BAA Baseball Program Overview
The Bloomington Athletic Association delivers fun, affordable, and safe youth sports experiences fueled by our passionate volunteers. Our Baseball program provides kids of all ages the opportunity to develop in sportsmanship, teamwork, and strengthening motor skills while having fun in a family-friendly atmosphere. Join us in keeping our national pastime alive and thriving!
Volunteers
Our baseball program requires volunteers as coaches, assistant coaches, scorekeepers, and some umpiring at the younger levels. Indicate that you would like to coach in your child’s registration or reach out to the baseball commissioner at baseball@baaonline.org
COACHING:
As always, we depend entirely on you as parents to help make this sport the best it can be by volunteering as a head coach, assistant coach, scorekeeper , or umpire. Have you never coached before? BAA Baseball provides training for all coaches and assistant coaches, providing you with the tools you need! What better way to be involved with your children than to be a part of their team during the season? Without you, we cannot run this program!
BAA Weekend
BAA Weekend delivers a fun playing experience for our Instructional through Bantam levels, with each team playing two games on a premier field. Gather up the entire family and friends to watch the kids play! BAA weekend is typically the weekend after Memorial Day; expect to play two games between Friday evening and Sunday afternoon (no games before noon on Sunday).
BAA Tournaments and Playoffs
BAA Playoffs and Tournaments are offered for Mites, Cubs, Juniors, and Bantam levels, with an opportunity for the whole family to celebrate how the players and team have made progress since the beginning of the season. Playoff games leading up to the tournament typically begin the week before. Games can be played any evening this week regardless of whether your team is a Mon/Wed or Tues/Thurs team. The Championship Weekend is the last full weekend of July. The Majors level has their end-of-season playoffs wrapping up in mid-July.
Level Descriptions
| AGE GROUP | LEVEL | Days Playing | Game Times (approximate) |
| Kindergarten in Fall and 6-year, see below | Mini-Mites | Saturday Begins Sat., May 6, 2023 | 1 hour |
| Kindergarten - 1st grade | Instructional | M | W or T | Th Begins May 1 | 2, 2023 | 1.5 hours |
| 1st & 2nd grade | Mites | M | W or T | Th Begins April 24 | 25, 2023 | 2 hours |
| 3rd grade | Cubs | M | W or T | Th Begins April 24 | 25, 2023 | 2.5 hours |
| 4th & 5th grade | Juniors | M | W or T | Th Begins April 24 | 25, 2023 | 2.5 hours |
| 6th - 8th grade | Bantam | M - TH (2 nights per week when gameplay begins) Begins April 24 | 25, 2023 | 2.5 hours |
| 9th - 12th grade | Majors | Su | M | W Begins early to mid-May | 2.5 hours |
| Baseball Contacts | All Levels |
Mini-Mites Baseball [ LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS ]
| Age Group | Pre-school (4 years old) up to entering Kindergarten in Fall. |
| Experience | The fundamentals of running the bases, player positions, batting, fielding, and teamwork are introduced. |
| Game Fundamentals | Coach pitch, but a tee may be used. Each child receives up to 7 pitches from an adult pitcher. After the 7 pitch, the batter will hit the ball off a tee. There are no recorded scores, standings, or tournaments for this level. |
| Where | Baseball fields all around Bloomington. |
| When | Early-June to Mid-July Saturday mornings around 10:00 AM. Parents must remain on-site with children during instruction and games. Rain-outs will not be made up. If weekends do not work for your family schedule consider the mini-mites softball program, essentially the same developmental program on Mondays | Wednesdays. |
| Equipment | Every child receives a hat, shirt, and end-of-season medal. The team is provided with bats, balls, batting helmets, catcher gear, baseball tee, and bases. Each child needs to provide their own glove. |
| Registration / Fees | $95.00 + $12.00 City Field Use Fee (2023 fee) (scholarships are available for those needing assistance contact baseball@baaonline.org) |
Instructional Baseball [ LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS ]
| Age Group | Currently in Kindergarten or 1st grade (First graders may choose to play Instructional or Mite level. First graders new to the game are encouraged to play at the Instructional level). |
| Player Experience | To teach children the fundamental skills of baseball including running the bases, player positions, batting, fielding, and teamwork are introduced. |
| Game Fundamentals | Coach pitch. All players bat during the inning regardless of the number of outs. Eleven children will play in the field at one time. There are no recorded scores, standings, or end-of-season tournaments for this league. |
| Where | Baseball fields all around Bloomington. |
| When | Beginning of May to the third week of July. Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday evenings with a few weekend practices/games. First two weeks of the season M|W teams practice Friday evenings and T|Th practice Saturday mornings. BAA Weekend, the first full weekend of June, plan to have two games scheduled during this weekend at this level. |
| Equipment | Every child receives a hat, shirt, and end-of-season medal. The team is provided with bats, balls, batting helmets, catchers gear, baseball tee, and bases. Each child needs to provide their own glove and protective cup. |
| Registration / Fees | $105 + $12.00 City Field Use Fee (2023 fee) (scholarships are available for those needing assistance contact baseball@baaonline.org) |
Mites Baseball [ LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS ]
| Age Group | Currently in 1st or 2nd grade (1st graders may choose the Instructional level if new to the game). |
| Player Experience | To teach children the fundamental skills of baseball including running the bases, player positions, batting, fielding, and teamwork are continued. |
| Game Fundamentals | Coach pitched from a distance of 40 feet. Standings are recorded and a season-ending tournament is played. |
| Where | Baseball fields all around Bloomington. |
| When | End of April to late July. The playoffs start in mid-July and run during the week into the Championship weekend. Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday evenings with a few weekend practices/games. First two weeks of the season M|W teams practice Friday evenings and T|Th practice Saturday mornings. |
| Equipment | Every child receives a hat and a shirt. The team is provided with: bats, balls, batting helmets, catcher gear, baseball tee, and bases. Each child needs to provide their own glove and protective cup. Molded cleats are optional. |
| Registration / Fees | $140.00 + $12.00 City Field Use Fee (2023) (scholarships are available for those needing assistance contact baseball@baaonline.org) |
Cubs Baseball [ LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS ]
| Age Group | Currently in 3rd grade. |
| Player Experience | To teach children the fundamental skills of baseball including running the bases, player positions, batting, fielding, and teamwork are continued. |
| Game Fundamentals | Player and coach pitch from a distance of 40 feet. Pitching will be a mix of player pitch and coach pitch to develop players pitching skills, details on this will be in the rulebook. Standings are recorded and a season-ending tournament is played. |
| Where | Baseball fields all around Bloomington. |
| When | End of April to late July. M|W or T|TH evenings plus BAA and Championship Weekends. The playoffs start in mid-July and run during the week into the Championship weekend. Note that a few times during the season the M |W league may play on a T | Th evening and vice versa depending on the number of teams in the league. First two weeks of the season M|W teams practice Friday evenings and T|Th practice Saturday mornings. |
| Equipment | Every child receives a hat and a shirt. The team is provided with: bats, balls, batting helmets, catcher gear, baseball tee, and bases. Each child needs to provide their own glove and protective cup. Molded cleats are optional. If a child is using their own batting helmet, they MUST have a face cage as part of the helmet. |
| Registration / Fees | $140.00 + $12.00 City Field Use Fee (2023) (scholarships are available for those needing assistance contact baseball@baaonline.org) |
Juniors Baseball [ LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS ]
| Age Group | Currently in 4th or 5th grade. |
| Player Experience | To teach children the fundamental skills of baseball including running the bases, pitching, player positions, batting, fielding, and teamwork are continued. |
| Game Fundamentals | Player pitch from a distance of 45 feet. Base distance is 60 feet. Standings are recorded and a season-ending tournament is played. |
| Where | Baseball fields all around Bloomington. |
| When | The season runs from the end of April to late July. M | W or T | Th evenings plus BAA and Championship Weekends. The playoffs start in mid-July and run during the week into the Championship weekend. Note that a few times during the season the M |W league may play on a T | Th evening and vice versa depending on the number of teams in the league. First two weeks of the season M | W teams practice Friday evenings and T | Th practice Saturday mornings. |
| Equipment | Every child receives pants, a hat, and a jersey. The team is provided with: bats, balls, batting helmets, catcher gear, baseball tee, and bases. Each child needs to provide their own glove and protective cup. Molded cleats are optional. |
| Registration / Fees | $140.00 + $12.00 City Field Use Fee (2023 fees) (scholarships are available for those needing assistance contact baseball@baaonline.org) |
Bantam Baseball [ LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS ]
| Age Group | Currently in 6th, 7th, or 8th grade. |
| Player Experience | To continue the development of baseball fundamentals with an emphasis on advancing technical skills. Sportsmanship and teamwork are central to the experience. |
| Game Fundamentals | Player pitch from a distance of 52 feet. Base distance is 75 feet. Standings are recorded and a season-ending tournament is played. |
| Where | Baseball fields all around Bloomington. |
| When | The season runs from the end of April to late July. T | TH evenings with BAA and Championship Weekends. The playoffs start in mid-July and run during the week into the Championship weekend. Due to field availability M | W games and practices may be scheduled. (No more than 2 games/practices per week after games begin.) First two weeks of the season M | W teams practice Friday evenings and T | Th practice Saturday mornings. |
| Equipment | Every child receives pants, a hat, and a jersey. The team is provided with: bats, balls, batting helmets, catcher gear, baseball tee, and bases. Each child needs to provide their own glove and protective cup. Molded cleats are suggested. |
| Registration / Fees | $150.00 + $12.00 City Field Use Fee (2023 fees) (scholarships are available for those needing assistance contact baseball@baaonline.org) |
Majors Baseball [ LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS ]
| Age Group | Currently in 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th grade |
| Player Experience | Once in High School, we continue to offer baseball for those players that want to continue with the fun of baseball into the summer. |
| Game Fundamentals | Standings are recorded and a season-ending tournament is played. |
| Where | Games will be in Bloomington, Burnsville, Apple Valley, and possibly other south metro locations. At least half of our games will be in Bloomington. Practices will all be in Bloomington. |
| When | A typical season starts in mid-May and ends in mid-July. Majors league plays on Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday evenings. Sunday and Wednesday games will be played against the South Metro Teams. Mondays will be either practice or scrimmages played against other Bloomington teams. |
| Equipment | Every player receives pants, a hat, and a jersey. The team is provided with: bats, balls, batting helmets, catcher gear, baseball tee, and bases. Each player needs to provide their own glove and protective cup. Metal cleats are allowed. |
| Registration / Fees | $160.00 + $12.00 City Field Use Fee (2023 fees) (scholarships are available for those needing assistance contact baseball@baaonline.org) |
CONTACTS:
BAA Baseball Level Directors |
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| Mini-Mites Kindergarten in Fall of this year | Kent Jones | kent@encompassinc.com | 952-484-6318 |
| Instructional-M/W & T/TH K - 1 grades | Tim Grams | tgrams4@msn.com | 952-201-6279 |
| Mites- M/W 1 - 2 grades | Scott Fergus | scott.fergus@ppm.us.com | 312-813-3839 |
| Mites- T/TH 1 - 2 grades | OPEN | ||
| Cubs- M/W & T/TH 3rd grade | Steve Halpin | stevenrhalpin@aol.com | 952-905-0740 |
| Juniors 4 - 5 grade | Kent Jones | kent@encompassinc.com | 952-484-6318 |
| Bantams 6 - 8 grades | OPEN | ||
| Majors 9 - 12 grades | OPEN | ||
BAA Baseball Contacts |
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| Commissioner | Chris Nicholson | baseball@baaonline.org | 612-363-2875 |
| Equipment Director | Grant Gartland | baseballequipment@baaonline.org | |
| Assistant Equipment Director | Mike Littmann | mlittmann@comcast.net | 952-844-0133 |
| Coaching Development Director | Mike Steffen | ||
| Scheduling | Field Coordinator | OPEN | baseballscheduling@baaonline.org | |
| Chief Umpire | Grant Garland *interim* | baseballchiefumpire@baaonline.org | |
| Umpire Coordinator | Cassie Mather | baseballumps@baaonline.org | |
| Tournament and Event Coordinator | OPEN | ||
| Administrator | Stephanie Nicholson | admin@baaonline.org | 952-222-5162 |
BAA Sponsor Discounts
Dick’s Sporting Goods Coupon | Baseball 365 Coupon
Baseball Rulebook | Majors / BAC Rulebook | Majors / BAC Rules Notes | Bat & Helmet Diagram | Postponed Game Policy | Baseball Heat Policy | Rotation Sheet | Game Incident Form | Recording Scores
2022 Coaching Clinic Notes | Routine Toolbox | Practice Plan Example
