Softball is a recreational form of baseball, and like baseball has many similarities to Rounders. Slowpitch Softball is played by two teams of ten players each. The teams take it in turns to bat and field. The Manchester Softball League consists of mixed teams, with 5 men and 5 women making up a team.
The basics of Softball are very simple. A PITCHER pitches the ball to a BATTER who hits it and runs around as many bases as possible before the ball is retrieved and returned under control by the defensive team.
The aim of the game is to score more RUNS than the opposition and a run is scored when a player on the batting team advances around all three bases and back to the home base (called Home Plate) from whence he started. Unless you hit the ball so far that you can run around all the bases before it's returned (a Home Run), you'll probably have to stop at one or more bases on your way around and wait for the next batter to hit the ball so you can advance further.
Meanwhile, the fielding team is trying to get batters and base runners OUT. As soon as three players on the batting team have made outs, the two teams switch: The fielding team comes in to bat and the batting team goes out to the field. An inning is completed when each team has batted, and a full game consists of seven innings.
Players bat in a prearranged order (in mixed games men and women bat alternately). After the last batter in the order has hit, the first batter comes up again.
The 'How to Play' page includes a more detailed overview.