What ball will be used in 2025?

BADEN Fire 44/375 (Same as the 2024 Season official softball)

I believe that the Baden Fire 44/375 balls come with red stitching and black stitching. Are both allowed? Can teams bring their own balls to tournaments, or do they always have to be purchased at the tournament? Any info you could provide would be appreciated.

The RED stitching ball is the only one approved for use ... They must also have the SSUSA Logo on them ... If you find/buy/bring exactly those, they're fine for use ...

Thank g-d that ball will be the one used, it is such a quality product that everyone loved. It never went soft in the heat and everyone thought it was great.

Why does it matter what ball you use both teams have to hit it, throw it, and catch it.

Word has it gonna be a 12 inch ball, yellow in color, and have red stitches and a logo
with the letters SSUSA.

The ball performs just fine my issue at 70 is that the cover gets real dirty quickly and blends in with the dirt all the time. It becomes very difficult to see even during the day. No need to reply you can clean them….we’re talking about the other team’s ball. Baden should do something to improve this issue. Like with bats everyone is trying to improve durability and performance. Baden should be held to the same standards. IMO

Just played WW in Phoenix, awesome trip, played at Chavez and Desert W. Ground crew actually prepped fields between games which was cool, umping was very good, games on time, SSUSA staff very friendly and helpful. Played some awesome games with excellent competition. However, Saturday night played a game that started at dusk and ended after dark, that damn ball is impossible to see. Numerous times my SS and I looked at each other and said 'I didnt see that'. So, Yankeefan12, IT DOES MATTER. Someone is going to eat one of these, its not if, its when. SSUSA: I get that you have a contract with Baden, please address this issue with them. This is a really good ball but once it is dirty it is very dangerous. And yes, it can be problematic during the day, but at night it is really a problem. I know teams are intentionally leaving dirty balls in games so the defense can't react, but someone is going to get really hurt or worse. So lets take the injury part out of it, do we really want to play at game Saturday night in Vegas to make it to Sunday at Worlds and have the game decided because someone could not see a ground ball or a line drive? That is not in the spirit of this game that we all love to play. Thanks for a great weekend, everyone have a safe and healthy 2025 season.

I played on the same fields and assumed it was the lighting on the field. It makes sense bad lighting and dirty balls is a recipe for disaster.

JimPerry19,


I couldn't agree more, the ball is very hard to see once it gets dirty as we have all said since day one of SSUSA using this ball. Performance wise it's an average ball at best but there are definitely worse out there. It is very ironic though that SSUSA is the ONLY association who has publicly come out and tried to do something about the cheating(bat shaving) to make the game safer for us to play. But, they also are using the worst ball in terms of safety for day to day use. People have complained so many times about the cover of this ball being unsafe due to how dirty it gets so quickly and nothing has been addressed. You would think the forerunner of the safety concerns would do something about this especially when they are also the most expensive association to play in...

Please address the ball...we had the same problem at WW in Phoenix only on Friday night where the game started before dusk but as soon as dusk arrived we lost at least 4 balls in the outfield because none of the fielders could see the ball until it was almost on the ground...for some reason some of the balls pick up dirt and it's becoming very dangerous...other then that the balls are fine.

JIM PeRrY19, here's a novel idea, if your gonna whine about the ball why don't both teams have a wet to damp
rag in the dugout and have one of your subs wipe down the ball or balls between innings or would that be to much
to ask from a sub(NON PLAYER) if it is, here's a better idea get the umpire to do it.

Yankeesfan12,

Or SSUSA could address the issue with the ONLY ball on the market this is an issue with. There isn't a single other ball I've or anyone I know has ever seen with the issues with the Baden ball. We pay way too much damn money to use inferior products that we have to wash between innings. It's an effing safety issue, why are you defending using inferior products?

JOHNO8, The way I look at it and from what I've read your stuck with the BADEN ball according to SSUSA so I guess you need to "SUCK IT UP BUTTERCUP" and play ball. Don't forget to bring your wet or damp rags with you to wipe down the balls. Maybe if you ask nice SSUSA might supply the rags.

that's the exact type of answer I expect from someone like you. You're what's wrong with this sport, you never add anything beneficial to any discussion.

Ahhhhh Johnny are you upset now because you didn't get your way. What ever SSUSA what's to do there gonna do weather you like it or not. I'm not wants wrong with the sport, guys like you are, all you do is whine about about a lot of things that are out of your control.

We are gonna be stuck with this ball till there is a solution to the cheater bats(shaved bats) so like I said the rags. I have no idea what the answer is except get rid of the cheater bats and play ball with a different ball.

Morng folks..appears most players agree that present ssusa approved ball is ok, except for when it gets dirty, becoming less visible and creating a potential safety hazard for players. While the ball manufacturer hopefully addresses this issue,can we take some corrective action ourselves? Managers have gentleman's agreement to wipe down game balls at start of new inning to enhance safety of both team's players. When pitching,I always stick a rag in my waistband to wipe down the ball when it gets wet/dirty,same when I play out/inf. I let ump know what I'm doing before gametime,just in case they have a problem with it. Geo

Following up on 9 ball.
I reached out to Baden recently and this is their response:
Thank you for your email. The SPFIRESEN-01 is the preferred softball for SSUSA and other senior leagues. Currently the cover material is not changing. We appreciate your feedback, and I’ll forward it to our baseball/softball category manager.

NYGNYY,

That sounds about par for the course. I don't have time to go back and search way back but I could have sworn that after the first year that the Baden was used in Vegas we were told on this very forum by SSUSA moderators that Baden was working on a resolution for how badly the cover shows the dirt. Then a while later they said that Baden had fixed the issue and the newer cover was much better but nothing has gotten any better. So either I'm completely wrong or someone is lying about the cover being fixed or even addressed. It's sad because overall the performance of the ball is decent but with how badly the cover becomes so dirty is a big safety issue.

So,the consensus seems to be it's best to play when your balls are clean. Have fun this Season!