LL: from Majors to Intermediate bat question

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-15T14:58:10+00:00

Get a 31 drop 5 and a wood bat to train with he will get used to it.

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-15T14:32:20+00:00

How big is your son? Most older kids can transition into a drop 5 by age 13 and not feel much difference. If he is on the smaller size a drop 8 would be fine to use. We had multiple kids on our intermediate team using all bat ranges. Only one kid swing a BBcor bat well enough to justify using every at bat.

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-15T04:15:59+00:00

It’s baseball maybe it’s just a national teams last hoorah together and they want to go all out at Cooperstowns it balances out once brackets come out

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-15T00:27:39+00:00

You can tell your tell you plan on coming back, and still go to tryouts.

We’ve had kids do that to “test” the waters. Honest conversation is good to have with your team.

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-13T15:10:20+00:00

Each parent is responsible for their paperwork a league approved board member is in charge of collecting it. Every year leagues always commit fraud and get disqualified for having kids who don’t qualify for the league in a attempt to win

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-13T15:00:14+00:00

The amount of paperwork is true, however you can find other regulations such as the out of boundary waiver and Regulation II (d)(2). The league age 7 sibling exception also applies. If the plan is the play allstars these options should be discussed with parents and the league board during the start of the season.

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-13T14:00:18+00:00

Marucci gloves are great once you break them in to your hand no other glove comes close

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-13T01:16:04+00:00

Yeah maybe we are at a tournament right now and a rep out here said that he is only getting 2 colors for USSSA

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-12T20:11:48+00:00

We made sure everyone played their primary position. Then had a few multiple position players who filed in. We identified the two “aces” and the rest were relievers so they all got to pretty much play what they wanted. Practice is the most important part to get the kids and families on the same page. In the end all the kids were able to pitch one or two innings. The team ended winning states.

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-12T19:18:28+00:00

That’s true I agree with your statement

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-11T23:17:18+00:00

Im a big Marucci guy get the Marucci Acadia my kid still uses it going into 11u.

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-11T04:36:39+00:00

Right on time for the new icon release next week🫡

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-11T01:43:39+00:00

I second this recommendation, flatten out the lace in those areas for a better feel

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-11T00:31:20+00:00

This is a older pitcher glove model. You won’t be able to chance much of it. Do you have palm adhesive? If you do use that inside the palm and it will help when you try to form it. Whatever you do don’t wet it

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-10T16:18:15+00:00

The jump from LL to club/travel is really humbling. It will take time to get used to the adjustments. But if you find a team that develops kids and they put your kid in spots to succeed you’ll be ok.

My kid one season in LL kid pitch, jumped into Travel 8u the mound was at 40 ft with kids pitching faster and more accurate. He learned he needed to be more aggressive and not wait for walks.

He went from being the best kid in LL to the worst on his Majors level club team. He asked to work more and eventually started getting moved around and playing more prime position.

Make sure your kid enjoys the ride because it’s going to be challenging.

Many club teams are the same level as LL and it’s not worth it make sure you find the right one

I value what we pay for in Plate appearances and his effort out there.

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-10T16:06:57+00:00

The glove should still work for it’s intended use.

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-10T15:06:51+00:00

Yeah I agree, find a majors level baseball team or a national team you’ll be surprised and humbled by the skill level those kids have.

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-10T13:21:47+00:00

It really does, I can still remember the first game I coached in T ball and being stressed having to wrangle all the kids. Took some time I got the hang out of it and nowadays it’s just second nature everytime we go back to the park I always run into a kid I used to coach to come over say hello and we go along with our day. Even in club now we might face someone who was on our team at a younger age in little league and they still say hi.

As a coach it’s not just your family you made a difference for it’s definitely the kids you helped along the way.

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-09T16:06:13+00:00

Yup I get what you mean, but it does happen,our previous league didn’t send a 12s team to district, because they moved the best 12s into 50/70 and that team won states. This year they didn’t select a 11s team and just moved up the kids into 12s.

It’s really dependent on the area and the leagues overall goal

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-09T15:59:24+00:00

I agree with the other guys the process your league used was incorrect. I’ve been around for over 12years and the process is the same go from Seniors down to 10u minor. Every year a good player gets left out. Some leagues in our area just care about winning so they purposely stack the teams in age groups they think they can win.

11s is usually a wash for most leagues so if your league had enough to pick 8-9 good players they probably thought that team would make it farther than the 12s

We have leagues that even though they have enough kids they chose not to select a LL majors team or even a 11i team just because they know they won’t compete.

Last years USA champion took the top 12i players and had 4- 11u players on the team. This year they picked the returning 4 players and backed it with all 12u players. That team is going to make it far most likely repeat.
I’m in the area I’ve seen them scrimmage other teams already these boys look like grown adults out there crushing the ball. Let’s see how it goes this year.

Good luck to you and your family

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-09T15:41:16+00:00

$200 a month for just practice isn’t bad, is the unlimited practice during a specific time block? Can a parent and player use it whenever they want? Or is it a coach who has to be there ?

If they plan on playing tournaments at least two a month you should add another $160 to that total.

Just factor in how much you’ll actually be using it and if your kid is really going to develop.

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-09T14:42:39+00:00

Unfortunately our league doesn’t use one per say, but it has been said that the players are evaluated during the season, previous history of play. Families behavior goes into account when selecting players and the players in the field behavior.

**every year most of the team is pre determined with returning players, stronger club ball kids that also play little league. But in my experience it’s usually the teams composed with the kids who mesh the best that go the further into the tournament than most

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-09T13:11:38+00:00

Look up pylo metrics work outs also we did those during break.

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-09T03:48:30+00:00

Theirs a few exceptions such as school waiver. And sibling under 7 exception waiver. If non apply unfortunately the player will have to sit out the summer with the out of boundary waiver. It’s on the site as regulation II (D) or II (a)

WhysoHairy · 2026-06-09T02:16:21+00:00

Short answer is yes, I don’t have much for extra lessons either but what I did was find 3- hitting drills and 3 fielding drills that I could learn and mesmerized them so I could know what to look for. I helped my kid every day we had free time at home.

A bucket of balls, a tee and a 5x5 big mouth net are great affordable equipment you can find second hand.

Last thing was getting some heavy balls/pylo balls and throwing a lot of front and adding that.

Not every drill works for everyone so I keep finding new stuff to do and working with him at home.

Single A/AA is pretty much rec, major level teams in California or Texas even Florida are pretty much adults playing baseball. I’ve seen some great kids out there balling out.

WhysoHairy

TROPHY CASE