February 3, 2020
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb Youth Baseball League is undergoing changes.
With player registration beginning Saturday, February 8 President Casey Midgett has announced that the league is switching its affiliation to Cal Ripen/Babe Ruth and with it will come some modifications in the way the program is operated.
“We have switched affiliations this year and are now part of Cal Ripen/Babe Ruth baseball. The Cal Ripen part is for the younger kids and Babe Ruth is for the older ones but its all part of the same organization,” said Midgett”.
By being affiliated with Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth, Midgett said DeKalb County teams will have more opportunities during post season play.
“The local season we have here will be basically unchanged. We get to run it just like we normally do but after our regular season is over we will get to participate in the tournaments that Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth offer. Just like our high school plays in a district, we (youth baseball) will also play in a district. Our district will be us (DeKalb), Cookeville, Crossville, Livingston, Celina, and Jamestown. When the tournament starts it will be at the district level and if we do well enough we will go on past that to what we call the state which is really just a large region of teams. We will have an opportunity to play through there and go further even as far as their world series which is televised now. This will give our kids a little something more to look forward to,” said Midgett.
“What we have run into in the past is when we went to our tournaments we ran into a lot of travel teams and while we competed well it really was stacked against us although we took the best players from all of our teams in whatever respective leagues they were in and competed with those guys. We feel this will be a much better fit for us and give our kids a better opportunity to really succeed,” he continued.
The home field for the younger players will be at the Little League Park on Allen’s Ferry Road while the Joe L. Evins Park will serve as home to the new senior league team.
“We will be at the field on Allen’s Ferry Road, commonly known as the Little League field. Overall we will start with players ages 7-8 and up to 15 year olds this year. Our 7-8 year olds in the past have been a coach pitch team. One of the changes this year is we will not have a coach pitch league. It will be machine pitch for 7-8 year olds. We will have a machine doing the pitching instead of coaches doing that which is the way Cal Ripken is set up in the tournaments. We want to match that so our kids will be used to that type of pitching when we get there (tournaments) ,” said Midgett.
“We will have a 9-10 year old minor league which is the first level of kid pitch baseball and 11-12 year old kid pitch which is what we call major league. Something else we are really pushing this year is our 13-15 year old league. We call that our senior league. It is designed to fill that gap of kids that age who don’t have an option to play anywhere else. We will have some players in our senior league from the West School’s baseball team but we won’t start our season until their year is completed. Overall we are aiming for mid April to start our youth baseball league but as far as senior league it probably won’t start until late April or the first of May. We will play the senior league games at the Joe L. Evins field and they will have an opportunity to have an all-star team and advance like the rest of our teams,” said Midgett.
Age requirements are a bit different for Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth.
“In the past it was whatever age you were on January 1 that determined what level you played in. From now on it will be whatever age you are as of May 1. To make it fair to all everyone will go back in the draft this first year even if you are a returning player. An exception is we will allow the head coach to keep his player and he will have an assistant coach who will have his player as well but everybody else will go back into the draft to make it as fair as we possibly can for everyone,” said Midgett.
Registration fees will also increase.
“We have raised the registration fee from $40 to $65 per player plus $50 per additional player from the same family. It is actually a cost savings to people. In the past we have asked parents to either work the concession stand or to pay $30 to get out of working but this year no parent will have to buy out or work in the concession stand. We will pay other people to do that. If you bought out last year you will save $5 this year by us doing it this way”.
Midgett said improvements are underway and more are planned for the ballfields.
“We have some things in the works. A new scoreboard has come in and it will be put up at the Little League field and we will take down the old scoreboard there and put it at the Joe L. Evins field. We’re also working on the fields. We’re going to put in a dirt mound for the minor and major league teams and we will need some help to do that. We would like to build a batting cage. We have the pad poured for that and we’re one step away from being able to erect a shed out there where kids can practice when its raining or during the winter. We want to continue making improvements to the field where we can have a first class place to play. Its all about trying to better DeKalb County as a whole and start building that community pride,” added Midgett.
DeKalb Youth Baseball Signups will be February 8 at Northside Elementary School; February 15 & 22 at the County Complex Main Room; and February 29 at the UT Extension Office in the County Complex.
Registration fees are $65.00 per child and $50 for each sibling. Please bring proof of player age and proof of residency. Player ages determined by what age the player is as of May 1st.
Coach Pitch: 7-8 year olds
Minor League: 9-10 year olds
Major League: 11-12 year olds
Senior League: 13-15 year olds
Tryouts for all leagues will be Saturday, March 7
There will be no concession stand buyouts this year and no parents will be required to work them.
They accept debit/credit cards. Transaction fee applies.