Who is Hanover Baseball? Are you affiliated with Little League International?
Hanover Baseball is the recreational division of our parent organization Hanover Diamond Sports. Hanover Diamond Sports comprises Hanover Baseball, Rampage travel baseball, Mustang recreational softball and Xtreme travel softball. Hanover Baseball also is the home to our fall baseball program.
It should be noted that Hanover Baseball used to be called Hanover Little League. In October 2017 the Hanover Little League membership voted overwhelmingly to disassociate from Little League International and form an independent recreational baseball division under Hanover Diamond Sports called Hanover Baseball. Our board and membership felt that leaving Little League International would allow for more flexibility and allow us to do more things for the youth of Hanover. In the past two years we can say without hesitation that the move away from Little League International was the best thing we could have done as we have been able to do much more for the children of Hanover. You may not know that there have been 5 other organizations within an hour drive of Hanover that have followed our lead and left Little League International as well. All left for many of the same reasons that we did. This includes Red Land Little League who won the US LLWS championship in 2015. This is a trend that is being seen all over the country.
Why should I choose Hanover Baseball over the other organizations in the area?
We had over 550 local boys and girls registered in our spring 2019 HDS programs. Remember that Hanover Diamond Sports encompasses Hanover Baseball (spring and fall rec baseball), Rampage travel baseball, Mustang Softball (rec softball) and Xtreme travel softball programs. We are the largest baseball/softball organization in the area.
We had over 330 local youth in our spring Hanover Baseball (rec) program alone. We had over 300 players in our fall baseball program which was an all-time record!
Thanks to our community partners; ESAB, Pleasant Hill Volunteer Fire Company, St. Bart’s Church, West Manheim Township and Hanover Borough we were able to have enough fields for all of our baseball and softball teams to play on. As we continue to grow we will continue to pursue more fields to handle that growth.
For spring rec baseball, 91% of all games in our t-ball, rookie coach pitch, rookie kid pitch, minors and majors divisions were played here at home in Hanover. We were able keep most of our rec teams in house and minimize travel for our parents. For fall ball, thanks to our record registration numbers, we had enough teams to keep our t-ball and 7U divisions in house.
After the spring season Rec All-Star teams were formed at all of our baseball divisions except t-ball and RCP. They all played in at least one tournament, some got to play in multiple tournaments. HDS was able to cover a substantial portion of the costs for these teams (which we weren’t allowed to do under Little League International)
We expanded our Baseball Blasts to our spring Rookie Kid Pitch, Rookie Coach Pitch and Minors divisions. Our 7U Division in the fall also had a Baseball Blast. This has easily become one of our most popular events of the year.
In 2019 we hosted our first Tournament of Champions. This was rec level tournament that all of our all-star teams participated in. It was great to host other all-star teams from all over the area. We will continue to grow this event in 2020.
End of season playoffs were held for our Rookie Kid Pitch, Minors and Majors divisions. In fact, our RKP division got to participate in two separate playoffs, one with their affiliation with Littlestown and McSherrystown and the other in-house.
We hosted our 2nd MLB Pitch, Hit and Run. This was a very popular event; the community of Hanover was extremely supportive. We will be holding our 3rd annual MLB Pitch, Hit and Run event on April 5, 2020.
For kids that may desire a travel team experience we have our Rampage travel baseball program. Our Rampage travel baseball teams brought home many tournament and York County championships this year. This program has grown every year it has been in existence.
As a service to the community we provided FREE fall t-ball. We had over 100 players that signed up for this program which encompassed 10 teams. We were so excited and proud to be able to offer this program at no cost to the youth of Hanover.
Are your coaches and volunteers subjected to background checks?
Yes. All youth organizations and schools for that matter are required by law to have background checks done on any volunteer who may come in contact with minors. We strictly follow this state law and have a board member dedicated to leading this initiative within all of Hanover Diamond Sports. Our rule is simple, no check no coach.
What type of training do your coaches receive?
We provide our coaches with training on baseball fundamentals, leadership, first aid and how to maintain our fields. We are lucky that we have a number of coaches who have been with us for years and are able to share their experience and knowledge with our new coaches. We are very excited already about the coaches that have committed to come back for the 2020 season.
What divisions do you have available?
T-ball – Ages 4-5
Rookie Coach Pitch – Ages 6-7
Rookie Kid Pitch – Ages 7-8
Minors – Ages 9-10
Majors – Ages 11-12 (play on 50/70 fields)
16U – Ages 13-16
19U – Ages 17-19
*It should be noted that we are the only program in the area that has a path to play baseball from the ages of 4 through 19.
Why does your Majors program play on 50/70 fields? Why is that important?
Our majors program plays on fields with 70 foot base paths and a 50 foot pitching distance. Our board feels very strongly that our 11’s and 12’s should be focusing on preparing for real baseball, i.e. balks, leads, uncaught third strikes. A 50/70 field allows for the introduction of these elements thus allowing our players to start learning those important parts of the game before they move to 90-foot fields. Our board also feels strongly that all 11 and 12 year olds should be on the bigger 50/70 field for safety reasons. Eleven and twelve year olds can grow very big nowadays and the extra pitching distance and base path distance allows for a little longer reaction time.
How do I register my child?
We are proud to say that our 2020 Spring Registration is off to a great start. We are already well above our pace for last year. Online Registration is currently open on our website for the 2020 season.
We are looking for volunteers to be coaches, help with field maintenance, team parents, board members. This is your organization and we need help!
If you have any questions at all about our program please don’t hesitate to Contact Us.