(updated 3/30/10) 2010 Summer Hitting Leagues (baseball and softball divisions)
Weekday Afternoons: June through mid-August (nights vary / flexible schedules) Pizza/Award Night: At end of season (8 Week Leagues)
The Summer Hitting League will meet throughout the week during early/mid afternoon hours. Since many players are still involved with their teams doing regular evening games and tournaments, we are going to try to schedule the Summer Hitting League at a time of day that is beneficial to all. With the early start time, players can use the hitting league games to get some extra batting practice in before their eveining games. Games will be held during a designated one-hour time slot between 3PM and 5PM each week. The Summer Hitting League is a great way to improve your hitting skills and stay on top of your game. Because batting practice is normally limited during team practices (and practice days decrease greatly once the season begins), the Summer Hitting League is a great way for players to keep their hitting skills sharp.
As always, if a player has a prior commitment on a scheduled league night and knows in advance that he/she cannot make it, he/she can make arrangements to come in and "pre-hit" at any available time PRIOR TO their scheduled game.
Baseball & Softball Coaches: We can tailor a specific league around your team and its game schedule. As a result, we can schedule your league on any night of the week that works best for your schedule (while openings exist). You can form an entire league with just the members of your team. With two-person hitting league teams, a typical ball team of 12 players can field 6 well-balanced hitting league teams. If we can match your team with another team around the same age, we can combine for a fairly large league with a substantial schedule. If you've got a spring/summer ball team and would like to learn more about our Hitting Leagues, please call us at (410) 590-3224.
Two Fall 2009 Hitting Leagues (both for softball) were in place this past year. On Tuesday nights a three-team league of 12U girls battled each week for league honors. On Friday nights, a six-team league of 14U girls battled too.
The Tuesday Night, 12U, Champions were Jael 416 (Jamie and Rachel). The Friday Night, 14U, Champions were the Polka Dot Penguins (Madison and Breanna).
2009 Summer Hitting League
The Summer Hitting League met every Tuesday evening from late-June through the mid-August. Games will be held during a designated one-hour time slot between 6PM and 9PM each week. Our 2009 Summer Hitting League had a total of 13 competing teams in the following three divisions: Baseball (11U), Baseball (8U), Softball (11U).
2008 Summer Hitting League - July 2 thru August 20, 2008
The Summer 2008 Hitting League has recently been completed with 13 participants; 6 girls and 7 boys. The league had three divisions; GIRLS 12U; BOYS 11U, and BOYS 15U.
We will be conducting a series of "walk-in" single-day Hitting Tournaments throughout the year on dates to be announced. The Hitting Tournaments will be held (usually) on Saturday mornings starting at 9:30 AM. They will be available in BOTH baseball and softball formats. Individual competition (rather than a team event) will be the format of these single-day tournaments. Each tournament will structured with multiple rounds, similar to that of the MLB All-Star-Game Home Run Derby competition. A qualifying round will be held and a pre-determined percentage of the top scorers from the qualifying round will move to the subsequent round. The total number of rounds in each tournament will be determined by the number of participants in each age group. Tournament entry fee will be $10 per person and will guarantee a minimum of five cycles (18 pitches per cycles) of hitting for baseball (90 pitches) or three cycles (30 pitches per cycle) of hitting for softball (90 pitches).
Inexpensive hitting practice time in a competitive environment will be available to all participants. Awards will be given to the top finishers in each age group. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HITTING LEAGUES:
Hitting Leagues will be scheduled for 6 to 10-week durations at times that will be announced throughout the year. Hitting leagues will be organized by age similar to the age divisions of youth baseball programs.Teams will consist of 1 to 3 members per team (with an option to designate 1 substitute) and will compete on a weekly basis against other teams in their age bracket.
Teams will rotate batters through their line-up and compete in a game style atmosphere. Singles (1 point), Doubles (2 points), Triples (3 points), Homeruns (4 points), and Outs (0 points) will be determined by the hitter's success at hitting targets marked within the hitting tunnels. An umpire will be assigned to each game to make judgement calls as to the actual result of the hit. The league schedule (which is determined AFTER sign-ups are completed) will state which team is home team and which team is visitor. Each team will decide on their own lineup. For example, a three member team would bat as follows; Batter 1 will hit in innings 1, 4, and 7. Batter 2 will hit in innings 2, 5, and 8. Batter 3 will hit in innings 3, 6, and 9. The batter who will represent his/her team each inning (based on the team lineup) is given one cycle (18 pitches) which constitutes their team's half of the inning. Games consist of 9 innings (as in regular baseball/softball) and are decided by total points scored. In case of a tie, extra innings will be played until a winner is decided (just like regular baseball). The batting lineup will remain the same as the team enters extra innings.
The object of these leagues is to provide a regularly scheduled practice opportunity in a competitive environment.This will serve the athlete in his/her development of their baseball/softball skills, teamwork, and sportsmanship.
Awards and trophies will be available for winning teams. A Hitting League Record Book will also be maintained to keep track of outstanding performances (i.e. most points per game by a team, most points scored in an inning by a batter, etc.). However, the emphasis will still be placed on participation, sportsmanship, and improvement.
Hitting League FAQs:
Q: What happens if my son/daughter misses a week due to illness or vacation? A: As the league progresses, each player will develop an "per game average", similar to that calculated in a bowling league. If a player is absent, a few points are deducted from their average and their team uses that "blind" score during their game that week. In the case where an absence is planned (i.e. vacation), the player (or entire team) may arrange to "pre-hit" and their scores will be used for that week's game. This can often be achieved by staying a little later during the week prior to a scheduled vacation week or making other arrangements with the league coordinator.
Q: How long does a game take? A: A typical game (without extra innings) will take about 50-60 minutes for baseball and 75 minutes for softball.
Q: How many pitches will each player get? A: Each player will bat a minimum of three innings per game. That's 54 pitches per game. In the case of a game going in to extra innings, more pitches will result but it may not be evenly distributed among all teammates.
Q: Does the batting order matter? A: Maybe. Some teams may want to put their best hitter up in the last inning so that hitter would bat in innings 3, 6, and 9. However, if the game goes in to extra innings, hitter #1 (the hitter that batted in the 1st, 4th, and 7th) would be up in the 10th inning. Hence, a little strategy may be needed in putting together your batting line-up.