Spring Registration Fees
$275 Pinto, Mustang, and Bronco Divisions
$250 Shetland Division
Early Bird Discount (Save $25) - You must register by November 12, 2023.
St. Hedwig Pony Age Chart
Pony Baseball uses the age cutoff date of April 30th to determine a players age.
Additional Deposits (Refunded upon completion of volunteer work)
$50 Field Maintenance Deposit (per family)
This is collected during spring registration
$100 Snack Shack Deposit (per family)
A $100 check per player is collected on Saturday, January 6th at the Player Evaluation Day. The check is returned upon completion of working a shift in the Snack Shack during the spring season. Shift signups will be made available in February for families to sign up. If you do not work a shift or fail to show for your shift, your $100 check will be cashed.
Important Dates during the Spring Season:
Saturday, January 6, 2024 - Player Evaluation Day / Snack Shack Deposit Collection
All players in the Pinto, Mustang, and Bronco divisions must participate in this activity so that the coaches can evaluate their skills. This enables our coaches to draft competitively balanced teams at each division.
The times for each division will be published in late December on our league website, and emailed to all families who are registered for the spring season. The evaluation for a player will take approximately one hour as they will be assigned to a group.
Families will also need to bring a $100 check per child that will serve as their Snack Shack Shift Deposit.
Shetland players do not participate in the evaluation, but families are still requested to stop by during the day to drop off their Snack Shack deposit checks.
Saturday, January 13, 2024 - Practices Begin
Teams may begin conducting practices as of this day.
Saturday, February 3, 2024 - Field Maintenance Day (8 AM - 12 PM)
· Each family is charged a $50 field maintenance deposit at registration. The $50 deposit is refunded if you come and work to help prepare the fields for the season.
Saturday, February 24, 2024 - Opening Day Ceremonies and Games Begin
The season of games runs from February 24th through May 18th.
Saturday, May 18, 2024 - Closing Ceremonies, Championship and Consolation Games, Movie Night
This is our final day of the spring season. All teams will play games on this day, and we conclude the evening with our Movie Night fundraiser.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is “Pony” Baseball and how is it different than Little League Baseball?
A: Pony baseball is competitive youth baseball league with an emphasis on teaching the game of baseball for all youth who wish to play. Pony baseball differs from Little League baseball in a few aspects. First, players play in their respective age division based on their age no matter their ability. Little League can have multiple ages in one division. In Pony, kid pitch begins at the age of seven and full baseball rules begin at the age of 9. In Pony, pitching distance and base distances grow as the players age grows. In Little League, the mound is set at one distance and the base distance remains a constant.
Q: What are the age levels/divisions for players?
Shetland Machine Pitch (Ages 4-6)
Pinto (Ages 7-8) - (40 ft mound, 60 ft bases)
Mustang (Ages 9-10) - (46 ft mound, 60 ft bases)
Bronco (Ages 11-12) - (50 ft mound, 70 ft bases)
Q: When is registration?
A: Online registration is now through January 3, 2024.
Q: What if I don’t register by January 3, 2024?
A: Players will be placed on a wait list and will only be contacted if an opening is available. No exceptions.
Q: When does the season start?
A: Practices for the spring season may officially begin on January 13, 2024 with Opening Day taking place on Saturday, February 24, 2024.
Q: Where will practices be held?
A: Practices will be held at St. Hedwig Pony Baseball Fields, LAUSD elementary schools, such as Rossmoor Elem., LAE Elem, Etc., and Laurel Park. Practice days and times are determined by team manager.
Q: Where are the games played?
A: All games are played at the St. Hedwig Pony Baseball Fields.
Q: Are there tryouts and when will they be held?
A: All registered players will be assigned to a team regardless of ability, however we do conduct a Player Evaluation Day on Saturday, January 6, 2024. at the St. Hedwig Pony Baseball Fields.This enables our coaches to draft competitively balanced teams at each division.
Q: What should we bring to tryouts?
A: Players should come dressed and prepared to play baseball. They will need to bring the following items to the evaluation day: helmet, bat, glove, cleats, and wear a protective cup.
Q: Who manages/coaches the teams?
A: Managers and Coaches are volunteers. They are mostly parents. All Managers, Coaches and Volunteers that have regular contact with players are required to pass a background check, pass concussion training and be certified as passing Safe Haven training.
Q: What kinds of bats are allowed?
A: All bats must be USA Certified and have the USA Stamp on them in order to be used. Here is a list of approved USA bats.
Q: What days are the games played?
A: Games are on Saturdays and after Daylight Savings Time (end of March) we play one midweek game on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. There are no games on Sunday.
Q: What time are the games played?
A: Midweek games are for Pinto, Mustang and Bronco and are played at 5 pm, Saturday games for Shetland are at 8:00am with Pinto, Mustang and Bronco games following around 9:30, noon and 2:30pm. St. Hedwig does not have lights so games must end before it gets dark.
Q: Can we request a friend to play with?
A: We will do our best to pair a friend with your child as long as we can maintain a competitive balance amongst the teams in the league.
Q: Can I request a certain coach?
A: Yes, as long as we can maintain a competitive balance amongst the teams in the league.
Q: My child has very little experience and/or is smaller than other kids his or her age. Can he/she be placed in a lower division?
As a general rule, we encourage players to play in the division that is appropriate for their age. We do, however, evaluate players at the tryouts. If, in the judgment of the division director, a player's inexperience would put them at risk of injury in the age appropriate division, the director will recommend to the parent that the child play down a division. If you wish to have your child considered to play down please contact us.
Q: Can my child play up a level?
We prefer that players play in their correct age group. However, per the recent PONY rule change with age cut off being reverted back to April 30th, we will allow players who were born May through August to play up one division as outlined in the PONY Age Chart as they would have moved up prior to the age change.
Q: What do I need to volunteer for?
Field Maintenance day shift is one day, 4 hours. At the end of your shift you will get your $50 deposit back. One snack shack shift per player and then you will get your snack shack deposit check back. Each team is also responsible for a scorekeeper for home games and a team sponsor.