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Tournament Rules

DFW Softball — 2026 Season

Registration & Payment

Teams Will Be Approved When Payment Is Received
  • Payment & Confirmation Policy: Tournaments may sell out before the official payment date due to field availability. Payment will be your confirmation that you are approved.
  • Schedules go out by Wednesday at noon the week of the tournament.

Gate Fees — 2026

Gate fees for 2026 will be cashless.
If we cannot do a gate, it will be a $200 team gate.

Pricing TBA for 2026. Sales tax will be added to all tickets.

Game Formats

Lineup Card Is Required for all seeded pool games and bracket play.

Formats will be announced closer to the event date based on the number of teams and available fields.

Non-Seeded Pool Games

  • Flip for home/visitor.
  • 6 runs per half inning.
  • Scores will be posted but will not count for seeding.
  • Scores are posted based on when the game ends.
  • Lineup cards not required.
  • Free defensive substitutions.

Seeded Pool Games

  • Team with the most USSSA points picks home/visitor.
  • Official game when time expires if there is a winner (including when you cannot catch up to at least tie the game).
  • USSSA batting and courtesy runner rules.
  • Teams playing an extra pool game (last game on schedule) will only have that game count if it affects placing between the two teams who played (head-to-head).
  • 6 runs per half inning.
  • 10/8/6 run rules.

Game Times & Pay at the Plate

Game Time Pay at the Plate
65 minutes $45
70–80 minutes $50
85 minutes $55
90 minutes $60
No time limit, 6 innings $75
No time limit, 7 innings $85
8U Only: 70 minutes $40

Most game times are 75 minutes. Some formats and delays due to weather may change game times.

Be Ready Early: Teams must be ready to play 15 minutes before scheduled time, except for the first game of the day—the coaches’ meeting will be 5 minutes before game time.
Softball Shortage Notice: Due to the shortage of softballs, game balls cannot be sold or traded for home runs. Teams must retrieve out-of-play balls to keep games going without delays.

Age-Specific Rules

8U — Strictly by USSSA Rules

Click here and go to page 69 for coach pitch rules.

Bunting is allowed. However, NO PULLBACK AND SWING WILL BE ALLOWED. The penalty is an automatic out.

Tournament Bracket Rules

Top Seed Advantage

The top seed, determined by pool play or most USSSA points if not seeded, chooses home or visitor, except in the double-elimination championship game, where the team from the winners’ bracket is designated home or visitor.

Run Limits

  • A, B, and Open Divisions (Gold/Silver brackets): Unlimited runs per half inning, unless otherwise specified at the event.
  • C Divisions and all Bronze or lower brackets in A/B or Open: Maximum of 6 runs per half inning.
  • 10/8/6 run rules are in effect.

USSSA Seeding Criteria

USSSA seeding is based on the following (in order of priority):

  1. Winning percentage — descending.
  2. Number of wins — descending.
  3. Number of losses — ascending.
  4. Tied teams (vs. each other) winning percentage — descending (not valid if all tied teams have not played each other).
  5. Average points allowed — ascending.
  6. Average points differential with a maximum of 8 — descending.
  7. Ranking points — descending.
  8. Date team entered the USSSA database.
  9. If you play an extra seeded pool game, the last game will not count unless it comes down to head-to-head.

ITB and IF Game / Shootout

Progressive Extra Innings

Except for the championship game:

  • 1st ITB: Runner on 2nd, 2 balls and 1 strike count.
  • 2nd ITB: Runners on 2nd and 3rd, 2 balls and 1 strike count.
  • 3rd ITB: Bases loaded and full count.

IF Game

If an “IF” game can start before 7:30 PM on the last day of the tournament, it will be a normal game length.

Shootout (Game Starts After 7:30 PM)

In lieu of an IF game, a 2-inning shootout will be played in the event of a tie after the championship game is played (two one-loss teams). Each team creates a new lineup for the shootout and flips for home team.

  • 1st inning: Last batter in the lineup starts on 2nd base.
  • 2nd inning: Last completed at-bat starts on 2nd base.

If the game is still tied after the 2nd shootout inning, progressive ITB will begin.

Pay at the plate for this is $20.

Weather-Shortened Games

Official Game

1.5 innings if the home team leads; otherwise, after 2 innings the winner is determined by the last full inning score.

Tournament Directors reserve the right to play Winners’ Bracket games ahead of Losers’ Bracket games (possibly eliminating Losers’ Bracket entirely) if necessary, or to reduce game times if the tournament can be completed with those revisions.

Tournament Winner & Rainout

Note: All games in the tournament should be used when average runs scored or allowed are being computed. This includes both pool and bracket play.

If the tournament cannot be completed by any other method, the following will be used:

Single Elimination Brackets

In the event a single elimination tournament cannot be completed due to weather or other reasons, the following will be used to determine placement and/or awards. All teams still in the bracket are ordered first, using:

  1. Winning percentage including pool and bracket play. A bye in the first round of bracket will count as a win if bracket play has begun and only the first round of bracket is complete.
  2. Least average runs allowed per game played.
  3. Highest average run differential per game played (8-run limit).
  4. Coin toss.

If only two teams remain in the tournament, they will be declared co-champions.

Double Elimination Brackets

In the event a double elimination tournament cannot be completed due to weather or other reasons, the following will be used to determine placement and/or awards.

Teams in the Winners’ Bracket are ordered first:

  1. Winning percentage including pool and bracket play. A bye in the first round of bracket will count as a win if bracket play has begun and only the first round of bracket is complete.
  2. Least average runs allowed per game played.
  3. Highest average run differential per game played (8-run limit).
  4. Coin toss.

Next, teams in the same spot in the Losers’ Bracket are ordered by:

  1. Head-to-head (this is used first when only two teams are in the same spot). The team which advanced farthest in the Winners’ Bracket before losing.
  2. Least average runs allowed per game played.
  3. Highest average run differential per game played (8-run limit).
  4. Coin toss.

If only two teams remain in the tournament, they will be declared co-champions.

Forfeits, Placings & Points

Forfeit Rules

  • If the team at fault is ahead or the score is tied: The score is recorded as 7–0 in favor of the team not at fault.
  • If the team not at fault is ahead: The score is recorded as the actual score at the moment the game is forfeited.

Forfeits During Tournament

Teams that forfeit any game during the tournament must pay all umpire fees for games not played for both teams, unless it is the last game of the day, in which case they pay only their fee. Teams will be suspended from USSSA until payment is made.

Final Placings

Once the event is completed, the usssa.com system must be manually configured to show the final placings and award the correct points. Until this is done, results may not show as final or be correct.

This process is done for each event on Monday and may take until midnight Monday to fully update and reflect accurate results.

Protests

All protests are $50 cash. If your protest is upheld, you get your money back.

USSSA Rules

Teams cannot accumulate USSSA points without a roster of at least 9 girls.

Noisemakers & Music

  • Noisemakers and music may only start when play is dead.
  • All noisemakers and music must stop when the pitcher has the ball.