League Rules

Teams are responsible for all equipment except game balls. Game balls are ASA-approved 52/300 12” softballs.

Metal cleats are not allowed. Metal spikes are not allowed if the spike is not part of the cleat.

All bats must be ASA-certified and must NOT have a composite barrel. Composite handles are allowed. Bats that are damaged, bent, tapped or make a rattling noise are not allowed. If a team uses a disallowed bat, they automatically forfeit the game. Captains are allowed to personally inspect the opposing team’s bats at any time and notify the umpire if an illegal bat is suspected.

The game is played to 7 innings, and 60 minutes (fall seasons) or 75 minutes (spring seasons) are allotted for each game. If time allows, a tied game may go into extra innings. If a team is unable to begin play within a 5-minute grace period of the scheduled start time, they will forfeit the game. A new inning cannot be started more than 55 minutes (fall) or 70 minutes (spring) from the scheduled start time. If an inning is started before the cut-off time but is not yet finished at 60 or 75 minutes, (a) the top half of the inning must be completed regardless of the game situation, (b) if the score is tied or the visiting team is winning at the middle of the inning, the bottom half of the inning will begin, (c) if the home team takes the lead at any point, the game will end with the current score, and (d) if the bottom half of the inning is completed with the score tied, the game will end in a tie. If it appears that 1 of the teams is stalling to run out the clock, the umpire may give a warning and then call a delay of game. If it is the batting team that is stalling, the penalty will be a called strike on the batter. If it is the fielding team, it will be a called ball.

If a team is up by 15 or more runs after 5 innings, the game is over.

SEALS is a neighborhood softball league. Each team represents a specific neighborhood. If there is sufficient interest, it is permissible for more than one team to represent the same neighborhood. Likewise, it is permissible for two neighborhoods to combine to field a single team if each neighborhood has an insufficient number of players to field their own team. Players are required to reside in the neighborhood for which they play. The only exceptions to this rule are (a) a player who resides in a neighborhood with a SEALS team but is unable to join that team because there is not an open roster spot may be allowed to join another SEALS team provided that all SEALS captains are informed in advance and (b) a player who was a legitimate member of a neighborhood team and subsequently moved may be grandfathered to his or her original team.

A team must have at least 2 women and no more than 7 men in the field at all times. There is otherwise no rule for how many players a team needs to play. If a team only has 2 women available to play, an automatic out is inserted into the batting order in place of the 3^rd woman.

If both teams only have 2 women at game time, the captains can agree before the game to forego the automatic out in the batting order. Both teams should still play with nine players in the field, even if a third woman arrives late for one of the teams.

In order to participate in the playoffs, a player must participate in at least 1 regular season game.

In the batting order, the ratio of men to women may be no greater than 3 to 1. With 2 women in the batting order, a team may bat up to 7 men and take an automatic out. With 3 women, a team may bat up to 9 men, with 4 women, up to 12 men, and with 5 women, up to 15 men. A team is NOT required to increase the number of persons in the batting order in increments of 3, and a team is NOT required to bat the maximum number allowed.

No more than 3 men may bat consecutively. This applies equally to the wraparound from the bottom of the batting order back to the top. In the special case of a team playing with 2 women and 7 men, it is not possible to have less than 4 men bat consecutively. In this case, the batting order must be arranged so that the automatic out is used to separate more than 3 consecutive male batters.

If a woman is at bat, all 4 outfielders must remain behind a 180 foot line set by cones in the outfield. Infielders must remain behind the base line and in front of the grass. If either of these rules is violated at the time the ball is hit into play, the woman at bat will be awarded either a double or the outcome of the play, whichever is to the advantage of the batting team.

For both men and women, 1 foul ball is allowed with 2 strikes. A 2^nd foul ball hit with 2 strikes will result in a strikeout.

Each at-bat will begin with a count of 1 ball and 1 strike.

The batter’s box may or may not be marked on the field. Regardless, a batter must have 1 foot completely behind the top of the plate and must not step over the plate while swinging. A batter who violates this rule may be warned (for the first violation) or called out at the umpire’s discretion.

For male batters, each team is allowed 3 over the fence home runs per game. All subsequent hits over the fence are called out. Home runs hit by women do not count toward the limit of 3 per game.

No more than 3 men may bat consecutively. This applies equally to the wraparound from the bottom of the batting order back to the top. In the special case of a team playing with 2 women and 7 men, it is not possible to have less than 4 men bat consecutively. In this case, the batting order must be arranged so that the automatic out is used to separate more than 3 consecutive male batters.

Every player in the field MUST bat, and likewise, every player who bats MUST play in the field at some point. A substitute defensive player must bat in the place of the person he or she is replacing unless the substitute is independently assigned a place in the batting order.

The same batting order must be used throughout the game. Captains should have a batting order prepared in writing before the start of the game. If the defensive captain believes the batting team has batted out-of-order, he or she should alert the umpire, and the written version must be made available for the umpire’s inspection.

• If the current batter is determined to be out-of-order, then the correct batter should come to the plate and inherit the current strike count (the batting team may make this substitution with NO PENALTY).
• If the previous batter was determined to be out-of-order, but there has not yet been a pitch for the following batter, then:
  • All runs scored and bases advanced during the out-of-order at-bat DO NOT COUNT,
  • Any out(s) that occurred during the out-of-order at-bat REMAIN OUT(S),
  • The batter who should have batted is OUT,
  • The next batter is the one who follows the correct batter on the official order unless that is the person who batted out-of-order, in which case it is the person after him or her. The batting order will continue from that spot.
• If a previous batter was determined to be out-of-order, but the following batter has already received a pitch, then the batting order will continue from that spot with NO PENALTY.
• In all cases, the batting order will continue from the previous batter, and batters who were skipped will miss their at-bat until the next time through the order.

If an injury occurs during the game that requires a player to leave the game, and there is no available substitute, then that person’s spot in the batting order may be skipped WITHOUT PENALTY unless doing so would result in 4 or more men batting in a row. In this case, the skipped spot in the order becomes an OUT.

Pinch runners will be allowed for players injured during the game and for players designated as needing a pinch runner prior to the game. Pinch runners must be the last out of the same gender as the batter (or bottom of the order if there are no outs). If a batter hits an extra base hit, a pinch runner is not allowed.

A courtesy bag is placed to the outside of 1^st base. The batter must use the courtesy base when running to 1^st from home, and the defensive player must use the regular base.

Sliding is allowed, but not with the intention to contact another player in an attempt to dislodge the ball or break up a play. Any intentional contact by a base runner with a defender (sliding or otherwise) will result in the runner being ruled out and ejected from the game. This rule applies equally at home plate.

Ghost/fake tags are not allowed. A player attempting a ghost tag will be ejected from the game.

The pitcher must touch the pitching rubber at some point during the pitch. The pitch must have an arch of at least 6, but no higher than 12 feet, and must be thrown underhand. Pitches higher or lower than these limits are balls and may be called as such by the umpire while the ball is in the air.

On plays that have less than 2 outs and a force out at 3^rd base, if the batter hits a fair pop-up fly that an infielder could catch with ordinary effort, the umpire will indicate while the ball is in the air that the infield fly is in effect. The batter will be ruled out, and the base runners may tag and advance at their own discretion.

This is a friendly neighborhood league with nothing serious at stake, and we don’t want it ruined by over-the-top bad behavior. The umpire has the discretion to eject a player for unsportsmanlike conduct. For an especially-serious offense, that will result in ejection from the league as well as the current game.

Playoff seeding order will be determined by team record. Games that finish in a tie are considered half a win and half a loss for this purpose.

In the case of tied standings, the order of tiebreakers will be head-to-head records, then run differential, then a coin toss.