Divisions and Rules

Juniors Division (Ages 13-14)

This division is primarily for players whose are in middle school and are baseball age 13 or 14. This division features a mid-sized field (80’ bases, 54’ pitching, same as travel ball for 13’s) which fits this age group. This size makes for a dynamic game, and is a great stepping stone to the full-sized field. Juniors teams play a schedule very similar to Majors running from March to early June with games across the district twice a week, which end with a championship tournament. For players selected there are 13u and 14u all-star tournaments in June both of which culminate in an International Little League World Series just like Majors.

Majors Division (Ages 11-12)

This is the most competitive division of Little League baseball. The majority of players in this division are 12 years old and have played with SMLLA since they were little. This Division also includes 11 year-olds and a small handful of 10-year-olds with advanced skills. All 12-year-olds that desire to play in the Majors division will be drafted onto a team. Approximately 50% of 11's will be drafted to Majors with the rest playing in our PCL division.

Full Little League Rules are followed (stealing home is allowed, batters can advance on a dropped third strike, etc). Standings are kept and the season culminates with a postseason playoff tournament. Majors players are the first selected after the season to fill the 12, 11 and 10-year-old District All-Star Teams and the Majors SuperBowl Team (mostly 12-year-olds) to represent SMLLA during the post-season tournaments run by CA District 52.

Team's typically play a 16-18 game schedule, with practices beginning in February and games running from March to early June. There is typically one field practice, one batting practice, and two games per week. Majors games are usually played on Trinta North. There is one weekday afternoon game and one weekend game per week. Practices are typically at a local field in San Mateo. Batting Cages are at Trinta or a local batting cage facility.

PCL Division (Ages 10-11)

Approximately half of all registered 11's will be drafted to PCL with the rest playing in our Majors division. Approximately half of 10's will play in PCL, with the rest playing in our Minors division.

Some Little League Rules have been modified at the PCL level (stealing home is NOT allowed, pitch counts limits are lower than Majors, etc). Standings are kept and the season culminates with a postseason playoff tournament. PCL players are the first selected after the season to fill the Minors SuperBowl Team to represent SMLLA at this post-season tournament run by District 52.

Team's typically play a 12-14 game schedule, with practices beginning in February and games running from March to May. There is typically 1 field practice, 1 batting practice, and 2 games per week. PCL games are played on either Trinta North or South. There is one weekday afternoon game and one weekend game per week. Practices are typically at a local field in San Mateo. Batting Cages are at Trinta or a local batting cage facility.

Minors Division (Ages 9-10)

Approximately half of all registered 10's will be drafted to Minors with the rest playing in our PCL division. Approximately half of 9's will play in Minors, with the rest playing in our California League division.

Some Little League Rules have been modified at the Minors level (stealing home is NOT allowed, no infield fly rule, one-base on an overthrow, etc). Standings are kept and the season culminates with a postseason playoff tournament.

Team's typically play a 10-12 game schedule, with practices beginning in February and games running from March to May. There is typically 1 field practice, 1 batting practice, and 1 or 2 games per week. Minors games are typically played on Trinta South. There is one weekend game and an occasional weekday game. Practices are typically at a local field in San Mateo. Batting Cages are at Trinta or a local batting cage facility.

California League Division (Ages 8-9)

Approximately half of all registered 9's will be drafted to the California League with the rest playing in our Minors division. Approximately half of 8's will play in California League, with the rest playing in our Single A division.

Many Little League Rules have been modified at the California League Level. For the first month of the season (March) it's Coach Pitch. After April 1st, kids start pitching from 42' (4' shorter than the older divisions). There are no walks in Cal League. If a Kid pitcher throws 4 balls to a batter, a coach will come in to finish the batter. Other rules are also simplified. Standings are kept and the season culminates with a postseason playoff tournament.

Team's typically play a 10-12 game schedule, with practices beginning in February and games running from March to May. There is typically 1 field practice, 1 batting practice, and 1 or 2 games per week. Cal League games are typically played on Trinta South. There is one weekend game and an occasional weekday game. Practices are typically at a local field in San Mateo. Batting Cages are at Trinta or a local batting cage facility.

Single A Division (Ages 7-8)

Approximately half of all registered 8's will be drafted to the Single A Division with the rest playing in our California League division. All of the 7's will play in Single A.

Many Little League Rules have been modified at the Single A Level. This is the first division after T-Ball and the first opportunity to hit a pitched baseball. The entire season is "Coach Pitch" and other rules are also simplified (no base stealing, etc). Standings are kept and the season culminates with a postseason playoff tournament.

Team's typically play a 10-12 game schedule, with practices beginning in February and games running from March to May. There is typically 1 field practice, 1 batting practice, and 1 or 2 games per week. Single A games are typically played on Trinta South. There is one weekend game and an occasional weekday game. Practices are typically at a local field in San Mateo. Batting Cages are at Trinta or a local batting cage facility.

T-Ball Division (Ages 5-6)

All 5's and 6's will play in the T-Ball Division.

T-Ball is an introduction to baseball for pre-school and kindergarten-aged children. Each inning, all players from the batting team step to the plate, hit the ball off a Tee, and run to first base. The last batter of the inning hit's a Home Run! There are no scores, standings, or post-season at the T-Ball level,

Teams are formed using buddy requests and pre-school attendance. Team's typically play an 8-10 game schedule with games running from March to May. There are no separate practices or other activities. T-Ball games are typically played weekly on Saturday or Sunday at Trinta South or another local field.

Wiffle Ball Division (Age 4)

The Wiffle Ball Division is our initial developmental league, designed to provide preschool-aged boys and girls (and their parents) an introduction to baseball, Little League, team concepts, and the SMLLA community.

Teams are formed using buddy requests and pre-school attendance. There are generally 6-10 one-hour games per season, typically on a Saturday or Sunday morning, running from March to May. Games consist of a 30 minute warmup/practice session, followed by a 30 minute 3-inning game, where players use a plastic bat to hit a Wiffle Ball off of a Tee and run the bases.

No score is kept during games and there are no season standings. Parent involvement is required.