TarponChaser said:ABATTBQ87 said:TarponChaser said:ABATTBQ87 said:Mr.Bond said:
if LL would adapt and play real baseball it could retain more of its talent. Unfortunately it does absolutely nothing to prepare a young man for high school baseball. move to 70 ft bases, open them up and move the fences back 40 ft for 12u
The distance between base paths on fields for 12-year-olds and below in baseball and in all divisions of softball is 60 feet. A local Little League board of directors may opt to use a 50-foot diamond in the Tee Ball divisions. The distance in all divisions of baseball for 13-year-olds, is up to 90 feet, with a local league option to shorten the distance to 75 feet for Junior League Baseball and 70 feet for Intermediate (50/70) Baseball Division for regular season play.
Not following what you're saying- USSSA, Perfect Game, PONY, etc all go to 50/70 at 11U & 12U. 13U is mostly 54/80 while some play 60/90. 14U and up is the big boy field at 60/90.
Thats from Little League operating manual regarding field dimensions
And I think most of us are saying that those field dimensions are too small for 12U. Ironically, going to 60/90 at 13U is too big for most 13U.
During my time as a LL president I was frustrated with the field dimensions, as TBall to Majors played on the same field, and then we threw our 13 year olds to the HS field to play juniors.
When the 50/70 division was introduced in 2010 I volunteered our league to participate, and we used out adult softball field, 275 ft to the foul lines, portable mound, and all dirt infield to play our games.
I also coached PONY teams, and found the 54/80 field dimensions to be acceptable for 13 and 14 year olds.
