Home of Senior Softball-USA and Senior Softball World Championships
| Dec. 2, 2024 Donna McGuire | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: You make the call B.J. Most likely, the SSUSA rule was picked up from ASA (now USA Softball)before ASA added the sentence saying that any outs made on the play stand. The USA rule book is much, much larger than the SSUSA book and has many extra details that have been added over the years. Thanks for suggesting that we enhance our rule. Good idea! |
| Dec. 2, 2024 Donna McGuire | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: You make the call B.J. Love these discussions! First, I would say that our (SSUSA) rule does not negate the entire at-bat but only the advance and scoring of runners. (Outs are not listed as nullified.) Therefore the out at 2B stands. If need be, I could also pull out the USA rule, and I could point to where the SSUSA book says “For any rule or interpretation not covered in this rulebook, default to the USA Softball rule book for guidance.” So let me ask, if SSUSA wanted the outs negated, too, why doesn’t our rule book say that? (It’s not there because the outs stand.) |
| Dec. 2, 2024 Donna McGuire | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: You make the call Hey B.J. Read our (SSUSA) rule closely on pages 39 and 40. You will note that it says “any advance or score made ….shall be nullified.” It does NOT nullify any outs made on the pay. (Yes, the ASA/USA rule language spells it out more clearly, but the rules are the same.) |
| Dec. 1, 2024 Donna McGuire | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: You make the call You have an out at second base, plus an out on the batter who failed to bat. All other runners return to the base occupied at the time of the pitch. (Only the advancement of runners is nullified; any outs made by the defense stand.) So runners on second and third with two outs. |
| June 19, 2024 Donna McGuire | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Underhanded pitch USA Softball defines an underhand pitching motion as the pitcher having the hand below the hip and the wrist no farther from the body than the elbow. (That full wording is found in the fastpitch section of the rule book. The slowpitch section does not give the full sentence.) |
| June 13, 2024 Donna McGuire | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Mercy rules in official rule book? It is rule 5.5(3) on page 30 of the rule book. Go to the tournament tab and click on the rules tab in the drop down menu. You will be able to open a pdf of the rule book once you are on that page. |
| June 6, 2024 Donna McGuire | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: 2 INTERESTING CALLS/ACTIONS OF UMPIRES @ ROCK 'N' RENO CHALLENGE CUP It is the umpire’s job to prevent a CR from entering the game during an at-bat (after a pitch has been thrown). The rule disallowing a CR during the at-bat was added to the rule book to speed the game (by encouraging offenses to have CRs ready), not to give defenses the opportunity for a cheap out. The rule book language saying “the umpire is to prevent entry” was added to the book to make this perfectly clear. |
| May 15, 2024 Donna McGuire | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Answers about Bat Testing John028, please click on the “news” link on the website and look at the “latest news” stories. Many of your questions are answered there — and were posted there two weeks ago. Also, please note that Dr. Richard Brandt, who did the BPF (bat performance factor) testing, retired a few years ago. The new standard is the NTS standard. And yes, the SSUSA NTS standard was developed specifically for senior bats. Not sure where you got the false idea that the new compression rules “are in direct conflict in how senior bats were made.” |
| May 2, 2024 Donna McGuire | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Texas State Championship rained out Thursday We are rained out today at the Texas State Championships. Managers of first, second and third-place teams will need to pick up awards at the park. |
| March 16, 2024 Donna McGuire | Topic: Bats Discussion: Question SMOKE707, you may have missed the rule change, which is highlighted in bold on the bat policy page: “Bats must be made by the manufacturers listed here marked with the SSUSA/NTS logo, or marked SSUSA approved (or have SSUSA logo), with 1.21 BPF or less.” Therefore, if bigjim’s bat does NOT have the SSUSA logo or say SSUSA approved, it is NOT legal to use in SSUSA play. There are some Miken Ultra 2s from the 2000-2004 time period that bore an ASA stamp (and no SSUSA logo) that NO LONGER can be used in SSUSA play. If you get in the batter’s box with one of those bats, you are ejected from the game for using an illegal bat. |
| March 15, 2024 Donna McGuire | Topic: Bats Discussion: Question I have not seen one of those in some time, but if I remember correctly, it has a 2000 ASA stamp on it but no SSUSA stamp or “SSUSA approved” language on it. If that is the case, the bat no longer is legal to use in SSUSA play. Under the new bat rule that took effect on Nov. 1, 2023, only bats with the SSUSA logo or that say “SSUSA approved” on them can be used in SSUSA tournaments. |
| Jan. 20, 2024 Donna McGuire | Topic: Bats Discussion: New rule on shaved bats Markanthoni24, SSUSA does NOT allow pitching screens in its tournaments. The issue has been discussed at several Rules Committee meetings, but screens never have been approved. So they would not have been on the fields at the Winter Worlds in Phoenix in November. |
| Jan. 8, 2024 Donna McGuire | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Commitment Line question Sorry B.J., but my post was correct.(Actually, so was yours.) I pulled our rule from the 2015-16 rule book. You pulled from an earlier book, when the commitment line was in a different place. What I posted was correct for 2015-16. (We moved the commitment line in 2013.) |
| Jan. 8, 2024 Donna McGuire | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Commitment Line question Back when our base paths were 65 feet, the commitment line was 40 feet from third base and 25 feet from home plate. |
| Dec. 15, 2023 Donna McGuire | Topic: Bats Discussion: New bat rule clarification. ju25 and BruceinGa: As long as your older bats have the SSUSA stamp on them (sounds like they do), they remain legal. The 1.20 or 1.21 bpf means those bats were legal when manufactured. They remain legal as long as they have that wonderful SSUSA logo or say “SSUSA approved” on them. |
| Dec. 10, 2023 Donna McGuire | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: What's the rile Picture it this way: A foul tip cannot be caught for an out. A ball fouled backward remains a foul tip in SSUSA play unless it goes higher than the batter’s head. Then it becomes a foul ball that can be caught for an out. So if a batter has a courtesy foul left, the foul tip cannot be caught for an out. (This also used to be the rule in ASA/USA play, but it was changed in 2006 to allow catchers the opportunity to make more outs.) |
| Sept. 9, 2023 Donna McGuire | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Illegal batter substitution Batting out of order is the same. Wait until the at-bat ends to appeal. Otherwise, the correct batter enters the box and assumes the count. As for how other associations handle this situation, our rule is the same as USA Softball (formerly ASA). As far as batting out of order, our rule also is the same as Major League Baseball’s rule. |
| Sept. 9, 2023 Donna McGuire | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Illegal batter substitution He is in the game and continues his at-bat. |
| Sept. 8, 2023 Donna McGuire | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Illegal batter substitution The unreported substitute rule and illegal batter rules can be found on page 26 of the SSUSA rule book. The short version: If the defense wants to get an out on the play, wait until the at-bat ends to appeal. After the at-bat, if the player is properly appealed, all outs on the play stand, other runners return to the base occupied at the start of the at-bat, and the batter is called out. (Appeal too soon, and the defense will be disappointed. No out will be called.) |
| Aug. 19, 2023 Donna McGuire | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Rocky Mountain update Saturday night Games at Quads B and C are canceled for Saturday night. We expect to start the first sets of games on those quads at 8 a.m. in the morning, (with Quad A starting as planned at 8:30). Managers will be notified tonight of the new schedule. If there is a rain delay in the morning, we will notify managers at that time. |
Senior Softball-USA
Email: info@SeniorSoftball.com
Phone: (916) 326-5303
Fax: (916) 326-5304
9823 Old Winery Place, Suite 12
Sacramento, CA 95827
