T-Ball Baseball – Ages 4-7: The Hessville Little League T-Ball Program consists of teams of 9-12 players and teaches kids the beginning fundamentals of baseball. Teams typically play 1 game per week on average and typically have 1 practice per week. This level of play is geared towards fun, building friendships, and learning how to work as a team.
Minor League (Coach Pitch) - Ages 6-8: The Coach Pitch program is for players who are ready to transition from T-Ball to competitive baseball. Players typically enter this division at age 7 or 8 but those who have already mastered T-Ball can come into Coach Pitch as early as 6 years old. The Coach Pitch (or C-League as it is called) focuses on teaching players how to bat and field in real game scenarios. The games will move quicker and players will begin learning proper throwing mechanics and begin working on the fundamentals that will help them succeed in the higher divisions. Practices will typically be longer and there will be more games then they played in the T-Ball division.
Minor League (Player Pitch) – Ages 8-10: Minor League (Player Pitch) focuses on the kids beginning to play the game with limited coach interaction during the game. Most players at the Minors level are ages 9 or 10. This league begins teaching the players new baseball rules and fundamentals including stealing, bunting, and proper baserunning. Typically at this league level players will begin focusing on positions that benefit the team and becoming specialized in certain positions based on the need of the team.
Major League – Ages 9-12: The Majors division is the highlight of Little League Baseball. This is the division that competes annually on tv during the Little League World Series. Most players in this division are 11 or 12 years old. This division focuses highly on player development and typically a set position is established for players at this age. Pitching typically gets more development in this division and players begin learning new game elements such as the infield fly and drop third strike rule. Teams typically practice longer and have more games then they did when they were in the minor divisions.
Intermediate 50/70 – Ages 11-13: The intermediate division begins getting players ready for "the big field". During this league players will play on bases that are 10 feet further away then they were during their earlier age play. This will allow them to begin learning lead offs and pick offs before moving up to the larger field. These games begin seeing faster pitching speeds as well as more opportunities for Home Runs. We recommend that all players moving up to Juniors or Seniors get at least one year of experience at the 50/70 field size.
Junior League– Ages 12-14: The Junior league moves up to a larger field. The players will begin playing on a full size baseball field. They will begin learning how to improve their skills while learning a larger field. Typically players have dedicated positions on the team at this point of baseball. Pitching will get slightly faster and steals and pickoffs will become far more common in this division. Games for this division are typically played at Hessville Park.
Senior League – Ages 13-16: The Senior League continues building on the skills learned in the Junior division. Pitching becomes faster and far more accurate at this age level. Practices focus heavily on positional training and setting players up for success in High School and potentially College baseball.