Record numbers of players, more teams than ever and an increasing demand for more fields dedicated to baseball marked the spring opening of Pleasanton’s Little League, PONY baseball, girls softball and the adult softball leagues.
The lighted adult fields at the entrance to the 105-acre Sports Park, the largest in the area, are filled to capacity with company, organization, church and group teams. PONY baseball cut off new registrations weeks ago, and the three Little League organizations–American, National and Foothill–are also filled. Pleasanton Girls Softball, which is celebrating its 30th year, has nearly 1,000 players this season, a new record.
All teams have found field space this year, although PONY will play several games in nearby cities and make more extensive use of fields at Amador Valley High School. Practice fields also have been added at most elementary and middle schools and in some public parks.
“While other sports don’t have a major impact on baseball yet, we are a city with mostly multi-use fields,” said Recreation Supervisor Daniel Villasenor. “Besides steady increases in player registrations for baseball, we’re also seeing more demand for field space for other types of sports.”
He said lacrosse has been attracting more players every year since it became popular in Pleasanton about five years ago, Pleasanton Junior Football also has gained in popularity, particularly the tag, non-contact version. With a growing Indian population, there is also some demand for cricket fields, which San Ramon is already building.
City crews have worked from early December until mid-March to reseed, fertilize and prepare the fields in Sports Park.
Besides Sports Park, Villasenor also schedules play on the upper Bernal fields just east of First Street, the only lighted fields for youth sports. Work is scheduled to begin later this year on adding three new baseball fields on the Bernal property, including one practice field and two that will be lighted.
Foothill Little League
The Pleasanton Foothill Little League threw out the first pitch during a festive opening day ceremony March 24, marking the start of the season, which runs through June.“We had Congressman McNerney and two dynamite-looking staff sergeants in full dress blues from the Marine Corps,” said PFLL president Terry Abbey.
A total of 400 little leaguers are playing on 35 teams in the league this year, he said.
Something new that hasn’t been offered in the past is a Hit-A-Thon fundraiser. Similar to the Homerun Derby that Major League Baseball puts on every year, the hit-a-thon will be an essential tool to raise funds for such things as equipment, Abbey said.
“It’s a fun contest for kids to come out and they are sponsored by family members and friends and they get to hit however many balls they’re sponsored for and they get awards based on the distance that they hit them,” he said. “On the little guys, it’s how far it rolls and on the big guys, it’s on how far it lands.”
The hit-a-thon will be held April 28, featuring all levels of the league including t-ball, farm club, AA, AAA and Majors. For each $6 in donations, a player earns an additional ball to hit up to a maximum of six balls per player. Each player will get the first ball for free.
American Little League
Also licensed by the national Little League organization based in Williamsport, Pa., the Pleasanton American Little League season is now under way.Nearly 50 teams comprising 480 players are participating this year, according to PALL president Toni Eslick.
The league opened the season March 17 with a small ceremony. The league will have a bigger ceremony at the end of the season.
The leagues will be playing the second year of two newly-imposed rules.
Last year, residential boundaries were redrawn to decide which players fit in which league in the city and the age limits were adjusted by three months, according to Eslick.
“Up until last year, the age limit was July 31, so (Little League) moved it up three months to April 30,” she said. “Anyone who had a birthday between May 1 and July 31 got to be in the same age level two years in a row.”
A new pitching rule goes into effect for all of the little league teams that was made voluntary last year and permanent this year.
“They’ve incorporated a pitch count rule for the kids to prevent arm injuries,” Eslick said. “The Little League organization made the change because studies showed kids were overexerting themselves in pitching.”
Previously, Eslick said, pitcher’s limitations were in how many innings they could pitch, not how many pitches they could throw.
National Little League
The Pleasanton National Little League (PNLL) started in 1969 and was the city’s first league, according to Kevin Wrenn, president of the league. From mid-March to mid-June, about 450 players (ages 5 through 18) pack the sports park diamonds to play against other teams from the league.The league boundaries are the same for those in Alisal, Valley View and Walnut Grove elementary schools. PNLL is comprised of different divisions based on age: T-ball for ages 5 to 6, farm for 6 to 7 year olds, minor A/AA/AAA for ages 8 to 10, majors for 11 and 12 year olds, junior 80s for 13 year olds, junior 90s for 14 year olds, seniors for ages 15 and 16, and big league for ages 17 and 18.
At the season opener March 17 the group held an opening ceremony on each field for every game that day.
When the season nears its end, players ages 9 to 12 participate in All Star tournaments which can often extend the season to allow for competition beyond the league.
Pony baseball
Pony, an acronym for Protect Our Nation’s Youth, was organized in Pleasanton 10 years ago as an alternative to Little League’s more structured organization. Offering play for specific age brackets starting in at 5 years old, Pony has traveling teams for players as young as 13, with teenage teams playing 45-48 games a season, twice as many as Little League.Steve Dukleth, president of Pleasanton/Livermore Pony baseball, said Pony teams play on progressively larger fields, with the 5- to 6-year-old group have bases 50 feet apart and a pitching mound 38 feet from the batter. For teams whose players are at least 15 years old, the field has regular 90-foot bases and 48 feet separating the pitcher from the batter.
“We feel there’s a benefit to gradually increasing the field measurements so that every two years a player has to run a little faster, a little farther,” Dukleth said. “By the time they finish high school, they know how to play on standard baseball fields.”
Pony also has co-ed teams, allowing girls to play if they qualify.
“We’re finding that some of these girls can come onto a team that’s been all boys and really wallop the ball,” Dukleth said. “It’s a changing sport.”
Girls Softball League
If it’s baseball season, it’s softball season, too and the Pleasanton Girls Softball League is already in full swing. This season marks the league’s 30th anniversary, which it celebrated March 10 with an Opening Day ceremony and scrimmage games–something it hasn’t done for the past three years.Over the past 30 years, the league has continued to grow. This season, 960 girls in grades one through 12 will take to the fields.
With 75 teams, the girls play games on the softball fields at Pleasanton Sports Park and Upper Bernal and practice at those locations, as well as a variety of local elementary school fields.
Board president Jenny Williams, who plays softball herself, said she’s seen changes in the way softball is treated as a sport, both by players and the community.
“The bar has been raised as much as some of these kids go to hitting and pitching lessons,” she said. “When I played, we didn’t have that many lessons, but now there are girls going at 8, 9 and 10 years old to lessons.”
That’s not to say, however, that girls of varying skill levels can’t still come out and have fun. Lauren Bennett, 12, joined the softball league four years ago. She was a soccer player, but got tired of the intense competitive nature of soccer in Pleasanton.
“It seemed a little less forced, a little less pressure, but a way to stay active and I could get out and meet new people while still having fun,” she said.
Adult Softball League
The fun isn’t reserved just for youth. The young at heart are a big part of the game in Pleasanton with the city’s adult softball league. More than 2,500 people make up the 200 teams in the league, which Villasenor said has been going on “forever.”Teams are divided into men’s and co-ed. Anyone over 18 can play, with some players opting for 35 and older, and 50 and older groups.
Jack Maready manages a “legends” team called New Kids. They’ve been together for about 10 years, with a roster of 15.
“It’s gotten more competitive every year,” he said. “It’s forced us managers to do a better job of recruiting. It’s just as fun, if not more fun.”
The league draws groups from churches to corporations. With approximately 825 employees, Pleasanton-based E-Loan has the possibility to field quite a team. In their third year of playing, Phil Cary, a loan consultant, said it’s about having a good time.
“We do it mostly for after-work fun,” he said. “It relieves stress and allows us to come together for something other than work.”
While registration for spring season is booked, the fall season begins Aug. 1 and finishes up in the end of October.
For those interested in participating in the fall, call 931-3438.
Jeb Bing, Janet Pelletier, Emily Atwood and Rebecca Guyon contributed to this report.
