UIL to add Optional 15 Run Rule in Bi-District & Area Playoffs

Good morning Coaches and Athletic Directors,

It’s hard to believe it is almost December. It will be softball season before we know it! 

You will be receiving season reminders and updates around the first of January, but we didn’t want to wait until then to communicate an important change to softball playoff procedures. Through the collaboration of the TGCA and THSCA Softball Advisory Committees, the option of a fifteen (15) run rule will be added for the first 2 rounds (Bi-District and Area rounds) to our playoff procedures. The two schools competing must mutually agree during playoff negotiations for the Fifteen-Run Rule to be implemented. The following language has been added to the UIL Softball Manual:

If mutually agreed upon by both schools prior to the game, the fifteen-run rule may be implemented in the bi-district and area rounds of the playoffs. After three (3) innings of play, if one team is fifteen (15) or more runs ahead of its opponent, the game shall be over. (Or, if 2 ½ innings have been completed and the home team is fifteen or more runs ahead)

This change will be effective for the 2024 and 2025 softball playoffs. This adjustment to our playoff procedures did not require anything to be added or edited in the UIL Constitution and Contest Rules. The UIL will work closely with the TGCA and THSCA Softball Advisory Committees to collect the feedback of coaches to evaluate the impact and determine the effectiveness of this change over the course of the next two seasons.

We would like to take a moment to recognize and thank the two committees for their collaboration and for doing an outstanding job of representing all softball coaches in Texas. 

We hope you enjoy your holiday break. We are looking forward to a great 2024 softball season! 

Ray Zepeda

UIL Athletic Director