WAA SOFTBALL RULES –Pre K-K

Official NAFA softball rules governs all play except as noted in these WAA SOFTBALL RULES.

Each grade may modify their rules by a majority vote of the coaches.

SAFETY

  1. Injuries. Safe play is the most important consideration. If a player is injured, the play in progress shall be completed and time-out called immediately. Bleeding wounds must be bandaged before the player may re-enter the game. Report serious injuries to the league’s commissioner.
  2. Shoes. Players must wear tennis shoes or rubber cleats. NO SANDALS. NO METAL CLEATS.
  3. Helmets. Batters, all base runners, and the on deck batter must wear helmets. Teams may need to share helmets during games. The catcher must wear a helmet.
  4. Thrown Bats. Throwing bats is not allowed. First thrown bat results in a warning. Second thrown bat by the same player at any time during the game results in an out.
  5. Lightning. Games must be called if lightning is seen.

OVERALL GAME

  1. Rescheduling Games. Coaches are responsible for rescheduling games called for weather or any other reason.
  2. Game Times & Time Limit. Games begin at time indicated on the schedule. Games are 7 innings or 1 hour and 20 minutes whichever occurs first. When 2 games are scheduled on a field on the same evening, the first game may not begin a new inning with less than 15 minutes remaining prior to the start time of the second game. The first game must end at the start time of the second game regardless of the first game’s actual start time. This may mean games end at incomplete innings. Where time permits, teams must share the infield for warm-ups.
  3. Home Team. The home team is determined by coin toss for all regular season and tournament games.
  4. Substitution. Free defensive substation and all players bat. Late arriving players must be inserted at the end on the batting order.
  5. Playing Time. Players should not play entire games in either the infield or outfield. Players should not sit on the bench for more than 2 consecutive innings. Playing time should be as equitable as reasonable over the course of the season not an individual game. Games or innings missed count as played. Try to let players stay at a position for a minimum of half the game. This allows the player to better learn a position. Players should be allowed to play every position during the season.
  6. Minimum Players. Games may be started and played with however many players are available. If the coaches feel too few players are available, teams may scrimmage sharing players as necessary.
  7. Throwing. NO ROLLING THE BALL. Girls should be taught to make proper throws and catches.
  8. Out of Play. The field of play includes foul territory up to an imaginary line drawn parallel to the foul line from the edge of the backstop. Balls beyond this imaginary line are out of play.
  9. Sportsmanship. No protests are allowed. There should be no arguments between coaches. Coaches should meet before the game starts to review the rules and agree on gray areas. No taunting of the opposition either from the field of play or from the bench, including hurtful cheers. No taunting includes coaches and spectators. Umpires may eject coaches, players, or spectators for any unsportsmanlike conduct. Anyone ejected must completely leave the field area or their team will be required to forfeit.
  10. Base Distances. The base distance is 60 feet.
  11. Winning & Losing. The game score is not important.

BATTING

  1. Coaching. One coach should assist the batter and guard against eager batters accidentally hitting the catcher with the bat. The coach may help adjust the batter. Parents should coach first and third base.
  2. Batting. Half the order bats each inning. All batters get singles except the last batter. No doubles or triples. The last batter of the inning gets a home run. Rotate the batting order so that a different player bats last each inning.
  3. Base Running. Players should run THROUGH first base. Runners advance one base with each hit except for the last hit.
  4. Pitcher. Starting on June 1st, plan to begin coach pitch. A coach from the batting team shall pitch. Give the batter 5 swings at good pitches. If the batter has not hit the ball after 5 swings, it is OK to have the batter hit off the tee.

FIELDING

  1. Coaching. Coaches & parents may be in the field of play to assist the fielders in staying in their designated positions and learning to play the game. Use as many parents as necessary.
  2. Infield. Infielders should play in traditional positions.
  3. Outfield. Remaining players should play in the outfield. Outfielders should start each play at the edge of the grass.
  4. Fielding. All hits should be fielded and thrown to first base. The first baseman should always touch the base. The first baseman throws to the catcher. The catcher should place the ball in the Tee by herself or with assistance from the batting team coach if necessary.

MISCELLANEOUS

  1. Treats. Treat schedules are optional and the responsibility of individual teams.

LET THE GIRLS PLAY THE GAME, LEARN, AND HAVE FUN!!!

WAA SOFTBALL RULES – 1st GRADE

Official NAFA softball rules governs all play except as noted in these WAA SOFTBALL RULES.

Each grade may modify their rules by a majority vote of the coaches.

SAFETY

  1. Injuries. Safe play is the most important consideration. If a player is injured, the play in progress shall be completed and time-out called immediately. Bleeding wounds must be bandaged before the player may re-enter the game. Report serious injuries to the league’s commissioner.
  2. Shoes. Players must wear tennis shoes or rubber cleats. NO SANDALS. NO METAL CLEATS.
  3. Helmets. Batters, all base runners, and the on deck batter must wear helmets. Teams may need to share helmets during games.
  4. Catchers Equipment. Catchers must wear all protective equipment provided.
  5. Thrown Bats. Throwing bats is not allowed. First thrown bat results in a warning. Second thrown bat by the same player at any time during the game results in an out.
  6. Lightning. Games must be called if lightning is seen.

OVERALL GAME

  1. Rescheduling Games. Coaches are responsible for rescheduling games called for weather or any other reason.
  2. Game Times & Time Limit. Games begin at time indicated on the schedule. Games are 7 innings or 1 hour and 20 minutes whichever occurs first. When 2 games are scheduled on a field on the same evening, the first game may not begin a new inning with less than 15 minutes remaining prior to the start time of the second game. The first game must end at the start time of the second game regardless of the first game’s actual start time. This may mean games end at incomplete innings. Where time permits, teams must share the infield for warm-ups.
  3. Home Team. The home team is determined by coin toss for all regular season and tournament games.
  4. Substitution. Free defensive substation and all players bat. Late arriving players must be inserted at the end on the batting order.
  5. Playing Time. Players should not play entire games in either the infield or outfield. Players should not sit on the bench for more than 2 consecutive innings. Playing time should be as equitable as reasonable over the course of the season not an individual game. Games or innings missed count as played. Try to let players stay at a position for a minimum of half the game. This allows the player to better learn a position. Players should be allowed to play every position during the season.
  6. Minimum Players. Games may be started and played with however many players are available. Both teams should play comparable numbers of players in the field. If the coaches feel too few players are available, teams may scrimmage sharing players as necessary.
  7. Throwing. NO ROLLING THE BALL. Girls should be taught to make proper throws and catches.
  8. Out of Play. The field of play includes foul territory up to an imaginary line drawn parallel to the foul line from the edge of the backstop. Balls beyond this imaginary line are out of play.
  9. Sportsmanship. No protests are allowed. There should be no arguments between coaches. Coaches should meet before the game starts to review the rules and agree on gray areas. No taunting of the opposition either from the field of play or from the bench, including hurtful cheers. No taunting includes coaches and spectators. Umpires may eject coaches, players, or spectators for any unsportsmanlike conduct. Anyone ejected must completely leave the field area or their team will be required to forfeit.
  10. Base Distances. The base distance is 60 feet.
  11. Winning & Losing. The game score is not important.

MACHINE RULES

  1. Adjustments. Avoid time consuming machine speed and height adjustments. Adjust the batter forward or back in the batter’s box as necessary.
  2. Feeder. The batting team’s coach or a parent should feed the machine.
  3. Interference. If the machine feeder interferes with the play of the ball, the ball is dead, runners return to their bases, and the pitch is not counted. A batted ball hitting the machine is a dead ball and is a ground rule single. All base runners advance one base. If the machine is hit by a thrown ball, the ball is dead and runners are awarded bases of the umpire’s judgment.
  4. Bad Pitches. If the machine delivers a bad pitch the machine feeder may declare it a “NO PITCH.”
  5. Pitcher & Catcher. The player playing the pitcher position should play behind and to the side of the machine. The catcher should throw the ball to the player playing the pitcher position not the machine feeder. The machine feeder should refrain from wearing a glove to promote this practice.
  6. Pitching Distance. The pitching machine shall be set at 30 feet from home plate. Do not move the pitching machine once it is set for a game.
  7. Pitching Speed. The pitching machine speed shall be set at about 30.

UMPIRE

  1. Umpire. The machine feeder acts as umpire but may not coach the runners.

BATTING

  1. Coaching. A coach for the batting team may help adjust the batter. Coaches for the hitting team should be at first and third base.
  2. Run Limit. The inning will end after 3 outs or after 7 players have batted. Play continues to its normal conclusion for last batter of the inning.
  3. Strikeouts. The batter receives 5-10 swinging strikes or 5-10 pitches to hit. Failure to hit results in an out. A foul ball on the last pitch is an out. Coaches need to agree on the number of pitches before the game.
  4. Bunting. No intentional bunting.
  5. Stealing. A runner may not leave their base until the ball is hit. There is no stealing.
  6. Sliding. Sliding is not required but base runners must attempt to avoid contact when a play is being made at the base they are going for, especially home. The umpire may call a runner out if in their judgment there was no attempt to avoid contact.

FIELDING

  1. Coaching. A coach or parent should assist the catcher with passed balls. Up to 2 coaches may be on the field of play to coach the players.
  2. Infield. Infielders should play in traditional positions. Except for the pitcher, infielders may not play in front of the base path prior to the pitch.
  3. Outfield. Remaining players should play in the outfield. Outfielders should start each play at the edge of the grass.
  4. Infield Fly. No infield fly rule.
  5. Outfield Hits. When a ball is hit to the outfield, play ends when the ball is thrown by an outfielder. Runners advance at their own risk to the base they were going for at the time the ball was thrown.
  6. Foul Tips. A caught foul tip must go higher than the batter’s head for it to be an out.
  7. Overthrows. The runner cannot advance beyond the base they are going to on an overthrow, including 2nd base. We want the girls to learn to make the proper throw without penalty of an overthrow.

MISCELLANEOUS

  1. Treats. Treat schedules are optional and the responsibility of individual teams.

LET THE GIRLS PLAY THE GAME, LEARN, AND HAVE FUN!!!

WAA SOFTBALL RULES – 2nd GRADE

Official NAFA softball rules governs all play except as noted in these WAA SOFTBALL RULES.

Each grade may modify their rules by a majority vote of the coaches.

SAFETY

  1. Injuries. Safe play is the most important consideration. If a player is injured, the play in progress shall be completed and time-out called immediately. Bleeding wounds must be bandaged before the player may re-enter the game. Report serious injuries to the league’s commissioner.
  2. Shoes. Players must wear tennis shoes or rubber cleats. NO SANDALS. NO METAL CLEATS.
  3. Helmets. Batters, all base runners, and the on deck batter must wear helmets. Teams may need to share helmets during games.
  4. Catchers Equipment. Catchers must wear all protective equipment provided.
  5. Thrown Bats. Throwing bats is not allowed. First thrown bat results in a warning. Second thrown bat by the same player at any time during the game results in an out.
  6. Lightning. Games must be called if lightning is seen.

OVERALL GAME

  1. Rescheduling Games. Coaches are responsible for rescheduling games called for weather or any other reason.
  2. Game Times & Time Limit. Games begin at time indicated on the schedule. Games are 7 innings or 1 hour and 20 minutes whichever occurs first. When 2 games are scheduled on a field on the same evening, the first game may not begin a new inning with less than 15 minutes remaining prior to the start time of the second game. The first game must end at the start time of the second game regardless of the first game’s actual start time. This may mean games end at incomplete innings. Where time permits, teams must share the infield for warm-ups.
  3. Home Team. The home team is determined by coin toss for all regular season and tournament games.
  4. Substitution. Free defensive substation and all players bat. Late arriving players must be inserted at the end on the batting order.
  5. Playing Time. Players should not play entire games in either the infield or outfield. Players should not sit on the bench for more than 2 consecutive innings. Playing time should be as equitable as reasonable over the course of the season not an individual game. Games or innings missed count as played. Try to let players stay at a position for a minimum of half the game. This allows the player to better learn a position. Players should be allowed to play every position during the season.
  6. Minimum Players. Games may be started and played with however many players are available. Both teams should play comparable numbers of players in the field. If the coaches feel too few players are available, teams may scrimmage sharing players as necessary.
  7. Maximum Players. The maximum number of players on the field is 10.
  8. Throwing. NO ROLLING THE BALL. Girls should be taught to make proper throws and catches.
  9. Out of Play. The field of play includes foul territory up to an imaginary line drawn parallel to the foul line from the edge of the backstop. Balls beyond this imaginary line are out of play.
  10. Sportsmanship. No protests are allowed. There should be no arguments between coaches. Coaches should meet before the game starts to review the rules and agree on gray areas. No taunting of the opposition either from the field of play or from the bench, including hurtful cheers. No taunting includes coaches and spectators. Umpires may eject coaches, players, or spectators for any unsportsmanlike conduct. Anyone ejected must completely leave the field area or their team will be required to forfeit.
  11. Base Distances. The base distance is 60 feet.
  1. Winning & Losing. The game score may be kept.

MACHINE RULES

  1. Adjustments. Avoid time consuming machine speed and height adjustments. Adjust the batter forward or back in the batter’s box as necessary.
  2. Feeder. The batting team’s coach or a parent should feed the machine.
  3. Interference. If the machine feeder interferes with the play of the ball, the ball is dead, runners return to their bases, and the pitch is not counted. A batted ball hitting the machine is a dead ball and is a ground rule single. All base runners advance one base. If the machine is hit by a thrown ball, the ball is dead and runners are awarded bases of the umpire’s judgment.
  4. Bad Pitches. If the machine delivers a bad pitch the machine feeder may declare it a “NO PITCH.”
  5. Pitcher & Catcher. The player playing the pitcher position should play behind and to the side of the machine. The catcher should throw the ball to the player playing the pitcher position not the machine feeder. The machine feeder should refrain from wearing a glove to promote this practice.
  6. Pitching Distance. The pitching machine shall be set at 35 feet from home plate. Once the machine is set do not move it during the game.
  7. Pitching Speed. The pitching machine speed shall be set at 30 until the first game in June. The speed will increase to 35 in June.

UMPIRE