Adults enjoy game usually played by kids

MARYSVILLE A fourth-inning run by the Entertainers tied their kickball match with the Dark Side at 1-1, but as the stalemate extended into the 10th inning, team captains met on the field.
Is that a game? one asked.
And so they called it.
But the soccer-like outcome of the July 10 game is not typical of kickball scores, said Marysville Parks and Recreation coordinator Dave Hall, who said five- and 10-run games are much more common in still weather.
Hall, who brought the sport to Marysville this summer after observing successful leagues in Seattle and Skagit County and captained the Dark Side team, explained that a gust of wind, like the ones that plagued the M-P High School softball fields that day, hamper a teams ability to score in several ways.
For one, the wind tends to blow pitches astray. For another, it can send ground ball into foul territory. And under the city leagues rules, two foul kicks make for an out.
The game is a lot like softball and is played under modified softball rules. Players assume the same positions on the ball diamond and the sports share many of the same key fielding positions.
I think shortstop is still a spot where you want a key player. Shortstop and third base, Hall said, adding, But also at first, because you need someone who can catch and a kickball is not the easiest thing to catch. And even the pitcher is in an important spot, they get a lot of action there.
While rolling the ball toward home plate sounds easy enough, there are rules in place to govern the pitcher, although the citys games go without umpires to enforce them.
Pitching rules are that it must be thrown in a civil manner at a reasonable rate and not excessively bouncy. A legal pitch must be underhand. Fastpitch and curveballs are not allowed, Hall said. The pitcher must remain in contact with the pitching rubber.
With the program still in its infancy, Halls coworkers at Parks and Rec make up a larger number of the kickball team members competing this summer. But, he said, the sport is particularly family friendly, which was incentive for the players who joined. When the Dark Side took the field, four or five children sat in the dugout, cheering on their parents.
Its a little more relaxed, you dont have to worry about a three-year-old taking a line drive from a softball, Hall said, adding that the sport also rekindles a child-like sensibility in players of all ages.
Its an easy sport to play, he said. It reminds people of being 10 years old on the playground.