LAYBS offers a diverse range of Baseball programs for both boys and girls ages 5-12 in several divisions. Tee Ball is designed for beginners, then kids will transition through Rookie (Machine Pitch, formerly known as "Farm"), Minor B (kid/Coach pitch), Minor A (kid pitch all season), and finally reach Majors, where we move the basepaths back from 60' to 70' (and pitchers mound from 46' to 50') to support leadoffs & stealing anytime, and running on dropped third strikes (i.e. "real" baseball rules). LAYBS now bats the entire roster each game with free defensive substitution in all divisions, including Majors, so no longer will some kids be limited to only one at bat each game like in Little League and Pony programs.
In Spring seasons, from mid-February through mid-June each team in every division except Tee ball plays two games per week, one on Saturday and one on a weeknight (Monday through Thursday). Tee Ball plays one game per week on Saturdays only. There are no games on Fridays or Sundays for Spring season. Most teams will practice once or twice a week as well. Sign up for Spring season before November 2 and receive a $15 discount off the regular registration fee, which is lower than most local programs. If you miss that date, you may still sign up anytime through January 17th.
We also offer Fall Sunday league baseball programs for all baseball divisions except T-ball. Fall Baseball is a 10-game season between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, has no practices, and plays games on Sundays only with a maximum 2 hour time limit. Our Fall Ball program is designed to give kids a chance to maintain baseball skills in an instructional environment while still having their schedule free to participate in other youth sports programs and activities of choice during the offseason. We do not keep scores or standings in any division, and we focus on teaching the fundamentals of the game and having fun. This is an ideal opportunity for kids to begin a transition to the next level of play to see if they are ready to make the move up during the following Spring season. The level of competition is significantly lower in all divisions of Fall Ball than it typically is during the regular Spring season, and many kids may choose to stay down in Spring in the division they played in the previous Spring.
Program registration is based on league age eligibility. The cutoff dates for age eligibility determination for Baseball are defined as the child's age as of April 30th of each year. Note that Fall Ball age eligibility is based on league age in the following year, as Fall Ball is intended as a trial for the next level of play. Any child who is between 5 and 12 years old on April 30th of the applicable year is eligible to participate in one or more of our Baseball programs.
To determine your child's official league playing age and program eligibility for our Baseball programs, you can download an age chart in PDF format below, or click here to access an age calculator for Baseball on the Little League International website. Remember that for Fall eligibility, simply add one year to the age listed in the chart for Spring of the same year.
Click here to download the Baseball Age Eligibility chart
Baseball is a high-skill game requring a higher degree of athleticism than most youth sports programs. At LAYBS we realize that some children simply don't possess the physical athleticism that others do, yet we believe they still deserve the opportunity to experience the joys of successes in the game of baseball just as much as more athletically gifted children. Furthermore, some children may not begin playing organized baseball until an older age than many kids. We wish to provide a program that can be fun and rewarding for all players, no matter what their skill level, experience, and degree of athleticism, without putting anyone at risk of injury by playing in a division that is inappropriate for their abilities. Consequently, we allow a diverse range of ages in each division to accommodate such concerns. If you feel your older child has neither the experience nor the skill set to play with others their age, please make a point of signing them up in the lowest division for which they are eligible by age. They may still be selected for a higher division if their evaluation indicates they are appropriate at that level, but, in such a situation, your approval will be sought to move them up to a higher division than the one in which they are registered.