Young Drachma
02-16-2006, 07:42 PM
Link (http://www.auburnjournal.com/articles/2006/01/16/sports/local_sports/01arena.txt)
It's softball with a triple-shot of espresso. That's how players describe Arena Softball, a game created in Roseville four years ago that some people believe might be the next sport to break into the mainstream in the United States.
Each week, close to 1,000 players are flocking to the only two fields in the world dedicated to the new sport and they're thoroughly enjoying the fast-paced, high-scoring version of traditional softball.
The fields are essentially miniaturized softball diamonds and are surrounded by netting on all sides. There are no foul balls - everything is played off the nets. There are home run panels in left-center and right-center fields.
Instead of three outs per inning, each team gets 16 pitches. The offensive team scores points by scoring traditional runs while the defense scores half-a-point for each out it records. The umpires use state-of-the-art remote controlled scoreboards and wear microphones to broadcast their rulings.
It's softball with a triple-shot of espresso. That's how players describe Arena Softball, a game created in Roseville four years ago that some people believe might be the next sport to break into the mainstream in the United States.
Each week, close to 1,000 players are flocking to the only two fields in the world dedicated to the new sport and they're thoroughly enjoying the fast-paced, high-scoring version of traditional softball.
The fields are essentially miniaturized softball diamonds and are surrounded by netting on all sides. There are no foul balls - everything is played off the nets. There are home run panels in left-center and right-center fields.
Instead of three outs per inning, each team gets 16 pitches. The offensive team scores points by scoring traditional runs while the defense scores half-a-point for each out it records. The umpires use state-of-the-art remote controlled scoreboards and wear microphones to broadcast their rulings.