NALL DIVISION OVERVIEW
If you're signing up for NALL baseball, here's a tip about how "league age" determines what division your child is eligible to play in: Whatever their age is on August 31st, that's what age they are considered for the spring and fall of that year. Here's a little more information about our divisions:
Tee Ball, ages 4-6: Kids get 6 attempts to hit the ball off of a tee. Emphasis is on learning the basics of baseball, including throwing, fielding grounders, positions, bases, etc.
Coach Pitch 1 (CP1), ages 5-7: Kids get 6 attempts to hit a tossed pitch. Pitcher is usually on a knee from 25 feet away (except for some of our older more experienced players who are preparing to move up to CP2). Tee Ball skills are carried forward and players begin to learn to catch thrown balls in this division as well. Baserunning is usually limited to one base at time, since fielders are still too young to throw all the way across the diamond.
Coach Pitch 2 (CP2), ages 6-8: Kids get 6 pitches or 3 swinging strikes (whichever comes first) to hit the ball. Coaches pitch from a standing position, 40 feet away. Base-running is more competitive, outs and game score being kept more closely than in lower divisions. Games are umpired by assistant coaches and team-provided volunteers and coaches work hard to limit disputes and focus on fostering a positive game experience (as in all of our divisions).
Minors, ages 8-10: Kids pitch for the first time in this division. Strike calls are usually fairly generous. Batters may not attempt to reach first base on a dropped third strike. There is usually a run limit of 4 runs per inning. Runners may not lead off until the pitched ball crosses home plate. Games are umpired by trained umpires.
Majors, ages 10-12: Same as minors, but dropped third strike is in effect. There is usually a 5-run limit per half-inning. Pitchers are sometimes more accurate than minors, but also throw harder. League-age 11 and 12-year-olds must play majors. All players registered for majors and minors will assess before they are drafted onto teams. Majors rosters are drafted before minors. Only very advanced 9-year-olds are selected for majors.
Intermediate, ages 11-13: The 50-70 field size is slightly bigger than minors. Dropped third strike is in effect. Pitchers will throw harder than in minors, but the mound is a few feet further back. The larger field size allows for a wider age range to play more safely together. The step up in field size will gradually prepare players for the full size 60-90 field they will play on in juniors and seniors. League officials will carefully and gradually work in game elements including leading off, pick-offs, balks, steals during the pitching motion, but the goal is to ensure pitchers first learn how to throw strikes early in the season before mixing in these pitcher distractions later in the season. Intermediate rosters are drafted first and then majors (if applicable), followed by minors rosters are set after that.
Juniors, ages 13-14: Players play on the "big" blue field (60-90) for the first time in Juniors. Interleague play with other local leagues is sometimes necessary if we don't have enough teams at NALL.
Seniors, ages 15-16: Our most seasoned and experienced division. This is the last chance for kids to play little league. Interleague play with other local leagues is sometimes necessary if we don't have enough teams at NALL.
You can read more about our local rules on our website: www.nallball.com and you can read more about Little League's age rules at https://www.littleleague.org/play.../determine-league-age/