Competitive softball is a game dominated by pitchers. Those at the high school, college and professional level can throw the ball 70 miles per hour, a speed that’s comparable to a 95 mph fastball in baseball. Pitchers can also throw drops, risers, curves and changes of pace. As a result, games are often close and low-scoring. For a team to have the best chance of winning, all players and coaches must know the key rules set out by the American Softball Association, or ASA.
Pitching Rules
Pitchers in competitive softball cannot use a deceptive motion. The windmill, the standard motion in ASA girls softball, refers to the pitcher making a complete revolution with her arm before delivering the ball. That is not deceptive. However, if the pitcher decides to deliver the ball without going around with a windmill motion, she cannot continue with her motion after she has thrown the ball. This is considered deceptive and makes such a pitch illegal. The same holds for a pitch that comes from between the pitcher’s legs or behind her back. All pitchers must start from the pitching rubber in the middle of the pitching circle. They must step straight toward home plate and cannot step to the side because that is a deceptive move. All pitchers must end up in the pitcher’s circle at the conclusion of the pitch.
Player Rules
All girls’ softball teams may play with 10 players in the field according to the ASA rules. The positions are pitcher, catcher, first base, second base, third base, shortstop, left field, center field and right field. The extra fielder usually is positioned in the outfield but can be anywhere in fair territory. All 10 players in the field are allowed to bat. However, a coach may choose to use a designated hitter for any one of the position players if she so chooses. The designated hitter does not have to bat for the pitcher, as is the case in baseball. The coach does not have to use a designated hitter if she does not want to take that option.
Equipment
All softball players must wear a helmet when they come up to bat. The helmet must be made of hard plastic and must cover both ears. Protective masks are optional. Players must wear helmets when they are on the base paths and when they come out of the dugout and into the on-deck circle.
About this Author
Steve Silverman is an award-winning writer, covering sports since 1980. Silverman authored The Minnesota Vikings: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Who’s Better, Who’s Best in Football — The Top 60 Players of All-Time, among others, and placed in the Pro Football Writers of America awards three times. Silverman holds a Master of Science in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism.
