. We will do our best to notify players as far in advance as possible. If the night is cancelled, our staff will notify all of the team captains and points of contact. If a game is cancelled on site, the staff will attempt to contact those teams still scheduled to play the remainder of the night. Depending on the time of cancellation, some teams will unfortunately have to be notified on site. If we do cancel, follow next week’s schedule (ex. If April 13th is cancelled, teams should follow the April 20th schedule for their next game). The games that are cancelled will be moved to the back of the schedule and made up at the end of the season.

PICK-UPS

If a team is short on players during a regular season game, they may pick-up a maximum of 2 players to complete their team. In this case, the team may never go over 10 players.
For instance, if you have 9 players from your the team that day, you may pick-up only 1 player, not 2. A team with only 7 players show from their roster may only pick-up 2 players, totaling 9. They may not fill out their team completely with pick-ups. Pick-ups must announced to the umpire prior to the start of the game, and it must also be indicated on the lineup card.

There are NO pick-ups of any sort during the Playoffs! You must only play by your roster during that night.

SPORTSMANSHIP

The idea of 8 Coed Sports is to have fun. We hope that all participants keep that in mind when becoming involved. Although the games may become intense, you still can be competitive while maintaining good sportsmanship. With this said, any behavior deemed unacceptable by our staff may result in an ejection and/or suspension from a game or the league. If a player is ejected, they must leave the field premises including parking areas within 2 minutes, or their team receives a forfeit.

GAME TIME REQUESTS

Most teams in the league prefer to play in the middle time slot. Requests for all games to be in the middle time slots will not be taken into consideration, as it is unfair to the rest of the teams in the league. We try to give every team a fair mix of times.

Annual members have the ability to purchase time slots on the member page upon sign up. If you wish to have more games at specific times, consider becoming an annual member.

RADIOS

Due to city ordinance, radios are not allowed in the dugouts or at the field while games are being played.

ALCOHOL

Consumption of alcohol is not allowed on or around the fields, as it is a city rule. Please save the social drinking for the post-game bar or elsewhere than at the fields.

PETS (ANIMALS)

Unless it is a service animal, there are no pets, animals, dogs, cats etc. allowed inside the fence of the playing fields.

Rules not listed here can be found in the ASA Rule Book.