At the Hiroshima Games, softball is only played by women. At the Hiroshima Games, fast pitch rules apply, requiring speed and power. Most of softball's rules are similar to those of baseball. A softball games comprises 7 innings. If the score is tied when the 7th inning is over, extra innings are added.
Preliminary matches is via round-robin tournament system.
The top 4 teams of this preliminary match win the right to play in the finals. Starting players benched during the game with the exception of designated hitters can appear again in the same game at any time. However, this does not apply to players benched for the second time.