LAFA baseball is here to keep the sport fun and develop the skills of every ballplayer. Baseball is broken into to two main Leagues: Babe Ruth League (13-18 year olds) and Cal Ripken League (5-12 year olds). Players that are league age 9 years old - 15 years old tryout in March. Players are then drafted for Babe Ruth (13-15 years old), Majors (11-12 years old) and AA (9-10 years old). Players that are not drafted then are placed in Pony (13-15 years old), Prep (13 years old), AAA (11-12 years old) and A (9-10 years old).  Currently (as of 2019) only the 9-10 year-old group has both a drafted and undrafted league (AA and A), so all kids in Babe Ruth (13-15) and Majors (11-12) are drafted in their respective leagues. Players that are 5 years old - 8 years old do not tryout and are placed on teams in Instructional League in the respective division corresponding to their age. See Below for further information.

Season:

The LAFA Season typically starts in early/mid April, depending on when the fields are usable, and goes thru mid June, ending before school lets out for the summer.  The leagues with Playoffs will end their regular season a week or so earlier in order to fit in the playoffs.

Instructional League:

This League is for players that are league ages 5 - 8 year olds and is the development part of our program. The description of each division is as follows:

Kick-Ball Division : 4 Year old boys and girls meet once a week starting in May for 45 minutes of fun kickball.  This introduces the kids to a baseball field, running bases, and defensive positioning in a game they can understand and easily play.  Historically Kick-Ball has met on Wednesdays at 5:00.

T-Ball Division: 5 Year old boys and girls meet twice a week, once on a week day (M-F) and once on Saturday. The 1.5 hour sessions are typically split into half practice and half game. The fundamentals of throwing, catching, batting and retrieving ground balls are taught during practice. A baseball Tee is used in practice and during the game to teach a proper swing. All players advance through the bases during their time at bat.

Rookie Division: 6 Year old boys and girls meet twice a week, once on a week day (M-F) and once on Saturday. The 1.5 hour sessions are typically split into half practice and half game. The fundamentals of throwing, catching, batting and retrieving ground balls are taught during practice. A baseball Tee may be used at first but players will quickly start to bat with a slow coach pitched ball. All players advance through the bases during their time at bat.
 

Farm Division: This division is for 7-8 year olds and starts adding team practices, therefore meets 2-3 times per week, one game during the week and one on Saturday, and then a practice every week or every-other week.   The focus is to continue concentrating on fundamental skills, but adds in pitching and catching and is played on a 45' diamond. The first 20 minutes is concentrated on skills with 3 skill stations; hitting (coaches pitch), fielding: ground balls and fielding fly balls, and the remaining time is for playing a game. Coaches pitch the 1st inning and then players pitch the remaining. No score or standings are kept.

Schedule:  

For the Instructional Leagues, there is no fixed weeknight schedule for a team. 

The schedule is posted at the beginning of the season, but teams could play/practice any weeknight (either M-Th or M-F depending on the number of teams in the league).  This is to ensure all teams will get to play each other at least once during the season. Saturday times can vary from the morning to mid-afternoon. Rain-outs are re-scheduled based on field availability.

CAL RIPKEN:

This league is for players that are league Ages 9 - 12 years olds and is the step up from Instructional League. This is the age group that official games are played and where standings are kept. Cal Ripken teams will have one weeknight and one Saturday game during the week, and also a practice during the week. 

Cal Ripken teams are made based on the spring Tryouts/Evaluations.  More info on that can be found at the Baseball Tryout/Evaluation page.

There is a summer all-star team at each of the following age groups: 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 years old that represent LAFA in Cal Ripken Tournaments in the summer after the LAFA spring season is concluded.  The League will send out information on tryouts during the LAFA season.  For more information on the LAFA All-Star program, check out the FAQ.

 

Single A: This division is for 9-10 year olds and is played on a 60' diamond. This is for players who are not drafted by coaches for AA . The players are placed on a team, so players are encouraged to tryout to keep the teams balanced. Standings are kept with all teams making the playoffs.  

Double A: This division is for 9-10 year olds and is played on a 60' diamond. The players tryout in this division and are drafted by coaches. Standings are kept with the all teams making the playoffs.  

Triple A: This division is for 11-12 year olds and is played on a 70' diamond. This is for players who are not drafted by coaches for Majors. The players are placed on a team, so players are encouraged to tryout to keep the teams balanced. Standings are kept with all teams making the playoffs.  [LAFA has not had Triple-A the past few seasons, rather all 11-12 year olds play in Majors.]

Majors: This division is for 11-12 year olds and is played on a 70' diamond. The players tryout in this division and are drafted by coaches. Standings are kept with all teams making the playoffs.  The schedule is typically games on Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday, and practices on 

Schedule:  For the Cal Ripken Leagues, there is no fixed weeknight schedule for a team.

The schedule is posted at the beginning of the season and teams could play/practice any weeknight. At the AA and Majors levels we try to fix games to specific dates, for example Tue/Thu or Mon/Wed/Fri and hold practices on the other days, but New Hampshire spring weather inevitibly gets in the way.  Saturday times will vary morning, afternoon, and evening.  Rain-outs are re-scheduled based on field availability.

BABE RUTH LEAGUE:

This League is for players that are league ages 13 - 15 year olds and is the next step in the baseball program and games are played on a 90' Diamond.

Babe Ruth: Babe Ruth baseball is for players ages 13 -  15.  Typically each team plays two games per week - one on a weeknight and one on Saturday.  Games are 7 innings long.  Practices are at the discretion of the coaches but commonly there is one practice per week.  The season culminates with playoffs and finally a championship game.  The past couple of seasons LAFA has partnered with surrounding towns so some minor local travel may be required (Windham, Derry, Pelham).

Summer Baseball:

7-8 Year Olds - There has not been enough interest in summer baseball recently.

In past years this has been offered at the Farm League level (7-8 year olds). It is all dependent on both players and coaches interest. The players are put on 3 teams and they play twice a week usually on either Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for 4 weeks in July which gives them a chance to play 8 games. The rules are the same as what is used at the A and AA levels. Check for signup dates on the LAFA homepage and your coach should have the appropriate information also.

9-10 Year Olds - There has not been enough interest in summer baseball recently.

Last year was the first year that there was enough coach and player interest. It will again be dependent on that if we will be able to have it again. The players are put on 3 teams and they play twice a week usually on either Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for 4 weeks in July which gives them a chance to play 8 games. The rules are the same as what is used at the A and AA levels. Check for signup dates on the LAFA homepage and your coach should have the appropriate information also.

Fall Baseball:

The age is based on what the player will be in the next spring season. For example if the player is league age 8 in the present season then he/she will be consider league age 9 in the next season and they play in the 9-10 year old age group.  There is 1 game a week (schedule on Saturdays) that start the weekend after Labor day and continue into about the third week of October. This is a good opportunity to have fun and get ready for the following spring season. Check for signup dates on the LAFA homepage and your coach should have the appropriate information also.

Other Baseball Opportunities in Londonderry:

LAFA works closely with other Londonderry groups such as the High School Dugout Club and our local American Legion (Post 27) to provide players additional baseball programs.

Jr. Lancers

The Jr. Lancers participate in competitive travel league (think AAU).  Teams range from 9U through 13U age brackets.  The teams provide an opportunity for players with increased skills and interest in baseball.  Jr. Lancer programs typically start with Winter Workouts in January and run through mid-June or mid-July.

Extreme Babe Ruth

LAFA participates in the New Hampshire Extreme Babe Ruth program which includes a short summer season (typically 4-weeks excluding playoffs).  This program is also a good opportunity for players with increased skills and interest in baseball. 

Senior and Junior American Legion:

Londonderry Post 27 supports both Senior and Junior American Legion baseball teams.  Senior Legion is for players 13-19 years old and Junior Legion is for players 13-18 years old.  American Legion baseball is one of the oldest and most respected baseball leagues in America.

Click here to view a table that shows a yearly and monthly schedule of all the baseball programs available to Londonderry residents.