Intramural Co-ed Softball Rules

1. An umpire should be provided to call balls/strikes, safe/out, and arc/height of pitches.

2. Metal cleats or spikes, or shoes with screw-in cleats are illegal.

3. The bat should be deemed legal by A.S.A. and should have a safety grip (no smooth tape) adn be free of rough or sharp edges. Baseball or fungo bats are not allowed. The ball will be provided.

4. A team cannot have more than 2 baseball / softball players on their team. There must be 8 players present at the beginning of the game. If a team has to play with less than 8 players, they will be issued an out for each missing person in the lineup.

5. The game shall consist of 7 innings but can be considered a complete game after 5 innings (or 4 1/2 if the home team is ahead) if the game should need to be called due to rain, darkness, etc. A 15-run rule is in effect after 3 innings, and a 10-run rule is in effect after 5 innings. No new innings should be started after 55 minutes from the start of the game.

6. A coin toss will determine which team is the home team at the start of the game.

7. Base stealing is not allowed. Base runners may leave once the ball has reached home plate or has been hit.

8. There is no bunting or "chopping" of the ball, if there is the batter is out.

9. Players start with a one strike count when at bat and a foul third strike is an out.

10. No infield practice after the first inning.

11. A foul ball must reach a height of 6 feet or more to be legally caught for an out, except for the third strike which is an automatic out.

12. The infield fly rule is in effect - when there are runners on first or second, or the bases are loaded with less than 2 outs and a ball is popped up in the infield.

13. Base-runners are expected to slide or avoid making contact with infielders on close plays.

14. If a ball is over thrown and goes out of play, the runners are entitled to 2 extra bases.

15. The base-runner is out if a batted ball hits him/her before an infielder has a chance to field the ball. If a fielder has already touched the ball, the runner is not out.

PITCHING

1. The pitch must have a minimum arc of 6 feet from the ground. The maximum arc allowed is 12 feet. If it is not in this region, it is an illegal pitch and is an automatic ball, but if the pitch is swung at, the illegal pitch is ignored.

2. The pitcher must have one foot on the rubber prior to the pitch and must remain in contact with the rubber throughout the delivery.

3. The pitch must be one continuous underhand motion.

CO-ED RULES

1. A team consists of 10 defensive players. They may play with as few as 8 or as many as 12. There must be equal number of males and females playing. Teams playing with 8, 10, or 12 will not be assessed outs for missing batters, but for teams playing with 9 or 11, they will be assessed outs for missing places in the line-ups because no 2 members of the same sex can bat consecutively.

2. For those teams with 9 or 11 players, whichever sex has more players must bat first.

3. On a walk to a male batter (intentional or not) the male batter will advance to second base and the following female will bat for herself. All base-runners will advance to the next base forced too, on a walk to a male batter. If a male batter walked and there is two outs, the female batter may be given the option of hitting or receiving the automatic walk.