The BABA Dugout: Bay Area Baseball Association Blog

Aug 17 2009

New to Select Baseball?

Published by kfarrell at 12:57 pm under Tutorials

The BABA website has a lot of great information for new managers starting up their own teams, but what about first-time select baseball parents or those who are just interested in what all the hype is about?

What is Select Baseball?

Select baseball is different than Little League in several ways. Generally, it is more competitive. The fields and bats are larger, and many teams play year round. This article lists the major points about select baseball.

Independent Teams

Little League teams are formed from a common draft from a pool of players, for the most part on a single day. In select baseball, teams are independent and hold their own tryouts, with varying criteria for selection. Select teams can drop and pick up new players throughout the season. The major select baseball sanctions (such as Nations Baseball and USSSA) do have roster restrictions in place that specify how many players can be dropped and added and when and what level, or class, of player can be added to which teams.

Select teams choose their own team names, design and order their own uniforms, decide where and how often they want to play, have varying fee structures and fundraising habits.

Larger Fields and Big Barrell Bats

For most age divisions, the fields are larger in select baseball. All age divisions are allowed to use big barrell bats (2¾ inch in USSSA; no bat restrictions in Nations Baseball). The field sizes are as follows:

7U-8U

40′/60′

9U-10U

46′/65′

11U-12U

50′/70′

13U-14U

54′/80′

14U-18U

60′/90′ (14U can play either 54′/80′ or 60′/90′.)

Open Bases, Coach Pitch, and Kid Pitch

Little leagues play closed-base baseball (no stealing) until age 13. Select players begin playing open bases at 9U. Both major sanctions do technically have a machine pitch division for the younger ages, but for all practical purposes, at least in this area, there are no machine pitch select tournaments or leagues. From 4U-6U is tee ball, 7U-8U play coach pitch, and 9U and above are live arm (kid pitch).

Balks & Dropped Third Strikes

Select baseball rules follow MLB rules much more closely than the Little League rules do. For example, in Little League, because runners cannot steal, pitchers are not subject to the balk rule. In select baseball, balks are called for all levels of kid pitch (though warnings are given at the 9U and 10U levels, while they are still learning to pitch). Also, batters can run to first base (if it is unoccupied) if the catcher drops the third strike. They can be thrown out, but if they make it, they have reached first on a strike out!

Coaching

Some select teams are coached by parents, some are coached by paid professionals, and some are a combination of the two. Fees vary greatly among teams, but generally the professionally coached teams have higher dues and less or no fundraising.

Traveling

Many, actually most, teams play in out-of-town tournaments on a regular basis. The National Championship or World Series at the end of the season is often out of state.

How do I Get on a Team?

As stated earlier, select teams are not formed by a draft, they hold their own individual tryouts. There are several area lists where teams post tryout notices and a couple where players can also notify teams that they are available. The fall is the best time to get on a team because roster rules are loose and players can play on multiple teams. In the spring (beginning in February), teams begin to have their rosters frozen, and players can only be on one frozen roster. For more information on Nations Baseball roster rules, see Roster Issues on the BABA website. For USSSA roster rules, refer to the USSSA baseball by-laws on www.usssa.com.