What do we offer?

Southern Lehigh Youth Baseball Inc. offers a wide variety of baseball for various age and skill levels.  Players must be at least “baseball age” 4 1/2 years old and cannot be older than 16 years of age.  So what is baseball age?  Baseball age is the players age as of August 31st each year.  So if a player has a birthday in the month of July and in that month, the player turns 8 years old, he is baseball age 8, even though the player will be 7 years old when playing the prior April and May.  Our fields are located mainly at Living Memorial Park in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania.  We also utilize fields at the Upper Saucon Township Park located in Center Valley, Pennsylvania.

We offer a recreation baseball league in both the spring and fall seasons.  Registration for the spring season usually begins in December and runs through January 31st.  Teams will be formed in the beginning of March and will begin to practice as soon as the weather breaks and we can get onto the fields.  The spring season runs until the 1st or 2nd week in June.  Registration for the fall season will begin in the beginning of June and runs through July 31st.  Once teams are formed, play will begin and will run until mid to late October.  The recreation baseball league is for all ability levels.  Please see the “Divisions” section of our website for a breakdown of divisions and what is offered.  Fees are listed in the “Registration” section.

We are a chartered organization with Little League International and compete for a chance to play in the Little League World Series.  The teams are comprised from the “All-stars” of each division.  “Minors All-stars” is for players 10 and under.  “Majors All-stars” is for players 12 and under.  “Juniors All-stars” is for players 14 and under.  In order to be eligible for an all-star team, players must play in at least 60% of their recreation league games.  The  recreation league coaches in each division vote for the players that will make up the team.  The coaching staff of each all-star team also has two “coaches picks” to fill team needs.  Teams are permitted to begin practicing after June 1st of each year.  The All-stars season begins with the Pennsylvania District 20 Tournament which usually begins the last weekend in June.  The tournament lasts approximately two weeks with games being played every other day.  If we are fortunate enough to win this tournament, we move on to the Pennsylvania Section 6 tournament, followed by the Pennsylvania State Tournament, followed by the Northeast Regional Tournament, followed by the Little League World Series located in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.  Each tournament is double elimination.  The team must win each tournament in order to move on to the next.  Once eliminated, the quest for the Little League World Series ends.  The only fees associated with playing on an All-Star team would be individual family travel expenses incurred based on the team’s success.

In addition to our recreation league, we also offer Summer Tournament Teams at 8U, 9U, 10U, 11U, and 12U age levels.  Age is determined by the player’s age on April 30th of each year.  So a player who is 9 years old cannot turn 10 years old prior to April 30 to play on the 9U team.  Players must play for their specific age group, meaning they cannot “play up”.  The only exception to this rule is the player’s school grade.  Players born between May 1st and August 31st have the option to play for either the older and the younger team.  For example, a player who turns 10 years old on June 1st has the option to play for either the 9U or 10U team.   Teams are selected through a tryout.  We try to have at least two tryouts each year.  Tryouts normally take place in mid March.  In order to be eligible to tryout, players must also be registered for the spring recreation league and must participate in at least 60% of their recreation league games.  Teams are allotted practice time each Wednesday and on the weekends.  Fields are reserved for our recreation league teams on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays.  Summer Tournament teams participate in 3 to 5 tournaments beginning Memorial Day weekend.  Some teams also play in a Sunday spring league which normally runs from the beginning of April until the end of May.  Most teams play in tournaments every other weekend, but there are occasions where tournaments are played on consecutive weekends.  Some times tournaments start as early as Thursday of a given week, but normally begin on Friday evenings.  Tournaments normally end on Sundays.  Tournaments normally have a 3 game minimum.  Teams travel to various locations and have included tournaments at the beach in Maryland and New Jersey, the Big Show in Leesport, PA, and the Ripken Experience in Aberdene, MD.  Some tournaments are also played locally within an hour or so of our complex.  Tournament schedules and locations vary from team to team and is determined by each team’s coaching staff.  Team fees are based on the expenses incurred by the team. The total expenses are then divided by the number of players on the team.  We have been quite fortunate with most teams in that we have been able to offer players the opportunity to play tournament team baseball at ZERO cost.  We are able to do this because each team will normally host its own tournament at our complex.  The proceeds from hosting this tournament is normally enough to cover the team’s expenses.  Parents are required to assist with running the tournament whether it be prepping fields, working in the snack stand, or completing other volunteer tasks.

We offer a similar experience for our older players who are at least 13 years old, however the tournament experience tends to end at this age.  Our 13U and 14U teams participate in the Lehigh Valley Junior Connie Mack League.  Our 15 and 16 year old participate in the Lehigh Valley Connie Mack League.  Eligibility requirements for our 13U and 14U teams are the same as our 8U-12U teams.  Eligibility for our Connie Mack and Legion Teams is that the player must play or have played on the High School Baseball Team.  If/when open positions exist, players from our Senior recreation league may be invited to join.  Fees for these teams are also based on team expenses and are normally between $150.00 and $200.00.

Thank you for taking the time to inquire about our league.  If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us by e-mail at Southernlehighbaseball@gmail.com.