SENIOR SOFTBALL TEAMS HAVE AN OPEN INVITE

Sequim senior softball player Bob Barras throws a pitch during an April morning scrimmage. Photo by Michael Dashiell
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Sequim — April 22, 2008

Game on!

Sequim’s senior softball club is gearing up for a big 2008 that includes a tentatively scheduled tournament in mid-may and not one but two tournament teams.

The 65-year-olds-plus team practices at 10 a.m. on Monday, while the 60-year-olds-plus team practices at 10 a.m. on Wednesday — both at the club’s home fields at Carrie Blake Park — while the coed scrimmage squads play twice a week (weather permitting) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, starting at 9 a.m.

Men and women are invited to join the coed teams that warm up on the twin fields and then typically scrimmage against each other at 9:30 a.m. or so. Men must be 50 years old or older while women need to be 45 years old or older. There is no maximum age limit.

For more information, call Jim Cole at 683-3524 or Warren Hunt at 683-4874 in Sequim. Port Angeles-area players are asked to call Bill Klover at 452-7266 or the Port Angeles Senior Center at 417-4554.

Rules of the game:

The goal of senior softball, it seems, is sporting fun minus the injuries.

No body contact is the name of the game, and leagues have established a peculiar but sensible set of rules:

No sliding. Wouldn’t want to break a limb just trying to avoid a tag.

Running by a base is permitted. Players are used to running by first base in regular baseball and softball, but this league allows it at second and third base, too. After an overthrow or bobble by a fielder, though, the base runner has to make sure to tag the base again to advance.

First base has two bases. Located nearly next to each other, first base is actually two: one for the fielder to touch and one for the runner to use. This avoids dangerous first-base collisions.

Home has two plates. Again, for safety, seniors get a different base to run to, angling about 8 feet from the home plate to step on. This eliminates home-plate conditions.

The commit line helps the defense. About 20 feet from home plate is a line which, once crossed by the base runner, they must commit to going home; they cannot go back to third base. Catchers do not have to tag runners once they go past the line: runners are treated as force-outs. This keeps the catcher safe from having to tag runners.

It’s slow pitch sport with a specific strike zone. Strikes are thrown in an arc between six and 12 feet, and must land on the plate or a foot-and-a-half-long extension are just behind home plate, or be swung and missed by the batter. After two strikes, a foul ball is considered a third strike.

Ten players to a side. Four outfielders (two in center field) help the defense keep runs to a premium.

Umpiring is done by the idle. Balls, strikes and out calls are made by players not currently in the game, and both teams are encouraged to not challenge such calls.

Everyone plays. In a seven-inning game, even the bench players get at least three innings of playing time.

Other than that, the rules are a lot like standard slowpitch softball rules. Teams get four outfielders (70-plus teams get 11 defensemen) and pitchers must throw a pitch 6-12 feet tall at its apex. Called strikes are pitches that meet the height requirement and land in an extended home-plate area. Base runners may not lead off, either.