Softball

Softball is a team sport in which a ball, eleven to twelve inches in circumference, is thrown by a player called a pitcher and hit by an offensive player called a batter with a round, smooth stick called a bat. The ball itself is also called a softball. Scoring is accomplished by the batter running and touching a series of four markers on the ground called bases. Softball is a direct descendant of baseball (sometimes referred to as hardball to differentiate the two), but differs from it in several ways, of which the chief four are:

World champions

The International Softball Federation holds world championship tournaments in several categories. The tournament in each category is held every four years.

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As of February, 2004 the defending world champion of men's fast-pitch softball is New Zealand, while the current women's champion is the United States.

Related Topics:
New Zealand - United States

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The current world champion of men's slow-pitch softball is the United States, while the mixed champion is Great Britain.

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