Community Corner
Register for Toluca Baseball’s Springs Season!
Boys and girls, aged 4-14, are invited to register for Toluca Baseball’s upcoming spring season. On-line registration is available via www.TolucaBaseball.com with $50 discounts through Dec. 31.
“Toluca Baseball is fun for the whole family,” said Toluca mom Amelia Powell, whose daughter and son both play in the league. “I love watching my kids play baseball, and we have befriended many families through Toluca.”
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Toluca Baseball’s fields are located in Studio City, just west of Lankershim Blvd. at North Weddington Park and South Weddington Park. Its grass infields are widely considered among the finest in Southern California, and Toluca Baseball is building new practice facilities to enhance player development.
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As an affiliate of PONY Baseball, Toluca Baseball is organized into five co-ed age groups for kids aged 5-15 with April 30 as the birth date cutoff. Evaluations are scheduled for January 25, and players will be drafted the following week. Each team will practice twice a week in February, including Saturdays. In March, weekday practices will continue as games will be played every Saturday. As the days get longer in spring, teams for 7-14 year olds will usually have a weekday game as well. The spring season will conclude on June 7, followed by PONY all-star tournaments. Last summer, three of Toluca’s all-star teams reached the semi-regionals.
The Shetland division is for 5-6 year olds and includes coach pitch with soft baseballs. After three strikes, players will bat off tees to put the balls in play.
Toluca is unique in that kids begin pitching (when they are ready) in the Pinto division, which is split between 7-8 year olds. The older divisions introduce the players to more baseball concepts such as leadoffs, balks, infield fly rules, and more.
Toluca also offers an introductory program for four year olds. The “4s Training Camp” meets on Sunday afternoons at South Weddington Park and provides instructional stations for boys and girls to develop basic skills in a fun and nurturing environment. Like the other divisions, all coaches are volunteers and Toluca urges all parents to get involved in some capacity during the season.
For 13-14 year olds, Toluca has started a program for teens seeking opportunities to improve their skills and prepare for tryouts at their high schools. Under the guidance of 20-year collegiate coach, Denny Barrett (who played at Toluca and later starred at Notre Dame HS), the players in the Pony division will receive expert instruction, and parents will be introduced to high school coaches and provided with useful information about academics and parenting young athletes.
“Whether Pony players are interested in playing at the high school level or just playing for the sheer love of baseball, Toluca’s Pony player development program has a spot for everybody,” says Denny Barrett, who has coached future major leagues such as MLB all-stars Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson.
More than 700 boys and girls are expected to register for Toluca’s spring season. Most divisions fill up so parents are encouraged to register soon to avoid being waitlisted. Some divisions are already half-full.
