Wisconsin District 4 Little League: Welcome

With the turning of the calendar to February 2010, LL baseball is right around the corner!  Within the next few weeks, leagues will begin to register players for the 2010 season.  The snow will soon be gone and try-outs and/or drafts will follow.  Most leagues will start games in late April or early May.

Defending district championships will be the all-stars from West Madison National LL in the 9-10 age division, Verona LL in the 11 year-old division, West Madison American LL at the Majors level, Verona LL at the Juniors level, and West Madison National LL at the Seniors level.  The players will be different this time around, but the competition and fun will certainly return.  Will a team be able to match last year's 15 and 16 year olds and their run all the way to the Senior League World Series?  Their unbelievable and memorable season provided excitement for players, coaches, parents and fans alike.

Check out the "News" and "Recent Tournament Champs" pages for more information about the West Madison All-Stars along with all of our district tournament champs and the post-season tournaments. 

Also be sure to check out the "News" page for important news items regarding the 2010 season.  In addition, there is information about our district coaches and umpire clinics.

District 4 Little League fans, this is your webpage!  We hope that it is your first home for information on Little League baseball in southcentral Wisconsin.  If there is anything you feel needs to be added or changed, please send an e-mail to jjkautza@charter.net.

Jeremy Kautza--Webmaster

If you need to contact someone from District 4:

Little League International has released some additional helpful information regarding the transition into the 2010 pilot program where 12 and 13 year-olds can play on a field with a 50 foot pitching distance and 70 foot basepaths.  The additional information provided addresses many of the common questions leagues have been submitting. 

Field Availability

One of the most common questions relates to field space. Many have pointed out that they do not have a field in their boundaries that could accommodate a 50-70 division.

However, they may not realize that the field is not required to be inside the league’s boundaries to be usable. For instance, if only one field is converted to 50-70 play in a given area, any chartered Little League could use that field to play 50-70 games, provided certain conditions are met as noted below.

The field does not need to be owned or operated by the local Little League. As long as the field meets Little League standards, the owner of the field permits the use, and the local Little League Board of Directors approves the use of the field, it’s acceptable. (In this case, Little League accident insurance would be in force. The owner of the field may ask to be named as an additional insured on the liability policy, but this is not required by Little League International.)

That would allow, for instance, some or all of the leagues in a given district to charter for the 50-70 Pilot Program in 2010, and play those games on a single field.

Another solution may be to convert an existing “standard” Little League field (a field with 46-foot pitching distance and 60-foot base paths) to a 50-70 field, but to allow that field to be used for BOTH divisions.

Such a conversion is possible. Little League International has provided a step-by-step tutorial on converting a field for dual use. It can be downloaded at:  http://www.littleleague.org/AssetFactory.aspx?vid=165073

Of course, a local league also can convert a 60.5-90 field to the smaller 50-70 size. However, doing so would require two separate pitching mounds. (A portable pitching mound can be used in regular season, but not tournament play.)

Regular Season and Tournament Play

For 2010, there will not be a separate level in the International Tournament for the 50-70 Pilot Program. However, local leagues and districts that are participating in the program will be able to organize tournaments using a Special Games Request Form.

Any player who participates in the pilot program during the regular season will be eligible to participate simultaneously in the Little League Division (for players ages 9-12) or the Junior League Division (12-14). Such a player will be eligible for selection to either age-appropriate International Tournament Team.

However, a player who participates solely in the 50-70 Pilot Program also will be eligible based on his/her age for selection to a team participating in the International Tournament (only for the 2010 season as a part of this pilot program) under guidelines established for player eligibility.

Here are some additional options available:

• Leagues will be allowed to operate under interleague play and combined teams. However, players will only be eligible for tournament in the league where they reside.
  
• Leagues will be allowed to structure the 50-70 Pilot Program so that their typical season is conducted, for example, on Monday through Friday. Then on Saturday and Sunday, leagues could offer the pilot program to players who wish to participate. All pitching guidelines apply.
  
• Participating leagues (and districts with participating leagues) will be permitted to organize tournaments using a Special Games Request Form for players in the 50-70 Pilot Program. Players may participate in both Special Games and the International Tournament under guidelines established in the Baseball Rulebook.

Rules

In the 50-70 Pilot Program, ONLY players who are league ages 12-13 will be eligible in 2010.

Additionally, base runners will be permitted to lead off in the 50-70 Pilot Program (requiring pitchers to hold runners on base), runners may attempt stealing at any time, and head-first sliding is permitted. In the Little League division, runners cannot leave the base until the ball reaches the batter, and sliding must be feet-first unless the runner is retreating to a base.

Also for the 50-70 Pilot Program – unlike the Little League division – the batter becomes a runner on a dropped third strike, the bat can have a diameter of 2 5/8 inches, and the on-deck batter is permitted.

The fence distance in the 50-70 Pilot Program is up to the local league to decide. It is recommended that the distance be at least 200 feet, but not more than 300 feet.

In the 50-70 Pilot Program, the height of the pitcher’s plate, in relation to the level of home plate, is eight inches.

A free clinic for District 4 coaches will be held at Edgewood HS on Sunday, March 21 from 1-3pm.  The clinic is open to all District 4 coaches and registration is not necessary.

Tom Young from Madison West LL will be facilitating the clinic.  New rules for 2010 will be addressed along with practice organization tips.  Chris McKinght, the general manager at Hitters Sportsplex in Middleton, will also be on hand providing his expertise on hitting and pitching and will demonstrate several drills that can be used with your players in practice situations.  Chris is also the manager of the Texarkana Gunslingers and a former college coach.  His ideas will transform your practices for the better!

The clinic will also provide information on providing a safe environment for players, along with first aid tips should a player be injured. 

Rob Ruhle, WI-4 District Umpire Coordinator, recently announced that the District 4 Umpire Clinic will be held from 1:00-3:30 on March 21, 2010 at Edgewood High School.  The clinic will feature several umpires from the district staff as instructors, many of which have umpired in Regional Tournaments and even a LL World Series.

The clinic will be held in the high school gymnasium.  There is no need to register and all umpires are welcome.  Instruction will be tailored toward the beginning volunteer umpire, but those who have been umpiring for their local leagues in any capacity are invited to attend.  Participants are asked to dress for activity and if possible to bring a baseball glove.

If you have questions, please contact the District 4 Umpire Coordinator, Rob Ruhle.

“We have seen more requests for the intermediate-size field recently,” Patrick Wilson, Little League Vice President of Operations, said. “We are constantly looking for ways to provide more flexibility and to respond to the needs our local leagues. For those leagues with the ability to create a new field for this program, or to modify an existing field, we hope this will be another way to provide an enjoyable experience for the families in their community.”

For more information, click on the headline to go to the press-release on the Little League website.  Our district will make every effort to assist leagues who are interested in finding out more about this program.  Please contact our District Administrator, Jeff Wolfe, for more information about getting started.

Rules and Regulations changes for the 2010 season were announced recently by Little League International.  Among the most notable changes are clarifications about the pitch count rule and the new requirement that every game must have at least one adult (18 years-old or older) umpire present.

For more information about the new rules and regulations for 2010, please click on the headline to go to the press-release on the Little League webpage.  If you have questions on the new rules, please contact one of our district umpire coordinators, Rob Ruhle or Jason Kelley.

West Madison lost a heart-breaker on Thursday night ending their dream of winning the Senior League World Series.  The 9-8 loss to West University LL from Houston, TX sent West Madison to 1-3 in pool play and eliminated them from advancing to the semi-final round.

A win would have allowed West Madison to advance.  The Nationals went to work early taking a first inning 3-0 lead on Chris Anderson's RBI-double and Zach Addamo's 2-run home-run.  West University LL battled back however, tying the score at 3 after 2 complete innings.

West Madison opened things up in the third by stringing together some timely hits and taking advantage of a few West University miscues.  Chris Anderson, Sean Blythe, Josh Horman, Thomas O'Keefe, and Nate Hall all scored for West Madison giving them an 8-3 lead. 

But West Madison was held scoreless the rest of the night.  Two runs in each of the third, fourth, and fifth innings for the senior leaguers from Houston secured the win for the Southwest representative.

Congratulations to the West Madison National team for their great run.  This is only the second team from District 4 to make it to the World Series at ANY age level.  Madison Kennedy accomplished the feat, sending their senior league all-stars to Bangor, ME in 2006.

In the first game of the third day of pool-play at the Senior World Series, West Madison National LL dropped the ball numerous times leading to their second loss in the tournament.  Friuli Venezia Giulia LL took advantage of all of the miscues and registered their first win of the tournament.

It was an ominous start for West Madison.  The first inning was filled with miscues including 2 walks, 2 wild pitches, and 3 errors that lead to 3 runs for the Italian team despite not registering a single hit. 

West Madison fought back in the fourth, however, tying the score at 3.  Kody Parman led off the inning with a single and advanced into scoring position after Zach Addamo's base-hit.  Sean Blythe followed with an RBI single giving West Madison their first run.  Josh Horman then added his own RBI single scoring Zach Addamo.  Blythe moved into scoring position and later scored on a wild pitch before the inning ended.

The Italian team took some of the air out of West Madison's sails in the next frame scoring four runs on four hits.  A hit-batter and an error by West Madison helped the EMEA representative during the inning.  The scoring continued on even more West Madison miscues in the sixth where the Italians scored four runs on four hits with 2 walks and 3 wild pitches thrown into the mix.

West Madison scored a single run in their half of the sixth on Josh Horman's second RBI of the game.  Abe Lenoch who had reached earlier in the inning on a base-hit scored on Horman's single.  The lone run made the score 11-4 and set the stage for a dramatic seventh.

After a lead-off single by Nate Thill, a hit-batter, and a walk, Chris Anderson made things interesting with a 2-out grand-slam home-run.  However, it wasn't enough for West Madison who lost the contest 11-8 and fell to 1-2 in the standings.  They have an off-day on Wednesday and will finish pool play with a matchup against West University LL from Houston, TX (Southwest) on Thursday at 8pm EDT.  West Madison will need a victory for any chance to advance to the semi-final round.

Despite an all-time tournament record of 3 triples in one game by a single player, the West Madison National Senior team secured its first victory in the Senior League World Series being played in Bangor, ME.  West Madison beat the East representative, South Vineland LL (New Jersey), 8-6.

Abe Lenoch's two-out single scored two in the bottom of the fifth capping a four-run rally.  Sean Blythe who came in with two outs in the top of the fifth pitched the final 2 1/3 innings without allowing a run and secured the victory.  West Madison's Stefan Schlitz drove in three runs in the game and was the team's RBI leader. 

West Madison bounced back strong after an opening day loss to Aruba South LL (Latin America).  West Madison will take 1-1 record into their game against Italy (EMEA) on Tuesday at 10am EDT before enjoying an off-day on Wednesday.  Pool play wraps up on Thursday when West Madison will face West University LL (Houston) at 8pm EDT.

In the game, Chris Bell from South Vineland LL (New Jersey) hit three triples, easily smashing the old tournament record of two triples hit by the same player.  The prior triples record was accomplished over the entire tournament whereas Bell's three triples came in a single game.  Bell went 0-3 in his first game on Sunday and has at least 2 more games to add to his tournament total.

The "official" Senior League World Series website is here.  Box scores can be accessed by clicking on "The Scores" in the navigation pane on the left-side of the page.  Box scores are updated live during games so you can follow the team's progress in real-time.  A chat feature is also available.

More information about Mansfield Stadium, home to the Senior League World Series, can be found here.  You can also listen to a LIVE radio feed of all 23 games of the tournament for FREE by clicking here.

The 15 and 16 year-olds from West Madison LL will be playing ball just a bit longer.  They'll also be playing just a bit further from home.  That's thanks to a 7-6 nail-biting victory over Michigan in the Central Region Championship game in Columbia, MO on Wednesday, August 12.

West Madison emerged from a pool of 9 teams from throughout the Midwest and Great Lakes states to earn the right to represent the Central Region at the Senior League World Series held in Bangor, ME.  There they will join 9 other teams from throughout the world in a battle to be crowned the best in the world.

In the Central Region tournament, West Madison went undefeated, but the victories were far from easy.  In the semi-final game, first-seeded West Madison defeated fourth-seeded Holmes County LL (Ohio) 3-1.  South Bend LL (Indiana) who matched West Madison's 4-0 record in pool play earned the second-seed for the semi-final round but lost to third-seeded Midland LL (Michigan) setting up the Michigan vs. Wisconsin championship game. 

In the championship game, West Madison had to fight back from deficits of 2-0, 5-2, and 6-5.  The team scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead going into the final frame on an RBI double by Chris Anderson who then scored on Zach Addamo's RBI single.  Sean Blythe, who came on to relieve Gary King in the sixth, gave up a lone single in the seventh before securing the win.  King also induced a weak two-out pop-up in the sixth to get West Madison out of a bases-loaded jam.

The team will be travelling to the Senior League World Series in Bangor, ME set to start on Sunday, August 16.  West Madison will play its first game against Aruba South LL (Latin America) at 8pm EDT.  The team from West Madison is the second ever from District 4 to earn a world series berth.  Madison Kennedy played in the Senior World Series in 2006. 

For the complete schedule and game results, please visit the Senior League World Series webpage.

Check out pictures of the team by visiting madison.com.