Sports

BaseballRegister for Baseball

Crusader Baseball is open to any player attending a Lancaster County Catholic School or a member of a Catholic Parish in our surrounding area. Registration for Spring Baseball typically opens the preceding December and ends in early February. Registration for Fall Baseball opens in July and closes in early August.

As a youth athletic program, the Crusaders Youth Athletic Association (CYAA) Program strives to instill positive characteristics in our players through the demonstration of sportsmanship, teamwork and showing respect for others. The focus of your child's involvement should not be about winning and losing but on learning the fundamental and technical skills of the game, developing teamwork qualities and having fun. Parents or guardians of a child participating within the CYAA Program, are asked to reinforce this goal and to conduct themselves in a supportive manner by demonstrating positive support to players, coaches and officials. Please remember, the attitude shown by parents and guardians towards players, coaches and officials can influence a child's values and behavior towards sports.

Director

Ron Fink
Rcfink1@icloud.com

Spring Season

March thru June
Registration opens in December

Fall Season

August thru November
Registration opens in July

For Parents

LCYB League

cyaa baseball

Overview

Players are placed on teams based on age guidelines in accordance with the corresponding league requirements and Lancaster County Youth Baseball League regulations. A qualified player may be moved up to an older age group in order to field a team. Players will be placed on teams to fill as many competitive teams as possible. Novice or inexperienced players may be moved down an age level if approved by the league.

Our philosophy is to find where each kid can have the best chance to succeed on the field in hopes of building them into confident and stronger players as they progress through the program!

IMPORTANT NOTE: MANDATORY Battling Helmet C-Guard Requirement)

The CYAA Baseball Coaches have conferred and decided that all players from 10U and above are required to wear batting helmets with the protective half face shield. Keep this in mind if you are purchasing a helmet for your child. We have team helmets available with the guards. Many helmets also have the option available to attach a guard to your existing helmet.

All home games are played on fields at St Leo the Great Catholic Church. Crusader Baseball teams are organized into the following age groups:

Attention all Crusader Baseball Families

The sign up for the Crusader Concession Stand is now available. As part of your service to the CYAA organization please sign up to work a minimum of one game. You may split the time if you would like with another parent.

Having the concession stand open is so very important for our programs as the profits are used to maintain our fields and buy new equipment.

This year we are requiring that each family work a minimum of one snack stand opening.

Thank you so much for your dedication to our program and players!

PONY Baseball (6U) (Coach Pitch / T-Ball)

*Ages 4-6

The PONY program is a great entry level instructional experience for beginning players. The emphasis is on teaching basic fundamentals while having FUN and learning what it's like to be on a team! The PONY level program participates in the Hempfield Youth League with games at St Leo the Great and away games at Centerville Middle School. We offer both Spring and Fall seasons. Each practice will last 60 minutes, while games will last between 60-75 minutes. All children will start by learning to hit off of a tee and those who are ready, at the discretion of the coach, may progress to hitting a coach pitch. The organization will provide all playing equipment for each team (i.e. bats, helmets, tee balls, etc.) except for a fielder's glove. Players may also bring their own equipment! Crusader Baseball provides team jerseys and hats. Scores are not kept for games at this level.

Fall Format: One weeknight practice followed by a Saturday game each week. The Fall PONY season typically starts the week after Labor Day and runs for six weeks.

Spring Format: One weeknight practice followed by a Saturday morning game each week. The season will typically start the first week or two of April and run until the beginning of June.

8U Baseball (Kid and Coach Pitch)

Typically ages 7 & 8

Crusader 8U Baseball participates in the Hempfield Youth Association Baseball League Majors Division. The emphasis of the Majors division is to continue to develop fundamentals while starting to teach more about the game of baseball from a strategic/game/team standpoint to better prepare them for more competitive baseball as they grow as players and eventually play in the LCYBL (listed below). Majors is mainly kid pitch, without walks; Coaches pitch after a pitcher delivers four balls to the batter. Majors will consist of some modified rules compared to the 10U Lanco level. Score and standings will be kept (in the Spring) BUT emphasis should be on developing and teaching the game the right way.

Fall Format: Season will start in mid-August with games beginning after Labor Day Weekend. Teams will practice 1-2 times per week and play a Saturday game each week starting after Labor Day. Six (6) games will be played on consecutive Saturdays. There is NO End of Season Tournament in the Fall.

Spring Format: Teams will be created by the end of March. Beginning in Mid-March teams will begin practicing twice per week before the game schedule begins. Once games begin, the number of practices may decrease and each team will play 1-2 times per week for the duration of the season (the season ends the first week of June). Games will typically be on Saturdays, with an occasional game during the week.

10U, 12U and 14U Baseball

Crusader Baseball 10U and above participates in the Lancaster County Youth Baseball League. This is a competitive baseball league and requires travel throughout Lancaster County. At these levels, players are expected to be engaged for the entire season and attend all practices.

Division	Age	League & Rules	General Spring and Fall Format
10U Section 1, Section 2 or Section 3 (usually 2 teams formed)	Typically 9-10 Years Old	All teams will play in the Lancaster County Youth Baseball League (LCYBL) and follow their 10U rules.	SPRING: 2-3 practices per week with weeknight games. LCYBL Playoffs held for all Sections (1 & 2). Practices begin in early March and the season begins in early April. Teams have the ability to play in an additional in-season weekend Tournament. FALL: 2-3 practices per week with Saturday (or sometimes Sunday) double headers. No in-season or end-of-season tournaments. Practices will start in mid-August. Season ends mid-October. 6 total double headers will be played.
12U Section 1, Section 2, or Section 3 (usually 2 teams formed)	11-12 Years Old	All teams will play in the Lancaster County Youth Baseball League (LCYBL) and follow their 12U rules.	SPRING: 2-3 practices per week with weeknight games .End of Season LCYBL Playoffs held for all Sections (1, 2, & 3). Practices begin in late February and the season begins in early April. Teams can sometimes play in an additional in-season weekend Tournament. FALL: 2-3 practices per week with Saturday (or sometimes Sunday) double headers. No in-season or end-of-season tournaments. Practices start in mid-August. Season ends mid-October. 6 total double headers will be played. There is NO Section 3 league in the Fall, only Section 1 and Section 2 (combination of Section 2 and 3 level players).
14U Section 1, Section 2, or Section 3 (usually 1 team formed)	13-14 Years Old	All teams will play in the Lancaster County Youth Baseball League (LCYBL) and follow their 14U rules.	SPRING: 2-3 practices per week with weeknight games. End of Season LCYBL Playoffs held for all Sections (1, 2, & 3). Practices begin in late February and the season begins in early April. Teams can sometimes play in an additional in-season weekend Tournament. FALL: 2-3 practices per week with Saturday (or sometimes Sunday) double headers. No in-season or rules. end-of-season tournaments. Practices will start in mid-August. Season ends mid-October. 6 total double headers will be played. There is NO Section 3 league in the Fall, only Section 1 and Section 2 (combination of Section 2 and 3 level players).