Instructional Rules

Denville PAL Girls’ Softball

Instructional Division Rules

Regulation game play will consist of six innings. An official game shall be four innings (the losing team will have batted in the fourth). All decisions regarding called games, suspended games, tie games, and so on will follow the Babe Ruth Softball Rulebook, modified for a six inning game.
No new inning shall be started after 1 hour and 45 minutes of play. Once the inning has started, it shall be played to completion.
10 girls play in the field. No more than 7 players are allowed to play in the infield. No player should sit out a second inning before all other players sit out one inning.
An 11” softball will be used for game play.
The batter:

Each team will follow a permanent batting order that must include all players in attendance, including those not playing defense in a given inning. Players arriving after the start of the game must be placed at the bottom of the order.
When the tenth batter comes up to bat, all players and coaches must be informed by the scorekeeper or coach of the team at bat. The tenth batter will be the third out regardless of how many outs there are. The tenth batter will bat as normal. They can walk, strikeout, or hit. If the coach is pitching, they can only strikeout or hit. Defensively, the 10^th batter will be treated as if there are two outs.
Bunting is not permitted during coach pitch.
If a player throws a bat:

No stealing is permitted.
Runners may advance one base on an overthrow.
Once the ball is secured in the pitchers circle, the runners must decide whether to continue to the base they were headed or to stop and return.
Sliding will be permitted after appropriate instruction has been provided.
Coaches will pitch to their own team for the majority of the game. During those innings, hitters must either put the ball in play or strike out. No walks are permitted. The batter shall be called out after 3 swinging strikes or after she receives 6 pitches and does not put the ball into play. If the 6^th pitch is fouled off, the batter shall receive an additional pitch. The coach who is pitching must make every effort to avoid interfering with the defensive play on a batted ball. Players pitch the first inning of the game. During that inning, balls and strikes will be called. Players can walk, strikeout, or hit.

The team in the field provides the umpire for that half of the inning.
If the top of the fourth inning has been completed and the visiting team is losing by 10 or more runs, the game is over. If the bottom of the fourth inning has been completed and the home team is losing by 10 or more runs, the game is over.
Each team must provide one umpire for each game.
The strike zone for this division runs vertically from the batter’s knees to her armpits and runs horizontally from 3” off the outside edge of the plate to 3” off the inside edge of the plate. Balls landing on the plate will not be considered strikes.
If the game needs to be rescheduled, the home team must contact the rescheduler within 48 hours or forfeit the game.
Field Modifications:

Base paths will be set to 60 feet.
Pitching rubber will be placed at 35 feet. Do not allow pitchers to pitch from closer than this distance as it puts them too close to the batter.

Division results will be based on a point system; 3 points for a win, 2 points for a tie, 1 point for a loss, and 0 points for a game not played. Forfeits will be considered a game not played for the forfeiting team and a win for the opposing team.
The winning team must email game results to Tony Baldassari at tonyb4@optonline.net within 24 hours of the game. Results should be emailed with the following information:

To make our program fun and competitive, the rules will be modified if needed. Our main objective is to have Denville’s PAL Girl’s Softball program rules track the rules of our licensing organization and have our players subject to the same standards of play as their peers throughout New Jersey and the rest of the country.