What Is Fielder's Choice in Softball?

A fielder's choice is recorded when you reach base safely but only because the fielder elected to throw somewhere else — typically forcing out a runner ahead of you instead of taking the out at first.

You're standing on first base, but you're charged with an at-bat and no hit, so your batting average drops exactly as it would on a ground out. From the stat line's perspective the plate appearance was unproductive even though you're on base.

This trips people up when reconciling a scorebook: a team can have more runners reach base than its hit total suggests, and fielder's choice plus errors are usually the reason.