Softball

I've been playing softball for a while now, and I can honestly say that it's my life!!! I'd absolutely love to play professionally, but I know that there's a heap of hard work ahead of me if I want to do that. I'm currently playing for "The Huntingdale Hurricanes", a team that my dad coaches. And the "SEMSA B team" (SEMSA=South East Metropolitan Softball Association).

To see pictures of my team, follow the links to my "Hurricanes" page. Otherwise, stick around here and find out about the game I love best.

General Softball information

Softball is usually played on grass, on a field called a diamond. This field is divided into two areas known as the "infield" and the "outfield". The infield is the area between home plate and the three bases. The outfield is the area outside of the bases. In the centre of the three bases is a pitchers plate, and in the junior games that I play, the distance between that and home plate is 38 feet.

A team has 9 players. And a game concludes after 90 minutes of play, or the completion of the seventh inning, whichever is first. The team with the most runs across the home plate wins the game.

Players must always bat in the order on the scoresheet, there is a penalty for not doing so. The batter stands within the batters box, and the pitcher pitches the ball to the batters "strike zone" between their shoulders and their knees. Pitched balls that are not hit are classified as "balls" if they are out of the strike zone, or as "strikes" if they are in the strike zone. A pitched ball hit into foul territory is also called a strike. If the third strike ball is caught by the catcher, the batter is out, but if it is missed, the batter can run to 1st base and hopefully not get out. If the pitcher pitches 4 "balls" while the same batter is at bat, the batter may "walk a base".

If a batter hits a ball they must run to first base, and if they can, try to get to second, third or home. If they do not make it home on their own hit, the batter must try to advance their way around the diamond now being known as a "runner". If the batter does get home on their own hit, this is known as a "home run".

it is the objective of the opposing team to prevent the batting side from getting any, or many runs. This is done by catching hit balls, by getting ball on bag before the runner, or by tagging a forced runner. A runner is "forced" to move forward a base when another runner advances towards the bag they are on as no two people can be on the same bag at the one time.

Softball is a game very similar to baseball, although there are a few big differences. The ball used in softball is much bigger than that used in baseball. A typical softball has a circimference of 30.5 cm and a weight of approximately 190g. Although the name suggests it, the softball is no softer than the baseball. In baseball the ball is pitched overarm from the top of a mound, wheras softballa sre pitched underarm, without an elevated pitchers mound. The diamond is smaller in softball, and the game is shorter by two innings.