Centennial High School
Softball Study Guide
History:
The game we know today as softball was invented by George Hancock in 1887 at the
Farragut Boat Club in Chicago, IL. It was originally intended to be a game rich men could play
indoors. An outdoor version, called kitten ball, was developed by Lewis Rober introduced it to
his fellow Minneapolis, MN firemen. The game was finally named softball at the 1926 YMCA
convention. Interest in the game of softball began to grow before WWII, and continued to grow
even more popular after the war. By the 1950’s leagues had been established all over the country.
Today softball is one of the most popular games played in the United States, with more than over
35 million participants a year.
Slow Pitch Rules
Object of the Game: To win by scoring more runs than one’s opponents.
1. The pitch must be underhand with an arc of at least 3 feet, and no more than 12 feet
from the time it leaves the pitchers hand until it reaches home plate.
2. No stealing.
3. No bunting.
4. 10 players on a team.
5. A Strike
a. Batter swings at the pitched ball and misses.
b. The ball crosses the plate between the knees and shoulders of the batter (strike zone).
c. A ball that is hit foul on the ground or a foul fly that is not caught.
d. A foul tip that is caught by the catcher that does not go above the batter’s head.
6. A Ball
a. A pitched ball that does not go over the plate in the strike zone.
b. When the pitcher begins the motion of pitching the ball, but does not pitch it.
7. Fair Ball
a. A ball that lands and remains in the infield (between home and first base, and
home and third base).
b. Touches or goes over first or third base.
c. Lands in the outfield in fair territory (between the extended lines from home to first base, and
home to third base).
8. Foul Ball
a. Ball is hit foul in the infield.
b. Ball lands fair in the infield and rolls foul.
c. Ball hits foul in the outfield.
9. Batter is out when:
a. Swings at and misses a third strike or a third strike is called and not swung at.
b. A foul tip is caught on the third strike.
c. A foul fly is caught.
d. A fair fly is caught.
e. Player interferes with the catch.
f. Player is hit by the batted ball in fair territory before the ball has been played by a fielder.
g. The ball is caught at first base before the runner gets there.
h. Player is tagged by the ball before reaching the base.
10. Base runner is out when:
a. Player leaves the base before the pitched ball crosses home plate.
b. The player is tagged out or the ball is thrown to a baseman before the player returns to base after a
fair fly ball is caught.
c. Interferes with a fielder trying to field the ball.
d. The player is tagged out at any base or between the bases.
e. Player is forced out at any base.
f. Player passes a base runner.
g. Player is hit by a batted ball.
11. Bases
a. Bases are 60 feet apart from each other.
b. Bases are in the shape of a diamond.
12. Innings
a. There are 7 innings in a slow pitch game, with extra innings if tied at the end of 7.
TERMS
Slow Pitch – arc of softball must be between 3 and 12 feet.
Rover – 10th player, an outfielder who moves depending on the hitter at bat.
Walk – 4 balls, free trip to first base.
Strike Out – 3 strikes, a foul ball is a strike except in the third strike. A player can’t
strike out on a foul ball. Bunting is not allowed in slow pitch softball.
Force Out – On a ground ball, a player must advance from 1st to 2nd base. The fielder on
2nd has to just touch 2nd base while in possession of the ball for the batter to be
out. This applies to 3rd base when there are runners on 1st and 2nd, and home
base if the bases are loaded.
Infield Fly Rule – With runners on 1st and 2nd or bases loaded and less than two outs, the
infield fly goes into affect. The batter is out.
Full Count – 3 balls and 2 strikes.
Batters Box – Area where a batter must stand when batting. The size is 4’ by 7’.
Batting Order – List of the sequence of the players to bat.
Double Play: recorded by the defense when two outs are made on the same play.
Double: a hit in which the batter safely reaches second base
Foul Ball: Any ball hit into foul territory
Ground Rule Double: awarded to a batter when his/her fair ball bounces over or passes under a fence
Home Run: recorded when a batter hits a fair ball over the fence or circles the bases on an inside-the park
(home run) without being thrown out.
Out: can be recorded in a variety of ways: strikeout, force-out, tag-out, and fly-out.
Runs-Batted-In (RBI’s): a batter is credited with a run-batted-in (RBI) when his/her hit is responsible for
one or more runners scoring (1 RBI per runner scored).
Sacrifice Fly: credited to a batter whose caught fly ball results in a runner on third base tagging up
(touching third base after ball is caught) and scoring. A sacrifice fly does not count as a time at
bat.
Strike Zone: any part of home plate between the batter’s back shoulder and front knee (slow pitch).
Triple: a hit in which the batter reaches third base safely
Triple Play: credited to the defense when it records three outs in the same play.
Positions:
Left Center
Right Center
2nd Base
Left Field
Shortstop
3rd Base
Pitcher
Catcher
Right Field
1st Base
Left Field (LF)
Left Centerfield (LC)
Right Centerfield(RC)
Right Field (RF)
Third Base (3)
Second Base (2)
First Base (1)
Shortstop (SS)
Pitcher (P)
Catcher (C)