Yes, you are probably right. Fall Ball would seem to play an important role for a lot of kids.

But, to be honest, for a lot of the better kids in our area, it is almost year-round baseball. Even some of the youngest kids have a very rigorous winter schedule. So, for the kids that are not blessed with natural talent, they need to stay involved on a year round basis in order to compete.

Anyway, we would still like to see the season extended somehow for the kids that don’t make it to the State Tournament and can’t afford to be on a travel team.

Found this post just the other day. We’re from Washington State, and have experienced the exact same problem. No Baseball from July to August, and then Fall Ball is not competitive enough for the “Elite” players.

We’re actually considering pulling out of Little League next Spring and having our team play Local tournaments during the Season, then Regional Tournaments in July.

Then, in August and September we’re considering holding our own SMALL invitational tournaments against local All-Star teams who don’t want to spend the money traveling.

The ultimate goal is to keep competitive baseball going for another couple months. Non-competitive “Fall Ball” may do as much harm as good for the kids because they go from extreme conditioning to a lackadaisical attitude about the need for simple stretching.

We hope we are able to find enough teams in our area who would rather stay in the area and play competitive baseball then shell out thousands of dollars traveling up and down the coast.