Blog: Ace

What is Softball?

Softball is essentially a simple game. It isn’t brain surgery! It makes perfect sense – with only a couple of exceptions (and a twist).

There are two formats of Softball played in the UK – Slowpitch and Fastpitch – and there are some differences between them. But we’ll get to that in due course. First, let’s look at the things that are common to both formats.

The object of Softball is to score more runs than the other team.

So how do you score a run? You score a run by touching each one of four bases in turn, ending up with the one you started out with!

Does anybody know what you have to do if you hit the ball? That’s right, you are “forced” to run.

What do you think the first base you run to is called? Yep, that’s right, First Base.

What do you suppose the second base you run to is called?

What about the third base you run to?

How about the fourth base? Uh-uh! That’s called home plate and it’s one of the two things in Softball that aren’t common sense. You don’t eat off it so it’s not a plate and you don’t live in it so it’s not home – but it’s called home plate. It looks a little bit like a house you might have drawn when you were a little kid, so maybe that’s why; and you are safe if you get there, so maybe that’s why. I don’t know … but it’s called home plate!

What About the Positions of the Players?

What do you suppose the player who pitches the ball is called? Remember, Softball makes sense! That’s right, the pitcher!

What about the player who catches the pitches the pitcher throws? Yep, the catcher…. As we said, Softball isn’t brain surgery!

What might the player who fields closest to first base be called? Sure, the first baseman. Or, if you want to be politically correct, the first baseplayer.

And what about the player who fields closest to second base? Second baseplayer …

And the player who fields near third base? Third baseplayer.

There’s one more, and this is the second exception to Softball making perfect sense. Between second base and third base there’s another fielder. He or she is called the shortstop. This player doesn’t have to be short but does have to be pretty good at stopping the ball!

Those six fielders – the pitcher, catcher, first, second and third baseplayers and the shortstop – all field in the infield, or inner part of the field so we call them the … infielders!

The other fielders, if they’re not infielders would be … outfielders! And here’s where we come to one of the differences between Fastpitch and Slowpitch Softball.

In Fastpitch, there are three outfielders. The fielder who fields in left field is the left-fielder, the one in centre field is the centre fielder and the one in right field is – you’ve got it! – the right fielder!

But in Slowpitch Softball, there are four outfielders, because the ball is pitched slowly, as the name of the game suggests, and it gets hit harder and more often. These four outfielders usually spread themselves evenly across the outfield, with one player in left field, one in left-centre, one in right-centre and one in right field. There are other configurations possible, but we don’t need to go into that now.

Fastpitch and Slowpitch

Since we’re talking about differences between the Fastpitch and Slowpitch formats, we might as well mention the main one – the pitching. Once again, what’s in the name is what you get. In both formats, pitchers pitch (throw) the ball with an underarm motion, but in Fastpitch the ball travels … well … fast, and with lots of movement, and hitting it is a pretty difficult skill. In Slowpitch, the ball is lobbed slowly in a gentle arc. It’s a lot easier to hit, and so Slowpitch games often turn on how well the fielders can deal with all those hits. Fastpitch games turn on tactics, strategy and the central contest between pitchers and hitters.

The only other big differences between the two formats is that in Fastpitch, you can “bunt” and “steal” and in Slowpitch you can’t. “Bunting” means letting the ball just hit your bat instead of taking a full swing, so it drops down somewhere in the infield and fielders have to deal with it. “Stealing” means that after a pitcher releases the pitch, a baserunner can try to run to the next base before the catcher can throw the ball to that base for a “tag out”. You’ll hear more about tag outs below.

Meanwhile, here’s some more terminology:

Fair and Foul Territory

Fair territory – that’s the area the game is mostly played in – is a right angle bounded by two lines. One runs from home plate through first base and on out into the outfield, forming a border for right field, and the other runs from home plate through third base and on out to form a border for left field. Everything inside those lines is “fair territory”. Everything outside those lines is foul territory. A ball that is hit into fair territory is a “fair ball”; a ball hit into foul territory is called a “foul ball”. It’s a little more complicated than that, but that’ll do for now.

Playing the Game

So: how does the fielding team get a chance at to come in and have their turn at bat?

The hitting team is having a great time, hitting the ball, running round the bases and scoring runs, but the fielding team wants a chance. How do they switch sides?

The answer is that the fielding team must get three of the batting team out. Once they do that, they switch sides. Once both teams have batted, it’s the end of an inning. Games are made up of seven innings, though in Tee-ball (a version of the game for small children), you can play one or two innings. If a game is tied after the normal number of innings, whatever that is, then the game carries on and more innings are played until one team wins.

An alternative, often used with young players, is for each side to bat around so everyone gets a go.

But: how does the fielding team get outs?

There are four main ways to get outs:

1) If a fielder catches a batted ball before it hits the ground, the batter is out. It’s called a “fly out”.

2) If a runner is tagged with the ball while between bases – and the ball can be either in a fielder’s hand or glove – it is a “tag out”. The fielder has to have control of the ball; you can’t throw it at someone! And the runner can’t run all over the place to avoid the tag. If he or she runs more than a metre either side of an imaginary line joining the bases, it’s an automatic out. Just remember: never, never, never, throw a ball at someone! That can be dangerous.

3) A batter can be struck out. If a pitch passes over home plate between the batter’s chest and knees it is called a strike. If the batter swings and misses (whether the pitch is in that zone or not), it’s called a strike. A foul ball (a ball hit into foul territory and not caught by a fielder) is also a strike. Once you get three strikes, you’re out! But one little complication: a foul ball cannot be a third strike in Fastpitch, though it can in Slowpitch.

4) There’s one more way of being out. If a batter hits the ball into fair territory he or she is forced to run. Where do they run? That’s right … to first base. If a member of the fielding team can make contact with first base while they have the ball in their possession and before the runner makes contact with the base the runner is “Out”! This is called a “force out” because the runner was forced to run to that base.

Now, only one runner can be in possession of a base at any one time. So if any runner is forced to run to the next base because of a runner or runners behind them then they can be forced out in the same way – that is if a fielder makes contact with the base with the ball in their possession before the runner makes contact with the base.

Example: If there is a runner on first base and the batter hits the ball, the batter is forced to run to first base and the runner at first is therefore forced to run to second base. Either runner can be forced out.

Another Example: If there is a runner on second base and the batter hits the ball, the batter has to run to first but the runner at second does not have to run (because no one is running from first to second to force them onwards). If the runner on second does run, he or she must be tagged out; they cannot be forced out.

Force outs can occur at any base as long as the runner is forced to run there. If the runner has an option of turning back to the previous base they must be tagged out.

And – you can get more than one out in a single play. Two outs on the same play is a double play. That happens occasionally. Three outs on the same play would be a … triple play. That’s really rare, but it does happen. Four outs would be a … quadruple play? That can’t happen in Softball; three outs and the side is out!

If you’re a fielder, remember to move off the base as soon as you have gotten the force out. Otherwise you could get bumped or knocked over by the runner.

That’s about it. We’re almost ready to play!

We just need to talk about safety.

A Softball bat can hurt if you are hit with it. A Softball bat could knock someone out if they are hit with it. It could even kill someone. We have to be very careful with Softball bats. Never swing a bat unless you are the hitter or unless a coach tells you to.

When you’ve hit the ball, place the bat carefully on the ground before you run. Don’t just let go of the bat at the end of your swing. If you do, someone could get hurt and you’ll automatically be called out.

Don’t throw the softball at anyone. It’s dangerous and it doesn’t achieve anything.

Members of the batting team (except for the batter) must stay well back from home plate, ideally at least 15 metres. The next batter can stand closer to home plate but must stay there until the play on the field has finished. Otherwise, they might get knocked over by a runner or interfere with a fielder.

When forcing a runner out, the fielder should tag the base with his or her foot, not their hand. This is to avoid getting trodden on.

There we go, that’s it. Let’s split into teams and Play Ball!

The Twist

But wait – we mentioned a twist at the beginning. It’s part of the rules of Softball, it’s called tagging up, and this is it.

If a batter hits the ball into the air and it’s caught, a base runner cannot just advance to the next base. He or she has to wait and touch the base they were occupying after the catch is made. Then they can advance – at their peril!

And now, really and truly – let’s play!

by Ace on 19:42 on 14th January 2008