Little League Softball pitching rules
These are the Little League Softball limits as I read them out of Little League Regulation VI (Softball), checked on 2026-09-04. I coach youth baseball and I bought the books, because every summary I could find online disagreed with at least one other summary. Where a figure comes from the rulebook itself, I say so. Where it does not, I say that too.
| Applies to | Limit | Game length |
|---|---|---|
| Minors and Little League (Majors) | 12 innings a day | 6 innings |
| Junior and Senior League | set by your league | 7 innings |
| Junior and Senior softball have no national pitching restriction. Local boards may impose limits. | ||
| Innings thrown | Calendar days of rest |
|---|---|
| 0–6 | none |
| 7 or more | 1 |
The rules that catch people out
- Mandatory play in the regular season: every player present plays 6 defensive outs and bats at least once.
- Little League Softball Regulation VI(a): a player who has attained league age 12 is not eligible to pitch in the Minor League.
Where these numbers come from
Source: Little League Regulation VI (Softball), checked 2026-09-04.
Published at: https://www.littleleague.org/playing-rules/pitch-count/
Tournament and All-Star play is governed by a different document, and this page cites it separately rather than letting one date stand for both: Little League Tournament Rule 9 (revised 2023), checked 2026-08-15. https://www.littleleague.org/university/articles/mandatory-play-little-league-international-tournament-rule-9/
Little League also runs another program
Little League's rules are not the same across its programs. If you coach more than one, check each. See Little League Baseball.
Your league may be stricter
Local boards can and do add restrictions on top of the national rule — inning caps, tighter daily limits, time limits. What they cannot do is go the other way. If your league runs tighter than the table above, your league wins.
Even Innings is a planning aid, not a compliance system. It cannot know what happened in a game, and it does not replace your rulebook or your league's own bylaws. Always confirm current-year specifics with your own league.