Softball Team Expectations & Rules

Playing softball is more than just swinging a bat, catching the ball and running the bases. Softball teams have certain responsibilities and duties that must be met in order to ensure that the game, tournament or league runs as smoothly as possible. Some leagues are more relaxed with team regulations, while others will enforce the rules with penalties like fines, forfeits or suspensions.

  1. Team Makeup

    • Team roster requirements vary depending on the type of softball being played. In fastpitch, men's and women's teams are required to have at least nine players, one at each of the nine field positions. Recreational leagues will occasionally allow a team to compete with eight players, but competitive leagues will not. Failure to provide a nine-player team results in a forfeit at most levels of competition. In slow pitch, each team is required to field 10 players, with the extra player usually patrolling the outfield. Coed slow pitch is even more restrictive, requiring teams to field five men and five women, with one man and one woman serving as the pitcher and catcher. If a man is pitching, a woman must catch, and vice versa.

    Batting Order

    • In fastpitch or slow pitch, men's and women's teams can set the batting order however they please. It is the coach's or captain's responsibility to exchange proper batting lineup cards with the umpire and the opposing team. Both lineup cards must match exactly, and must include a player's starting field position. Players may only bat one time through the lineup. In coed softball, the batting order must include a minimum number of female hitters in the top portion of the lineup. This number varies from league to league, and recreational games may opt for either an unrestricted lineup or an alternating male-female order.

    Dugout Conduct

    • Players from each team are expected to remain in the dugout when they are not either in the field, at bat, standing in the on-deck circle or coaching behind the first- or third-base bags. This rule is enforced at all times during the game, including between innings and when a pitcher is warming up prior to the start of a new half-inning. The first infraction earns a team a warning, while a second violation results in the ejection of the targeted player. In most leagues, players are not allowed to smoke in the dugout. Players caught smoking will be asked to stop immediately. If they don't, they will be ejected from the game