Enter Re-Enter / Sub Controversy

Question
We were playing in an ASA event this past weekend and something took place and no one could give us a straight answer.  The Umpires could not agree, nor could the tournament director.  So for future reference here is the question:

Team X is Playing Team Y
Team X has a player we will call player A in the game.  They use player B as enter / re-enter for player A (player A re-enters).  Later in the game they use player B as a Sub for the same player A, and player A is deemed dead and player B must remain in the game.  Is this allowable?  Two umpires said yes, two said no, and the director went with the umpires that ruled yes, since they had more experience.  Just for future reference so if this occurs again we will have the correct answer.  

Answer
This is a great question.  Nothing can be more confusing to teams and umpires than legal and illegal substitutions.  Proper umpire lineup card management should prevent such confusion.

Let's get into the meat of it!

ASA defines a substitute as, 揂ny member of a team's roster who is not listed as a starting player, or a starting player who reenters a game厰

Here is an example of some systematic substitutions that are legal.  Note that when I say 搒ubstitute?I refer to lineup card substitutions not defensive fielding changes.

Player A starts the game.

Player B is substituted in for Player A.  (Player A has been replaced once.  Player A is now on the bench.)

Player A reenters the game for Player B.  (Player B has been replaced once.  Player B is now on the bench.)  The key word is REENTERS, a player may only REENTER ONCE!

Player B reenters and is substituted in for Player A.  (Player A has been replaced twice.  Player A is now on the bench.)

Player A has already REENTERED once and can no longer come back and play in the game.  You can be substituted and come back once and that is it!  Another note; if Player B is substituted for again, Player B is done for the game.

ASA 2006 Official Rules of Softball Rule 4, Section 5 covers this exact rule for future reference.

An excellent resource as to lineup card management for umpires is located here http://www.cactusumpires.com/pdf/lineup-management-ASA-NFHS.ppt

Thanks for the question!