Acadiana Sports Leagues (ASL) - Coed Softball Rules NUMBER OF PLAYERS Teams will play with ten (10) players on the field at all time consisting of seven (7) men and three (3) women minimum. The team fee covers a roster of thirteen players. If you need more then thirteen players each additional player must be approved by Acadiana Sports Leagues by the start of the season and will incur a charge of $20/additional player. At least one (1) female must play the outfield. NUMBER OF PLAYERS TO START/FINISH Teams must have a minimum of nine (9) players on the field by the scheduled game time to start and finish the game. There must be at least THREE (3) females to avoid a forfeit. If nine (9) players are present at the game's official start time all must participate. Team's will be allowed to pick up players that are on a roster and have signed the waiver form for that specific league. You must have a minimum of eight (8) players present in order to pick up players and two (2) must be female. Each team is only allowed to pick up two (2) players, but no more than the amount needed to field a full team (i.e. No subs). **The opposing team will not be required to start or play shorthanded. EQUIPMENT Each team is responsible for supplying its own equipment, including but not limited to bats, balls, jerseys, gloves and protective gear. ASL has the right to ban any bat at anytime throughout the entire duration of the league. ASL Non-Approved Bat List Miken - All Ultras Toledo Sports- All Bats Boombah Cannon CE Composites Lady Virus (VIRSP3) Easton SCX2 Synergy Synthesis
Louisville Slugger SB34 Genesis Worth Launch 510 Titanium Bats Senior Bats *Any bat deemed to have been altered, will be removed from the game and offending player(s) is subject to suspension. ASL Approved Ball List *All Balls must be YELLOW 40 COR / 375 Compression 40 COR / 400 Compression 44 COR / 375 Compression 44 COR / 400 Compression ** Any other color will NOT be acceptable. If the umpire cannot read the writing on the ball it will be deemed non playable and you will be required to provide a new ball. ASL HIGHLY recommends that each team provide their own protective equipment. No metals cleats will be allowed. ASL STRONGLY recommends that pitchers wear a masked helmet for protection. If a pitcher does not wear a protective, masked helmet, he/she will be required to sign a pitcher's waiver, EACH game. HOME TEAM The home team is the team listed on the left side of the schedule. The home team will always bat last and take the field first. The home team is responsible for keeping score with a book approved by ASL and provided by the home team. REGULATION GAME A regulation game shall consist of a minimum of seven (7) innings or fifty five (55) minutes. During the semifinals and finals of the league tournament games will last seven (7) innings or one hour and ten minutes. RUN RULE Fifteen (15) runs by the end of the 4th Inning; Ten (10) runs by the end of the 5th Inning.
**There is a 10 run rule per inning. When a team brings in the 10th run it will be counted and designates the 3rd out. If a home run is hit and more then ten (10) runs will be possible to earn after the home run, all runs will be added to the team total. This rule WILL NOT be in effect once the last inning has started. HOME/VISITOR FLIP The "Flip" rule will be in effect in the 6th inning. If the HOME team is behind after the 5th inning, then the HOME team will bat in the top of the 6th inning. HOME RUNS Single Headers - Each team is allowed four (4) homes runs per game. Every home run after four will be called an out. BATTING ORDER Each player will become a batter in the order in which his/her name appears on the sheet. The batting order of each team will be complete and delivered to the umpires prior to the start of the first inning. Each team will maintain the minimum batting ratio of a three to one (3-to-1). ** For every three males batting a female must be in the rotation. RE-ENTRY Any of the starting players may withdraw and re-enter as many times as they please, provided such player occupies the same batting position whenever he is in the lineup. A sub who is withdrawn may not re-enter. FOUL TIP The definition of a foul tip is a ball that is hit and goes "sharp and direct" from the bat to the catcher's glove and is caught in flight. A true foul tip remains alive and runners are free to advance at their own risk. If the foul tip is strike three, the batter is out and the ball remains alive. SLIDING The runner must avoid a fielder who has the ball when waiting to make a play. The runner does not have to slide. Runner may slide into the fielder, attempt to run around the fielder (and possibly be called out for runner out of the 3' baseline), may run back to the last legally held base, in ASA runner may attempt to jump over the fielder, or runner can simply give up. If in the
umpire's judgment the ball the fielder and the runner all converge on the same place at the same time...it is simply a wreck...neither interference nor obstruction. PITCH Ball must be pitched underhand at a slow speed. Ball must arc at least six (6) feet from the ground before it crosses home plate and shall not rise higher than twelve (12) feet above the ground. Please see ASA pitching rules for a more complete definition. **A team may not intentionally walk a player to get to an automatic out (umpire's judgement). STRIKE ZONE Strike zone is only the part or 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. THE HOME PLATE shall be made of rubber or other suitable materials. It shall be a five-sided figure, 17 inches across the front edge of the Plate facing the Pitcher. The two sides shall be perpendicular to the front edge and shall be 8-1/2 inches long, extending forward toward the Pitcher's Plate. The sides of the Plate, from the rear corner, along with the Base line, shall be 12 inches long and set completely within the Base Lines, where they form a 90 degree angle with the point pointing toward the Catcher. The Home Plate is always a part of Fair Territory. The black border that outlines the plate is NOT to be considered Home Plate. WALKING A MALE Teams cannot walk a male to get to a female. If female follows a male in the batting order and the male is walked the female has the choice of batting or taking first base. The male who was walked automatically awarded second base. ON DECK CIRCLE All players waiting to bat MUST be waiting in the ON DECK CIRCLE. Players not waiting in the on deck circle must bat when it is their turn at bat. If a female is waiting to bat while a male is at bat, the female MUST be waiting in the on deck circle for the entirety of the male's at bat. If the female is not
waiting in the on deck circle, and the male batter is walked, the female is REQUIRED to bat and the male does not take an extra base. SAFETY BAG If there is a play being made at first base the runner is required to use the outside, orange bag as first base. If there is a play being made at first base and the runner does not use the safety bag he/she will be called out. The runner, while at first base, must keep their foot on the white inside bag or that player will be called out. PLAYS AT THE PLATE The catcher must be in position, not blocking the plate or baseline, prior to the runner arriving at the half way point between 3rd base and home plate. If the catcher is not in position the runner may automatically be called safe to avoid injury causing collisions. Runners DO NOT have to slide. ** Runners/Defensive players MUST AVOID each other. All plays at the plate are subject to the umpires judgement. BALL A ball will be declared when a pitched ball strikes the ground before passing completely across home plate, or makes contact with any part of the plate with exception of the black border. OVERTHROWN BALL If the ball is thrown out of the field of play the base runner is entitled to the next base. However, if the runner is between bases prior to the release of the overthrown ball the runner will be entitled to the attempted base and the next base. ILLEGALLY CAUGHT BALL An illegally caught ball occurs when a fielder attempts to catch a batted or thrown ball with his cap, illegal glove or any part of his/her uniform detached from its proper place. The play will result in a dead ball and all runners will advance one (1) base.
INFIELD FLY RULE An infield fly is a fair ball, not including a line drive, which can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort when a FORCE OUT is in place at 3rd base, before there are 2 outs. Any infielder can catch an infield fly. ** Do not assume infield fly ** The umpire must verbally make the infield fly call. The batter-runner will be declared out and all runners may advance at their own risk. APPEAL PLAY Refers to a play the Umpire cannot make a ruling on until a decision is requested by the Defensive or Offensive Team. The appeal must be made before the next pitch, walk, illegal Pitcher action or before all Fielders have left Fair Territory. INTERFERENCE An act where players or others interfere with a player's opportunities. - Offensive Interference is a player interfering, impeding or confusing a defensive player while he is attempting to make a play - Spectator Interference occurs when a person not engaged in the game touches a batted or thrown ball which could prevent a blocked ball to occur, or when a person not engaged in the game physically interferes with a player's opportunity. - No fake tags. Absolutely no fake tags allowed. 1st violation will result in a warning and the 2nd infraction will result in immediate removal from the game. COURTESY RUNNER A courtesy runner is any player in the lineup that is used as a runner for a batter/runner when time has been called by the umpire. This courtesy runner must be announced by the team taking such runner and only one runner is allowed per inning. This runner may only be used for batter/runners that are injured and are potentially in harms way. **Allowing a courtesy runner is in the sole discretion of the umpire.
HITTING INTO THE PITCHER A halo rule will be in effect. Any ball hit back to the pitcher that is within arms reach of the pitcher will be called out. This is a judgement call for the umpire. Intentional or retaliatory behavior will the following actions, including but not limited to, a warning, a game benching, a game ejection which carries a one (1) game additional suspension. A player who is deemed to have hit with intent may be subject to immediate ejection without warning. ** Referee discretion. PLAYOFFS Playoffs will begin immediately following the end of the regular season and will typically last two weeks. After teams have been seeded according to their records all captains will receive an email or call prior to the first week of playoffs. Teams will not receive a call for any other week of playoffs! It is EACH TEAM'S responsibility to check the playoff brackets posted on the website or at the facility to determine what time they will be playing the following week if they win. In playoffs it is not uncommon, (and in some cases will be necessary), for teams to have more than one game in a given night. All players must have signed the waiver by the second week of play in order to be eligible for playoffs. Any team that would like to challenge the eligibility of an opposing player must do so before the start of the game. No protests will be considered valid after a game has started. Playoffs are single elimination.