Mr. Delgado’s Softball Class

Vocabulary:

Inning: a team’s turn at bat or three outs.

Dish: Home-plate.

RBI: Run Batted In; when a batter hits a ball causing a
runner to score.

On-Deck: A batter warming up to bat in a designated area on the
field.

Pinch Hitter: A player that bats for another batter and
takes his/her place in the game.

Objective: The object of the game is to score
more runs than your opponent.

Scoring: One run (point) is scored each time a
runner legally touches 1st, 2nd, 3rd and home
plate before the third out of an inning.

Starting A Game: The
game begins when the Plate Umpire calls “Play Ball.” The home team
will take the field first; the visiting team will bat first. A game is 7
innings.

Offensive Positions:

1. Must follow the original batting order throughout the
game.

2. May position a coach in the coaches’ boxes at 1st
and 3rd base during its time at bat.

3. Must keep all team members in the dugout, behind the
backstop, bullpen, or dead-ball area while the ball is in play except the
batter, runner(s), on-deck batter and base coaches.

4. May not take warm-up swings on the field of play except
the batter (outside the batters box) and on-deck batter (in the on-deck circle)

Defensive Positions:

1. Pitcher: is considered in “pitching position”
when they place both feet on the pitcher’s plate and the catcher is in
position to receive the pitch. The pitcher may not take pitching position on
the pitchers plate without possessing the ball. They may not simulate pitching
position with or without the ball when near the pitchers plate.

2. Catcher: The catcher must be in the catcher’s box
from the time the pitcher steps on the pitcher’s plate until they release
the pitch. No part of the catcher’s feet may be on or outside the lines
until the pitch is released.

3. Infielders (Pitcher, Catcher, 1st base, 2nd
base, Short-Stop, 3rd base)/Outfielders (Left Fielder, Center
fielder, Right Fielder): All infielders and outfielders must be in fair
territory from the time the pitcher steps onto the pitching plate until the
pitch is released.

Softball History:  Softball originated in Chicago
Thanksgiving Day, 1887. a group of about 20 young men
gathered in the gym of the Farragut Boat Club to hear
the outcome of the Harvard-Yale football game. After Yale’s victory was
announced and bets were paid off, a man picked up a stray boxing glove and
threw it at someone who hit it with a pole. George Hancock, considered the
inventor of softball, shouted “Let’s play ball!” He tied the
boxing glove so that it resembled a ball, broke a broom handle to serve as a
bat and chalked out a diamond on the gym floor. That game now 118 years later
is known as the first softball game. Softball may have seen its death on its
birth if Hancock had not been so fascinated by it. In one week, he created an
oversized ball, an undersized rubber tipped bat and painted permanent white
lines on the gym floor.