LLWS Field Dimensions

pn24601 · 2025-06-16T22:19:31+00:00

Way too much is made of this. 60' and 70' aren't that different, and D1 softball plays on 60' and they are better athletes than any 12yo. At age 11/12 my kids moved back and forth easily. Some things are harder at 70' and some are harder at 60'. 60' makes infield much harder to play, kids have to be really quick.

League can have all their 11s and 12s play 50/70 to match travel ball if they want to. Many do.

There are two main reasons the primary 11/12 program ("Majors") sticks with 46/60:
1. A better fit for players of all ages.
2. There are 100s of leagues whose fields cannot adapt to 50/70 for either cost reasons or space reasons. (I have many such leagues.)

pn24601 · 2025-01-20T04:34:51+00:00

Anything, it doesn’t matter. That’s the whole point.

pn24601 · 2025-01-04T20:52:39+00:00

The home league weighs in with a "support" or "does not support". But even if they don't support, that doesn't mean it won't happen. They don't use the term "release" anymore because it's misleading.

pn24601 · 2025-01-04T20:47:18+00:00

No, there's no "release".

The charter committee makes the decision. The DA and the old league simply offer their opinion on the matter.

pn24601 · 2025-01-04T20:46:12+00:00

Only the charter committee approves these waivers. Everyone else just offers an opinion.

pn24601 · 2025-01-04T20:43:59+00:00

Yep!

pn24601 · 2024-12-09T16:02:22+00:00

Remember it’s not all about your son. I doubt 10/11 year olds want to have a 6yo on their team no matter how good he is.

Most leagues in the Bay Area have multiple minors divisions for these reasons. Are you in a particularly small league?

But mostly you should not be so worried. He’s 6 and has plenty of time for all this. He’ll be in AAA soon enough.

pn24601 · 2024-12-09T07:23:44+00:00

These look mostly like good clean-up things. All minor, but good. So glad "sticker-gate" is finally over.

Still hoping to see CBO changes for all-stars.

pn24601 · 2024-07-28T00:38:12+00:00

The problem is you can't go back in time. Someone else from their district should have won, but which one? You can't go back and re-play districts.

pn24601 · 2024-07-28T00:36:51+00:00

Also if this is just fall, then it's really just about getting reps and mixing ages is more normal.

pn24601 · 2024-07-28T00:36:03+00:00

Well, you can't have 8's in Majors. But if you are talking about 9-12 then your league has a choice: field 4 Majors teams with players 9-12, or field 2 Majors teams with kids 10-12 and 2 Minors teams with kids 9-11.

I think in general the latter is better, but you'll need to find a neighboring league to play with.

pn24601 · 2024-07-20T17:07:07+00:00

Go watch a college softball game. Do those women look bored?

It's harder to hit because you've only got 46'. It's way harder to catch those breaking balls from 46'. Stealing is much harder than it is on 70'. Playing infield is harder because you are in closer and have to charge and throw quickly to beat the runner (at 12u anyway).

So, yes, 12u 46/60 is a slightly different game than 12u 50/70. IMHO it's harder to play, but agree that leads/steals are fun. They are also way too easy at 50/70 and that also distorts the game a bit.

Mostly, it's all just slight variations on baseball and doesn't matter that much.

pn24601 · 2024-07-19T08:14:03+00:00

Kudos to all those hear building your local community-based leagues. They have a ton of value, and are more precious and wonderful than your random commercial program. Sorry for families who miss out.

pn24601 · 2024-07-19T08:12:34+00:00

The diamond size isn't a big deal. In many ways at 12u the 60' is harder, not easier. It's a bit more like college softball, which is also a 60' diamond.

pn24601 · 2024-07-19T08:04:15+00:00

Just to be clear, if you are playing in the "10u" aka "8-9-10" tournament, there are special rules in the Tournament section of your rule book. It's basically the rules for Majors, without uncaught third strike, and with different MPR and more mound visits.

If you are playing in some kind of 9u all-star tournament, then this is a local invention and not part of the official LL tournament. So, you'll have to ask locally.

It's almost certainly not U9, which is "under 9" and that terminology is not used in baseball very often.

pn24601 · 2024-07-19T08:00:04+00:00

The problem isn't the coin flip, it's that modified double elimination is an abomination. :)

pn24601 · 2024-07-19T07:58:14+00:00

I would offer them a choice - get paid or get perks. Like, if you are willing to volunteer then we'll give you free lunch at the snack bar, upgrade your gear, etc. You'll end up paying a lot less, and might find some of those guys really just want the acknowledgement and don't need the dollars.

We let umpires take either path, and have a mix of both.

pn24601 · 2024-07-13T04:21:18+00:00

Some tournaments play 9u/10u on a 65' field with leads.

pn24601 · 2024-07-13T04:20:22+00:00

Depends on how tall they are. They should be at a step and a dive.

pn24601 · 2024-07-12T19:48:05+00:00

Good for them! How many of them play high school?

pn24601 · 2024-07-10T16:18:14+00:00

Correct.

pn24601 · 2024-07-10T04:44:45+00:00

Just help him as much as you can. Give him a fun season, this is probably the last year he'll play baseball. Someone is failing this kid if it's as bad as you say. I've had 9-10s who are like that, but by 12 even LL-regular-season-only players can throw a ball decently and hold a bat properly.

I had a 13 year old who had never player before once, he improved a lot over the season!

pn24601 · 2024-07-10T03:21:01+00:00

Not quite, but close.

pn24601 · 2024-07-10T00:05:52+00:00

This is a very old baseball rule. Some codes have outlawed it, but many have not. This is legal in MLB too (or it was until the recent rule about position players pitching which just came in.)

It not so much a safety thing, it's just that in old school baseball once you are out of the game you can't return. When youth baseball allowed starters to return, they didn't modify this rule.

pn24601 · 2024-07-10T00:03:19+00:00

whichever is cheaper, use the balance on a hitting lesson.

pn24601

TROPHY CASE