Youth baseball changes may help the game, local economies

Members of the Braves, a Majors 70 baseball team from Farmington wait for the start of the first game of the season Saturday afternoon, April 27, at the Chesterville Community Ball Field. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser

REGION — Major 70 baseball is now available for older youth in Farmington Area Cal Ripken Baseball [FACRB] which should help retain interest in the sport and support the local economy, according to Chris Renaud, president of the league.

Chesterville Community Ball Field, located next to the David Archer Town Hall on Dutch Gap Road was the first local field to be renovated for 50/70 play.

“Having that field has created an avalanche effect where all of a sudden Wilton has just developed a 50/70 field at Kineowatha Park,” Renaud said Tuesday, April 30. “Hippach [Field in Farmington] will be converted soon. This summer the Elks field in West Farmington will be converted to a movable field to be able to play both divisions of baseball on it. It is my understanding that these are the first fields in the western Maine area to have the ability to play 50/70 majors baseball.”

Youth baseball is an economic boon for the area in the summer, Major 70 could help retain interest among players, he noted.

Last month selectmen in Farmington approved converting the field at Philbrick Park in Farmington Falls to a multiuse Little League and softball field which will allow 50/70 baseball.

According to the Cal Ripken Baseball website, the major division is recommended for youth 11 and 12 years old. Major 70 features a 50 foot pitching distance and 70 foot base paths.

Members of the Grizzlies, a youth baseball team from Wilton are seen Saturday afternoon, April 27, during opening ceremonies for Farmington Area Cal Ripken Baseball held at Chesterville Community Ball Field, the first local field to be converted for Major 70 play. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser

“Currently for the majors age you can play in two different divisions,” Renaud stated. “Majors 60 in the parent organization of Babe Ruth – which is a nationwide organization – if you decide to play Major 60, once you do a state tournament there is nowhere else to go. Babe Ruth does not have regionals or a world series at Major 60. That is why the push has been on trying to get our majors teams to be playing the 70 foot base path.”

Major 70 allows the All Star team to do district through state tournament, Renaud said. “If you win your state tournament then you go to your regionals,” he noted. “If you win regionals you go to the world series which is in Branson, Missouri, this year.

“For our local league it is going to affect us, it allows us this year to implement the 50/70 rule and play so that we can enter a Major 70 All Star team, offer the state tournament trail.”

Parents and coaches locally have been talking about changing to Major 70 for over eight years, Renaud said. Farmington tried to do it, it went to the back burner when the season got canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19, he noted. Everything is starting to come back, he stated.

“We have to implement the change because of the presence of travel baseball which does the 50/70,” Renaud said. “We were losing the opportunity to have a local league and support maybe tournaments or games outside of the organization.”

Renaud has seen youth baseball lose players over the years. “There are all different reasons people come up with, there is no one specific reason,” he stated. He thinks Major 70 can promote more excitement in the 11 and 12 age group and keep them more interested in baseball.

“By having this transition field of 70 foot bases it’s a little bit of getting ready for what we call the “big boys’ field” which is 90 feet,” he said. “Once they finish Cal Ripken the next level is middle school ball and Babe Ruth starting at age 13. That is played on the 90 foot base paths which is kind of a big jump, so that is why the transition to the 70 foot field.”

Renaud said the change has been really supported by Rob Dippner, Mt. Blue High School baseball coach. “He has been a proponent of doing this the last few years,” he noted. “He helped us pull this off. He has been great.”

FACRB has six teams playing in the minor division, five teams in the major division, Renaud said. Farmington has another ball field in Fairbanks for minor play as does East Wilton and New Sharon, he stated. Temple has a field, doesn’t have enough players for a team this year, he noted.

Chesterville was the first 50/70 field, it was great to get that done, Renaud said. Having fields with movable mounds and bases will allow different divisions to play on them, he stated.

“We are trying to promote the whole area,” he noted. “Having multiple fields maybe some tournament organizer somewhere else in the state might say we can host a big tournament in Farmington at some point if we have four or five fields we can use.”