Fairborn Little League: My Site News

For more information about Challenger Division sign ups, please call Gregg Gustafson @(208) 590-3110 or send an email to gusonthemove@hotmail.com.

The Challenger Program was established as a division of Fairborn Little League Baseball to enable boys and girls with physical and mental disabilities, ages 5-18 or the completion of high school, to enjoy the game of baseball along with the millions of other children who participate in this sport worldwide.

District 8 is looking for children in Fairborn and surrounding communities who would like to participate in our Challenger Program. If you have a child with special needs or know someone that does, please encourage them to contact me for more information.

Interested in Being a Challenger Buddy?
One of the benefits of having a Challenger Division is that it encourages the use of "buddies" for the Challenger players. The buddies assist the Challenger players on the field, but whenever possible, encourage the players to bat and make the plays themselves. However, the buddy is always nearby when needed. We encourage the children in our regular little league program, over the age of 10, to play an active role in our Challenger program by becoming a buddy...if your child is interested, please email me at the address listed above with your child's name, address, phone number age. The buddies will be notified before the season begins with all the necessary information on their challenger player.

Thanks for making the game even more special for our special participants!

 Gregg Gustafson, Coordinator of the Challenger Division

• A pitch limit for pitchers league age 7-8 has been added, with a maximum of 50 pitches per day. Previously, the limit for these ages was the same as for pitchers who were league age 9-10.

• A provision has been added that prohibits a player who has been removed as a pitcher in a game from playing the position of catcher for the remainder of that day if the pitcher has pitched more than 40 pitches that day. This was a recommendation of Dr. Andrews and Dr. Fleisig, and is intended to further prevent overuse injuries. The position of catcher, according to Dr. Andrews and Dr. Fleisig, has the second-most overuse injuries, which can be acerbated by moving from pitcher to catcher in the same day. (However, moving from pitcher to any of the other seven positions, or from catcher to pitcher, apparently does not cause the same concerns.)

• Pitchers league age 16 and under who deliver 41 or more pitches in a game must also have a game of rest, in addition to the number of days rest prescribed. Pitchers league age 17-18 who deliver 51 or more pitches in a game must also have a game of rest, in addition to the number of days rest prescribed. This enhancement is designed to help ensure that teams develop more pitchers, and to help ensure that scheduling anomalies do not result in undue advantages for some teams.

• The “automatic” intentional walk was removed. If a pitcher wishes to intentionally walk a batter, he/she must do so by pitching four pitches intentionally outside the strike zone that are not struck at by the batter, and are called “balls” by the umpire. All such pitches will count in determining that pitcher’s pitch count.

The complete regular season pitching regulation for baseball may be found at: http://www.littleleague.org/media/RS_Pitching_Regulation_Changes_Baseball_2008.pdf

**IMPORTANT PITCHING RULES CLARIFICATION**

This clarification is in response to several questions submitted by coachs and comes from Little League Headquarters.

"Under "No" circumstances may a player pitch in consecutive games after throwing more than 40 pitches in the previous game." 

This means that rainouts and canceled games "do not" count as a pitchers "game of rest" with one exception. A game that is rained out after at least one complete inning of play will count as a "game of rest". This rule was instituted in part, to force the coaches to develop more pitchers.

The Major and Minor League Pitch Count Availability will be updated on the Menu daily! Rainouts and cancellations will delay the eligibilty date for pitchers that require a "game" of rest. So, make sure that you recheck your eligibility dates if you are rained out.  The Pitch Count is now a downloadable file due to space limitation on the Pitch Count page. If it is not available, it is in the process of editing.

MINOR AND MAJOR LEAGUE COACHES ARE REMINDED THAT THEIR PITCHING ROTATION WILL BE SEVERLY AFFECTED DUE TO BACK TO BACK GAMES FOLLOWING RAINOUTS. MAKE SURE THAT YOU REVIEW THE PITCH COUNT AVAILABILITY ON THE MENU AND THE PITCHING REGULATIONS AT THE LINK BELOW IN ORDER TO AVOID A POSSIBLE FORFEIT. http://www.littleleague.org/media/RS_Pitching_Regulation_Changes_Baseball_2008.pdf