PONY Baseball is changing some rules effective the Spring 2018 season.

2 Rules regarding AGE and BATS are described below.

AGE
Rules 4 E and T 2 D – Change Birth Date to August 31 (from April 30).

Why – the age cut-off will be pushed back to August to better align with school cut-off ages. This also aligns with the Little League age cut-off.

Impact – Some current players might lose a year in a division in 2018 and have to skip to the next higher division. Players born May 1 to August 31 will be affected. For example, those first-year Pinto players (under the April 30 cut-off) in Spring 2017, would be a first year Mustang player in Spring 2018 under the new August 31 cut-off.

BATS
Rule 8 C 3 – 2 5/8 Bats
Effective January 1, 2018, all other minus factor bats (-5, -7, -9, etc.) must be YBBCOR Certified (USA Bat Licensing Stamp on bat).

Why: Safety. USA Baseball’s national member organizations believe that a wood-like performance standard will best provide for the long-term integrity of the game. These bats are made to mimic wood bats, lessening the “pop” factor and thus, reducing the potential injuries from hard hit balls, especially come-backers to pitchers.

Impact – All players will have to use YBBCOR or BBCOR stamped bats. Bat manufacturers should start making these bats available in 2017. Non-YBBCOR and non-BBCOR stamped bats will NOT be permitted starting on January 1, 2018.

Posted in 2017 Season