Good morning - Is it illegal to remove the starting pitcher from a game and then have her go back in as the pitcher? She was on the bench, not in another fielding position. We specifically asked one of the umpires this question prior to the game and were told it would be an illegal substitution. Then, when it was done during the game the plate umpire did not agree, and the substitution was allowed. It is my understanding that we follow ASA guidelines and this was a JV high school game. Thanks.

It is my understanding that pitchers have the same reentry rules as any one else. So F1 starts , sent to bench, allowded to reenter one time. i believe position doesn't have anything to do with reentry. If i am wrong-cut me slack-trying to get my feet wet here. And hello to ALAMEDA i lived in the city for awhile then moved to SAC.

You're right, Chess.

Same sub rule for everyone.

No No it runs with the same rule that a pitcher cant be substituted until they have had a pitch .

Just joking .
Same rules as any other player

Thanks for the responses - we were always led to believe that the only time a benched player could come back into the game was to be a pinch runner.

I was of no help here, but glad you got it cleared up for me too; and WTTB (welcome to the board)
http://smilies.sofrayt.com/^/aiw/bye.gif

If you are playing ASA rules, or lots of others, [won't mention the
one that allows benched player's to be pinch runners] then this would
not be correct. There are no pinch runners. You can utilize a
CR [courtesy runner] for your pitcher and a different one for you catcher.
If you put a runner in the game for another player, it would have to be
a sub, unless of course the person who is on base happened to be the player
that replaced the benched player, who could then re-enter to run for that
player and that player if she happened to be a started would also have
re-entry rights and could return to start the next inning. However,
if the starter returns to play defense for the player that ran for her, then
that player would be gone from the game, because she has used her re-entry
rights. Got it, if not someone will straighten it out for you and me too.