South Eastern Softball will be hosting a Co-Ed Slow-pitch Softball league for ages 30+ this Fall. This league will serve as a fundraiser for the organization to purchase much needed equipment for their young athletes. This fundraiser is meant to be a fun time for parents and community members to come together and re-live their glory days!

Registrant Cost & Timeframe: The cost is $40/player. Teams would play once a week for 4-5 weeks, with a possible Championship game at the end. The games will occur on Friday evenings at 6pm on either HARP Field 1 or Camelot September 13th – October 11th. Each team will also be scheduled for 1 additional evening for practice prior to their first scheduled game (no ongoing practices).

Team Composition: This is geared toward players aged 30+. As a co-ed team, women should compose a minimum of approx. 25% of each team. When registering you will be given the option to list a team that you may already want to join or other players that you would like to be placed with.

Sponsorship: We are actively looking for sponsors for team jerseys .  If you or any businesses are interested in sponsoring a team please reach out to [email protected]

Rules & Officiating: Umpires will not be provided, as the game will be self-officiated. Official rules will be available to help manage and officiate the game fairly.

CO-ED SOFTBALL RULES - DRAFT! 09/03/24

GENERAL INFORMATION

•  Website: The following website will be an information hub for softball schedule, information and scores. https://www.harp-online.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1454299
•  Team addition: South Eastern Rams Softball reserves the right to combine or open up, or change a team’s roster to allow for more teams to register and avoid canceling leagues.
•  Alcohol: Alcoholic beverages are not allowed in the park at HARP and/or parking lots.  Softball umpire’s/league representatives will eject any person and or forfeit any game if a player or players are found to have alcoholic beverages inside the softball complex and/or dugouts.
•  Information: A league representative will be on duty at the complex every night of play.  If you have a questions please find the league representative.
•  Conduct: Only captains are permitted to stop the flow of the game to discuss a call with the umpire or other team captain. If unsportsmanlike behavior or consistent arguing, belittling, or foul language is used towards the umpire or the other team will result in ejection. An ejection results in the player being suspended for one week.

REGULATION GAME

• A regulation game shall consist of seven innings or 1 hour long, whichever comes first. No new inning shall begin after 60 minutes.
• Home team will be given opportunity to bat if stoppage takes place at the top half of the inning, unless the home team is already leading.
• Mercy Rule:
  • A game is complete when a team is leading by 15 runs after 3 innings
  • A game is complete when a team is leading by 12 runs after 4 innings
  • A game is complete when a team is leading by 10 runs after 5 innings
• It is the team’s responsibility to start on time.
• All game clocks will start on scheduled times.
• All games are to be played during scheduled night (Fridays).
• Make-up games might fall on nights (Sat/Sun) other than normal game nights.

EQUIPMENT/BASES

• Players are responsible for supplying its own equipment including bats, gloves, & protective gear. The league will provide 12" balls, and jerseys.
• Bats: Softball bats ONLY!  Bats can either be fastpitch or slowpitch, but must have either ASA, USSSA, or NSA stamp.  NO baseball or senior bats allowed.
• Bases: The bases will be 70ft apart and the pitching rubber will be 50ft from home plate.
• Balls: Will be provided by league for the games. 

ROSTERS

• Max Number of Players: 14 players on a team.
• Min Number of Players: A game may start and end with a minimum of 8 players without being declared a forfeit.  Teams must take one automatic out in their batting order when having 9 players and two automatic outs in their batting order when having 8 players. Teams MAY NOT intentionally walk the batter prior to the “automatic out” if they wish to get to the automatic out spot in the lineup.
• Min Number of Females: There must be a minimum of 3 females on the field, HOWEVER if teams play with 2 females then in order to avoid a forfeit the team must play a man down in the field and when the 3rd female batters spot comes up, it will count as one out.
• Picking up Players: To avoid a forfeit only, teams are allowed to pick up players, which includes players on another roster.

BATTING ORDER/SCOREKEEPING

• Batting: Teams must bat all players on their team for each game (14max may play per game).
• Substitutions:  Players can rotate in and out of the field each inning and during the inning; however the batting order must remain the same unless a player shows up late, thus that player will be added to the end of the lineup.
• Use of Females:
• Minimum number of Females: Teams must have a minimum of 3 ladies in the batting order and in the field, HOWEVER teams are permitted to play with 2 ladies provided they take an out in the 9th spot of the batting order and remain with 7 or less males in the field.
• Batting Order: The batting order must be submitted to the other team prior to game time. Teams CANNOT bat 3 male batter in a row. If 2 male batters bat back to back then the next batter must be female, except when the lineup flips.
• Batting More than 10: Teams may bat more than 10 players but the male/female ratio shall be
• 7 males require 3 females by the 9th spot.
• 8 males require 4 females by the 12th spot
• (If there is only 3 females available for the game, then 3 females are required by the 9th spot, and the 3 male batter rule can occur after) The intent of the rule is to encourage a balance lineup, especially in the beginning of the lineup. See Minimum number of females when there are 2 females.  
• Example 12 player lineup: M,M,F,M,M,F,M,M,F,M,M,F
• Scorekeeping: The home team will be responsible for keeping score of each game.  It is not required but is recommended that the visiting team have a scorekeeper as well. Home team must send in scores within 24hrs of game to [email protected]
• Scores: Scores are posted on the website within 24-48 hours following each night of play. Any score discrepancies must be reported within 48 hours of your game.  

AT BAT

• Count: Every batter starts with a 1-1 count. 4 pitched balls equals a Walk. 3 pitched strikes equals a Strikeout.
• Foul Tip: The batter may foul the third strike once, but will be declared out on a second fouled third strike.
• Walking a Female: You may not walk a male to get to a female. The male will advance to second base (must touch 1st base first) and the female has the option of batting or advancing to first base. (THE ONLY EXCEPTION IS IF EVERY BASE IS OCCUPIED AT THE TIME OF THE WALK. THEN THE BATTER ONLY GETS 1ST BASE)
• Hit By Pitch: There is NO hit by pitch. If a pitch hits a batter then it is ruled a ball. It is slow pitch so there is time to move out of the way.
• Helmets: Helmets are optional.

BASERUNNING

• Courtesy Runners: Courtesy runners are not permitted unless prior approval from league before the game. Only 1 courtesy runner is allowed per inning per gender. Courtesy runner MUST be of the same gender.
• Sliding: The runner must avoid a fielder who has the ball when waiting to make a play.  The runner does not have to slide, but has the option to.
• Stealing: There will be no stealing by any circumstances.
• Leading Off: Players CANNOT lead off the base. Runners must stay on the base until the ball crosses home plate.
• Tagging Up (Fly Balls): Runner has to either return to base or stay on base until ball is either touched by a fielder or lands in fair territory. 
• Overthrows: Runners are only allowed to advance one extra base on any overthrow!

FIELDING

• In the Field: Teams will play with 10 players on the field.
• Outfield:  A restraining line (125’ arc from home plate) will be in place to prevent outfielders from playing too close to the infield on the weaker hitters. Outfielders may not step inside this arc until the batter makes contact with the ball. Violations will result in a dead ball and the batter awarded 1st base. All other runners would advance one base only as a result of a force.
• Number of players in the infield:
• Teams may only have 4 players on the infield (plus the pitcher and catcher).
• Teams may NOT play a “5-Man Infield”. An outfielder may not enter the infield until the ball is hit.

• Fake Tag: Absolutely no fake tags to be applied by anyone.

PITCHING

• The ball must be pitched underhand at a slow speed
• The ball arc at least 6-feet from the ground before it crosses home plate and shall not rise higher than 12-feet above the ground. Any pitch judged not within the pitch arc will be deemed a ball.
• Helmet: Pitcher has the option to wear a helmet.

HOMERUNS

• Each team is permitted a maximum of 4 ‘over the fence’ home runs per game.  Any homerun exceeding 4 will count as an OUT against the batter.  Female homeruns do NOT count towards the overall total.
• If the batter hits the ball off of an outfielders glove and the ball goes over the fence without touching the ground, the ruling is a “4 base error”. It does NOT count against the teams homerun total but the batter/runner does NOT have to run the bases.

UMPIRES/STRIKE ZONE

• The strike zone is any part of the area over home plate that is lower than the top of the batter’s highest shoulder, or higher than the bottom of his back knee.
• A ball will be declared when a pitched ball strikes the ground before crossing the plate, when the ball hits the plate, or when the ball crosses the plate over the batter’s head

EXTRA INNINGS

• No extra Innings
  

POTENTIAL PLAYOFF RULES

TIE BREAKERS

• If two teams are tied at the end of the regular season, their seeding will be determined by…
• 1st- Head to head wins
• 2nd- Run differential
• 3rd- Coin toss

PLAYOFFS

• Playoffs will consist of a single elimination tournament for all teams.  
• All regular season rules are in effect and NO PICKING UP PLAYERS IN THE PLAYOFFS
• If odd teams, the last team will eliminated.