Welcome to Lakeland Highlands Babe Ruth Website

Thank you for considering Lakeland Highlands Babe Ruth Baseball (LHBRB) for your next Baseball Season!

We are a growing baseball community in the heart of Lakeland and are excited that you are here! Below, you will find plenty of information that will answer all of your questions. If there is any information that you are looking that you find is missing, please feel free to email us at LHBRBpresident@yahoo.com  Again, Welcome! 

About Us

Pete Roberson moved to Highland City in 1977 with a dream.  With his love for baseball and his community, Pete and a few other gentlemen such as, Mr. Gene Henderson, Mr. James Pervatt and Mr. Tommy Mann saw the dream through.  In the late 90's Hershel Thompson took over as the President of the park and continued to push for excellence. The park received a new concession stand. Lakeland Highlands Babe Ruth Baseball was selected as Polk County's "Park Of The Year" in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2019!

Lakeland Highlands Babe Ruth Baseball is committed to keeping this dream alive by providing the best possible experience for our players and their families. 

Important Dates: 

-Registration Opens: Now accepting Late Registrations based on division availability 

-Assessments: Week of Jan 10th, 2022 (see Schedule below)

-Practices Start: Week of Jan 17th, 2022

-Registration Closes: Late Registration will close Sun Jan 16th, 2022

-Opening Ceremonies: Saturday, February 19th, 2022

-Picture Day: Saturday, March 12th, 2022 -More info to follow

-Closing Ceremonies: TBD

*Other events can be added through-out the Season. Please check back for updates regularly.* 

 

Assessments Dates:

-Coach Pitch/Tball: Monday Jan 10th, 2022 6pm Field 1

-Rookie: Tuesday, Jan 11th, 2022 6pm Field 1

-Minors: Thursday Jan 13th, 2022 6pm Field 3

-Majors: Friday Jan 14th, 2022 6pm Field 2

-Prep: Monday, Jan 10th, 2022 6pm Field 4

-Instructional: No Assessments, players are randmonly placed upon a team and contacted by their Team Manager before Practice Starts. 

-Seniors: Season is open now. Sign up now to play! 

 

Age Requirement: 

Whatever your Child's age is on May 1st, 2022 will determine the league they play in for the Spring 2022 Season regardless of what their age is when you sign them up. 

-Instructional T-Ball: 3 and 4 year olds

-Coach Pitch/T-Ball: 5 and 6 year olds

-Rookie (machine pitch): 7 and 8 year olds

-Minors: 9 and 10 year olds

-Majors: 11 and 12 year olds

-Prep: 13 - 15 year olds

-Seniors: 16 - 18 year olds (you can be 17, and turn 18 during the season to be eligible to play Seniors, but not sign up already as an 18 year old for liability reasons)

 

So, if you have a child who is 8 now, but turns 9 on March 25th (as an example) then they play in the Minors Division, not in the Rookie Division since on May 1st they would be 9. 

Conversely, if your child is 6 now, and they turn 7 on May 2nd 2022 , then they are more than welcome to still play in the Coach Pitch/T-ball Division instead of moving up to the Rookie Division. 

 

These Age Requirements are what our park follows for the Spring and Fall Seasons. 

 

As always, as a parent if you want to pull your child “up” to play in an older division, that is up to you! Each situation will be on a case by case basis between the parents and the league in determining if this is best for the child and league. However if you pull up,  you cannot move back down until the season is complete. 

 

Division Explanation: 

The best way to explain each Division is to head on over to our “rules” section, and read them! A quick overview is:

 

-Instructional: Is for 1st time or very young 3 and 4 year olds. They learn the basics of the game. They use “throw down” bases on a real baseball field to shorten the base paths. Offensively each team will bat every player 2xs. Runs scored and outs are not counted. Players hit off a Tee. Defensively, you try to get as many outs as you can, teaching correct baseball fundamentals. There are no Umpires in Instructional. 

 

-Coach Pitch/T-Ball : Is for 5 and 6 year olds. The coach will throw the 1st 2 pitches to the batter from his knee or sitting on a bucket approximately half-way between the pitcher's mound and home plate. If the batter is not successful at putting either ball into play, they will then get to use a Tee. If they fail to put the ball into play on their 1st swing off the Tee, but make contact with the ball, then they get one more swing. If they miss the ball completely on their 1st swing, or fail to put the ball into play on their 2nd attempt, they are out. Runs scored and Outs are kept in this division. 

 

-Rookie: Is for 7 and 8 year olds, and the 1st time they get to hit a ball thrown from a pitching machine. They get 4 good pitches to put the ball into play, otherwise it will be considered a strikeout. 

 

-Minors: Is for 9 and 10 year olds and is where the kids begin to pitch themselves, and can begin to learn how to steal. 

 

-Majors: Is for 11 and 12 year olds where the kids stealing becomes more advanced, as well as the pitching; paying attention to pick-offs, balks and pitch selection. 

 

-Prep: Is for 13 to 15  year olds and is as close as possible to pure baseball rules with few modifications. 

 

-Seniors: Is for 16 to 18 year olds and follow pure baseball rules. More than likely this will include travel to other ballparks within Polk County and beyond. 

 

Costs: 

-Instructional: $35

-Coach Pitch/Tball: $65

-Rookie: $65

-Minors: $75

-Majors: $75

-Prep: $85

-Seniors: $100

*Late fees will apply if you sign up after the original sign up session has expired* 

 

Important Information:

-League Dues: All league dues are to be paid prior to being placed on a team. League dues are paid via the website with a Debit/Credit Card only. No cash accepted. If extenuating circumstances exist, please do not hesitate to reach out to the League President to discuss. No child should be left behind.

 

-Game Days will be: Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri. 2 games a week for 8 weeks.

16 Games per season, plus Opening Ceremonies, and either the 1 or 2 Week Tournaments, depending on the Season. 

 

-Practices: Will be 1x on either Mon, Tues, Thurs, or Fri, and 1x on Saturday.  Practices during the week start at either 6pm or 730pm, and on Saturday can start anytime from 9am thru the end of the day. Each Practice is approximately an hour long leaving enough time to clear the fields for the next team. 

2 Practices a week until the season starts. Once the season starts, practices are Saturday only. Days and Times of practices are decided by the Volunteer Managers, with special consideration given to the younger players and earlier time slots first. 

 

-Uniforms: The league will provide you with a League Shirt and Hat. Your Manager will determine the color of the Pants, Belt and Socks to wear. 

 

End of Season Tournament  

-Spring: is a 2 week, double elimination tournament. 

-Fall: is a 1 week, single elimination Tournament.  

Seeding for the End of Season Touraments will be determined by the end of Week 7 Standings. The end of Week 7 will also determine the Home Run Champions for the appropriate divisions. 

 

-Rain-out Games: are not made up. If it becomes that we have excessive games lost to weather conditions, we will revisit this! All Rain out games will be communicated around 4:30PM on Gameday via Email/Facebook/Text message/SSU app.

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

 

-Communication: is Important! We will communicate throughout the season with you through the SSU app, Email, Text Messages and Facebook. 

 

-Board Meetings: 1st Wednesday of each month, 630PM in the Boardroom! All are welcome! 

 

-All Stars: More info to come soon

 

-Sponsorships: Head on over to our Sponsors tab for more info! All Team Managers are required to secure a sponsorship for each season they participate in.

 

What are the Following?

 

-Opening Ceremonies: Where we take a moment to honor our past and look forward to our future! We recognize our Board of Directors, our Teams and our Sponsors! Then we Play Ball!

 

-Closing Ceremonies: Where we take a moment to thank our players and teams once more, and recognize our Division Champions! In the Fall we recognize our “Rising Stars”, and let them play one more game of baseball; and in the Spring we recognize our All Stars as they get ready to represent our park in the State Tournament!

 

-Work Day: Each Friday before Opening Ceremonies where we come together to make sure our park is looking good! Always involves light work, so come ready to serve! Time TBD.

 

-Volunteers: We are always looking for Volunteer Managers, Coaches, Team Parents! The Manager is the team lead, the Coaches will assist, and the Team Parent will help in the dugout and organize fundraisers, snack schedules, etc. Anyone in contact with a player on the field must be Coaching Certified and have a background check at a minimum. All Managers are required to get a Team Sponsor for each season as well. See Sponsorship letter for more info. 

 

FAQs:

 

• My child is ______  years old, what division should they play in? 

  • They should play in whichever division lines up with whatever their age will be on May 1st, 2022. See the Age Requirement section for additional information. 

 

• I missed assessments, can I still sign up?

  • As long as we have space, absolutely! Divisions fill quickly, so sign up early!

 

• What do I need to bring to asssessments?

  • ​For Assessments you should bring your glove, bat, batting helmet and probably a drink. You do not have to wear baseball pants or a jersey, though most will. Athletic clothes are just fine. Cleats are ok to wear, and it is always a good idea to wear a cup. 

 

• When will my child's Jersey come in?

  • Your player jersey and hat will be in before Opening Ceremonies. It will be picked up by your team manager the Friday night during the annual work day before Opening Ceremonies. If you are a part of the “late sign ups” crowd, your jersey and hat will be in as soon as possible based upon vendor availability. 

 

• My Child is not doing well with their team/coach, or their friend is on another team, can we switch to another team?

  • To keep the draft process intact and run by integrity, we do not allow team swaps. Trust the process! They will have a great time by the season's end! 

 

• How do Assessments work, and what are they?

  • Your child will go through a catching, throwing, fielding, running and hitting workout. They will be graded on their performance, and drafted accordingly. 

 

• My Child would like to play on the same team as their friend, or be with a certain coach, can that happen?

  • Requests are just that, a request. Every effort is made to honor them, but it is ultimately up to the Managers drafting. Nothing will be done that compromises the integrity of the draft process. The only guarantee is that “same home” siblings / family must be on the same team, unless otherwise specified by the parents.

 

• When do my child's Instructional Assessments take place? 

  • ​Instructional players do not have assessments. they are placed on a team and will be contacted the weekend immediately after Assessments by their manager and at that time will learn their team names, colors, practice schedules, etc. 

​

• Bat Rules:

  Babe Ruth League Bat Rules

  2022

  Instrtuctional and Coach Pitch/T-Ball

  USA Baseball T-Ball Stamp

  Cal-Ripken Baseball-Rookie and Minors

  USA Baseball Marking 2 5/8" Barrel Maximum NO BBCOR BATS

  Babe Ruth Baseball 13-15 Prep

  USA Baseball Marking or BBCOR .50 2 5/8” Barrel

  Babe Ruth Baseball 16-18 Seniors

  All Bats Must Be BBCOR .50 No Greater Than -3