Crazy Indoor Softball

(Posting by Jason)

So this weekend I went with an American friend (Tiffany) to play indoor softball at the Brixton rec center. I haven't put on a glove in months, so I really wasn't sure what I was in for. This game is honestly something quite unique!

The Rules:
Indoor softball can best be described as PURE INSANITY! The field is inside 1/2 of a basketball court (they put a divider right down the middle) and everything is in play, except for the ceiling. That's right, you even play off the walls! To keep it moving FAST, there are only two innings of 5 minutes per team. That means that when your team is batting, you're batting constantly for 5 minutes. Outs are counted completely different than in normal baseball/softball. There are still 4 bases, but second base is on the other side of the gym (you'd better run fast to get there!)

Scoring:
You get 1 point for hitting a single, 2 points for hitting a double, and 5 points for hitting a home run (basically a home run is when you hit a certain part of the back wall). You also get 1 point for crossing home plate. And here's the catch: you LOSE 1 point if you are get out while on the bases.
Only one pitch per batter - you'd better hit it or get a walk, 'cause we ain't got time for strike outs! This game moves fast, and some of the scores were 18 to 42, 32 to 25, and -17 to 28 (we lost that one bad!).

Fielding:
There are 8 fielders: 1 catcher, 1 pitcher, one idiot who plays about 15 feet away from the batter towards the left side (i.e. 3rd baseman...me!), another person playing 15 feet away from the batter on the right side, a 1st baseman and a shortstop, and finally two "outfielders/second-basemen". Generally, it appears that the best way to play is to shut your eyes, pray, and hope that you catch the ball and throw it in the right direction...

What it looked like:
On the first pitch of the first game (I was playing third base), this guy hit the ball harder that I thought a spongy softball could possibly go. Before I even looked down, the ball bounced off my thigh (ouch!), ricocheted to the right side of the field and landed in the first baseman's glove. An out! "Cool," I thought, "I can get the hang of this!" It turns out that I really had no idea. As the game progressed, people in matching team jerseys were sprinting all around the field. Balls were flying left and right (sometimes at the same time, because of the wall), people were throwing, people were catching, sometimes people were dropping the ball too. I ended up on the ground during several plays (sometimes just to get out of the way!). By the end of the inning, I had broken a sweat and acquired several nice bruises. Batting was a little better. Hit the ball, run like hell, listen to screaming teammates, and watch out for flying softballs (and flying fielders!). No problem! Through no help from me, we ended up losing the first game 36 to 18. As we progressed through the other games (5 total during the afternoon, we won 2!!), I decided that third base wasn't any longer for me.

I moved to short stop (not much better performance...) and then finally to the outfield/second base. Here's when I really excelled: a long fly ball is hit to my side of the field; I get a read on it and realize it's coming off the wall. Therefore, I turn around, face the wall and wait to catch the bounce. Unfortunately (for me), the ball actually gained velocity on the rebound and landed squarely on my forehead! The shock of the impact knocked me off my feet and I hit the ground with my back. For my serious-minded teammates, this presented an opportunity: "Tiff, catch the ball off the rebound and it's an out!" they shouted. Instead, Tiffany doubled over with laughter. :)