Published: March 03, 2006 10:24 am      

Changes coming to Recreation baseball

Plans call for more competitive play for youngsters

After years of fielding complaints from players and parents about playing “real” baseball the Butts County Parks and Recreation Department announced last week that they are taking action.

For years, baseball participation has been a problem in Butts County. This season, the department hopes to put an end to those questions and comments by allowing the 11-12 year old baseball division to play more competitive baseball.

In 2006 the department will allow the 11-12 year olds to participate in the Dixie Youth Open division. Or, as many have newly phrased it, “real” baseball.

“What the open division will allow the kids to do is lead off bases, steal at will and everything else that you would see in baseball,” said Director Jim Herbert.

In order to accommodate the new transition the department has moved the 11-12 year olds from field B to field E. Field E was once used for adult softball, but has been used recently by soccer and football teams.

The field itself has also been through changes.

Recently, it was converted to an all dirt infield. The standard 65-foot distance between bases has moved back to 70 feet. The once 46-foot distance between the pitcher’s mound and home plate has also been moved further back to 50 feet and the 180 feet that separated home plate from the outfield fence has been moved to a distance that will vary from 200-220 feet.

This will be a trial season for the new improvements in 11-12.

“What we hope to do is to move this style of baseball from 11-12 this season to 9-10 next year and so on after that,” said Kenny Sims of the Butts County Parks and Recreation Department.

The 11-12 year olds won’t be the only age group experiencing new changes this Spring. What was once a combined division made up of 7-8 year olds will be split into each age having its own division. The seven year olds will play in their own league and continue to hit off a pitching machine, while the eight year olds will pitch to one another in their newly formed league.

Before people start worrying about players throwing their arms out at an early age, the department also announced that the eight-year-olds will make the transition slowly, as pitchers will only be able to face 10 batters per game.

Many coaches, parents and volunteers feel the department’s decision is a step in the right direction for the future of baseball. But according to Sims and Herbert the new transition is going to take time and effort from a lot of people.

“The parents are going to have to help in this, too,” said Sims as he addressed coaches during a meeting last Thursday. “Parents should be urged to work with their kids at home to help them prepare for the season.

Coaches will also have a chance to help the players before the 2006 season begins.

“This season every age group will hold six skill evaluation dates to prepare the players for the season,” said Herbert. “It’s mandatory that every player in every age group participates in at least three of the six evaluation dates. The evaluations will help us better access the players skills, teach basic fundamentals, recruit coaches and more importantly, get parents involved.”

The skill evaluations are a drastic improvement to the department’s program considering that for years players were only encouraged to participate in one evaluation session before the season began.

The first evaluation sessions for the upcoming season were held Monday. For more information on the changes and evaluation process contact the department at 77-775-8228.