1) The only division you will see significant changes in will be our Majors Division. We'll now play on a 50ft (pitching mound) / 70ft (basepaths) field instead of the Little League 46/60 field and the rules will be more consistent with Major League Baseball, including the ability to lead off from bases and steal. This change provides several advantages to our players.

It'll provide our older players the chance to play on a bigger field prior to moving to the full size 60/90 field when moving to school ball or Babe Ruth baseball. Moving straight from the smaller 46/60 field to the largest field is often hard to get used to for the average player and can be frustrating. This "mid-size" field allows our players to gradually grow into the full size field.

The players will be facing pitching from 4 ft further away which gives hitters more reaction time. Each year we have a handful of bigger, stronger pitchers that are overpowering from 46 ft away and in some cases are a hazard to some of our smaller players. Moving the pitching rubber back 4 ft evens the playing field a bit and gives the hitter more of a chance for contact which creates a more exciting game.

It's more fun! Players can lead and steal like their favorite MLB players they watch on Television!

2) All other Divisions (Intermediate/Farm/Juniors/Youth) field size and playing rules will remain consistent with prior years. The Tri-Village Board reviews our Policy Guide each year and tweaks the rules a bit, but no major playing rule changes will be dictated by the switch to Cal Ripken Baseball at our younger levels.

3) Our Age Charts will change. Previously under Little League rules your League age was determined by your age on August 31st of the year. Under Cal Ripken Baseball that date shifts back to April 30th! This means that a number of kids that "aged out" of Tri-Village last year will get a chance to play another year! Players that turned 12 between May 1st and August 31st last year will be eligible to play another year with their friends before moving onto Babe Ruth! This shift provides a seamless transition to Babe Ruth as their age charts coincide with Cal Ripken Baseball. The Cal Ripken Age Chart can be found at https://www.baberuthleague.org/.../baseball-age-chart.aspx.

4) Our All-Star season will now be played in the Cal Ripken Baseball League. Instead of having at most 4 teams in our District advancing tournaments (and some cases 2), we now have up to 10 other teams including Guilderland, North Colonie, Ballston Spa, etc. Additionally, Cal Ripken Baseball runs State Tournaments for all age groups down to 7u. Little League only offers smaller District tournaments with no chance for advancement for 9u and below.

Rest assured this decision was not taken lightly. Little League has been a part of Tri-Village from the beginning and provided amazing memories to countless players. However, the Board felt it was in the best interest of the Bethlehem Youth Baseball Community to investigate the possibility of chartering with Cal Ripken Baseball and created an exploratory committee that did so. After a thorough discussion the Board ultimately voted to make the change for the 2024 season.

We have a lot of work to do to facilitate the changeover. One of the most visible will be the renovation of our Majors field at Magee from a 46/60 field to a 50/70 field. We strive to have that complete prior to the start of the season. We'll also be updating the website and our Policy Guide to reflect the changes, and this will occur over the next couple of months.

Lastly, be on the lookout for registration opening in the next couple of weeks. We're beyond excited to begin this new chapter at Magee and can't wait to get the kids back out on the field.

If anyone has any questions or concerns, please feel free to email us at [email protected].

Thank you,

Sarah Matrose

Tri-Village Baseball President