Hi All,
Read this whole email to find out the “Big Push” for 2027!!
I am just writing to thank all the parents that were part of the 2026 Little League Season. As we end our regular season and go into the International Tournament I wanted to let you all know who won what during
the District Tournament held at Deer Park Sports Complex and hosted by Tri-County Little League.
First Tri-County did a great job this year, especially considering they were a completely new Board and those folks had never done a District Tournament before. Each year we try to let a different league host
the District Tournament, and this year they did a great job. Lots of good baseball and softball, and lots of fun! We also had more teams participating this year than in years past. We had a team from Pend Orielle Little League (Newport), who has not had a
team in the District Tournamnt – ever! And they played very well in their debut!
Champions by Division were:
8-9-10 Baseball (“Minors”) – Liberty Lake (LLSV).
10-11 Baseball – Liberty Lake (LLSV)
Majors (“Little League” or “12u”) – West Plains
Softball – 10/11 – West Plains
And
We are sending a Juniors -
14u Softball team to state – This is a combined team from North Spokane Little League and Tri-County – the ladies from those TWO Little Leagues got together to form a state team to go to the West Side and represent District 13.
All these teams will be going to State, and you can watch the brackets here:
https://www.littleleaguewash.org to see how District 13 teams are doing.
BIG PUSH FOR 2027
Our big push for 2027 is to establish an
“Intermediate” Division for District 13. Little League’s “Intermediate” Division is for
ages 11-13. This Division plays on a bigger field, larger base paths, and some interesting rule changes The outfield fence is from 225-250 deep. That’s bigger than the “Major’s Division”. Next the base paths are 70’ instead of 60’. The Pitching mound
is at 50’ instead of 46’ feet that the Majors use. Sometimes this is called “50/70” baseball because of the longer base paths and pitching mound distance.
Another difference is the “Lead off Steal” rule. In intermediate you can lead off the base, whereas in Majors or 12u players can’t lead off. The lead off makes pick off plays a real challenge. It also makes
Little League more like “Big Baseball” with this lead off steal.
Because there is now a “lead off” in the Intermediate division, pitchers are also held accountable for “balks”. In the Majors division a balk is essentially a “no-pitch”. In Intermediate it is a true “balk”
and there are penalties that align with regular baseball balk rules.
Pitch counts are expanded for the 13 year olds playing in the Intermediate division as well. A 13 year old can pitch up to 95 pitches per day they are pitching.
And – Intermediate Division games are 7 innings, and not 6 like in Majors.
So as you can see, the rules begin to change with the Intermediate division, and Little League starts to play more like the MLB!
This division also has District, State, Regional, and World Series play in the International Tournament, so yes you can go to a World Series in Intermediates.
What does it take to start an Intermediate Division in your league? WE NEED TO START NOW TO BE READY FOR 2027 INTERMEDIATES!
- First, we need players ages 11-13 that want to play on the larger fields and expanded rules. Without players,
it makes no sense to form a division of play in your league. So if your player has “aged out” of Little League for Majors they can continue to play with their friends in the Intermediate Division. Also, excellent 11 year olds can play, as well as any 12 year
old. But what about someone who is 12 and wants to play both?
- Second, ANY PLAYER CAN PLAY IN BOTH DIVISIONS (MAJORS AND INTERMEDIATE) At the same time.
And they can qualify in either or both for All-Stars! They DO have to play in at least 60% of the games in their division to qualify to be a candidate for All-Stars, and they can’t play in two tournaments at the same
time (one as Majors and the other as Intermediate), but they CAN play both if their All-Star team is knocked out of the running in one division or the other.
- Third, you need the Board to approve the division and offer it at registration time in 2027. Once the Board
approves the Division, the players can sign up in Sports Connect.
- Fourth,
The division will need manager’s and coaches to run the teams – so If you coached major’s last year, and want to “up your coaching game”, Intermediate is a great way to do that.
- Fifth,
Your League will need a place to play games. This can be done in many cases by “reposting” bases or having to sets of anchors for bases in existing fields. Also most any middle school field meets the distance requirements.
- Finally,
Intermediate is very competitive and gives the players a “Travel Ball” feel. Your league may choose to “travel” to other leagues, especially if there is only enough players for one team. Travel may be to Post Falls,
CDA, Lewiston, Yakima, Tri-Cities, or just around Spokane to other leagues. More competition also means more opportunities to play. So if your player was wanting that “travel ball” experience, your league may elect to do just that! What would be great is if
we had 2 teams of Intermediate from each league in District 13. That would make 14 teams, and they could all take turns playing each other around Spokane! That would mean about 20 players ages 11-13 from each league would want to play in Intermediates to get
that level of local competition. (and remember, you can play in two divisions at one time!)
So, please take the time to consider putting your player into Intermediate baseball. Encourage your league’s Board to adopt a Fall Ball Intermediate program to give players the “feel” of playing on a bigger
field. If your league doesn’t have enough players signed up to form your own team, consider putting them in a “Combined Team” with another league. We can take players from two different leagues and make a team from those players.
If you have questions about Intermediate, please call the District phone number at 509-995-4200 and ask, we want to help you get that Division going for your players!
And as a final note, contact your league about “Fall Ball”. Typically fall ball is no or low cost “fall season” that players can use to keep tuned up for the upcoming year. Fall ball is a great way to experience
the “next division up” too… players can play with the players from the division they are going into next year to see how that feels…
Thanks to all you parents for a great year…! We at District 13 appreciate all you do in getting your players into Little League!
Sincerely,
JP
District Administrator (DA)
Washington Little League – District 13
T:509-995-4200
Follow us on Facebook@wadist13ll
