Boys Baseball-Spring (Raleigh: how much, live, price)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think we need some clarification before we can make recommendations.
You started by saying you wanted a competitive league but prefer to stay away from the "cut-throat" type of parents. My experience, locally, is that these two tend to go hand in hand. There are many people who talk up West Raleigh baseball, but from what I've heard the parents are exactly as you described. I don't have experience with how that league is run, so I can't speak firsthand. My son's team has played their "all-star" travel team and whooped them every time, so we we didn't feel their level of play matched the the way people talk them up. In the interest of fair disclosure that was maybe 4 years ago so things could have changed.
If you want laid back, then rec league is your best bet, but the competition may or may not be there (it's all luck of the draw).
If your son has a passion for baseball and is able to play at above rec-ball, this is an excellent area for baseball. Tons of good teams and when he gets to high school, some great talent there as well.
Like I said, it's hard to judge what you're looking for from your post, but if you are looking at travel ball, one option is North Carolina Travel Ball. You can post there that you're looking for a team as well as read threads by coaches looking for players.
I agree completely. How well your team does is completely dependent upon how many automatic outs there are on your rec league team. My son played on a 16U rec league team in the fall and even in that age group, there were still children who struggled with basic throwing/catching/hitting skills.
Not sure the reason they do machine pitch so late. I have theorized it is due to limited field capacity vs. number of people who want to play, and it makes it easier to speed through the lineup and get more at bats in a game. [Also, the pitching machines are capricious, so require a multitude of adjustments during each game]
Which machine do they use? Also, dimpled balls often work better with the machines than do the seamed balls.
There is really no machine pitch in Johnston County, where I live, but it is also kid pitch after the 7/8 coach pitch group. That goes for boys and girls.
My daughter plays softball at the travel level. We started the travel team about a year ago. We can play coach/machine pitch level all of 2016 if we choose but will move the team up if we can get a few girls throwing some strikes. At the travel level, the sanctions will each choose if they are machine or coach pitch, so we can switch between them from one weekend to the next.
I agree completely. How well your team does is completely dependent upon how many automatic outs there are on your rec league team. My son played on a 16U rec league team in the fall and even in that age group, there were still children who struggled with basic throwing/catching/hitting skills.
Yes, the rec program is funny like that but at the end of the day it's about having fun. The rec teams that my son played on, historically you have 4-5 solid players, a handful of marginal players and 2-3 automatic outs. But as parents we still need to support all of the players because it is "recreational" and should be fun.
Back to the OP, depending on where in Cary you live, you could also check out the recreational leagues in surrounding towns. For me the largest thing to look for is the Babe Ruth affiliation (or at least the adoption of the rules). Holly Springs used to be affiliated with Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken and although no longer affiliated they maintained the rules.
The reason this is important is that the base lengths and pitching distance move with every age group. My son went to a middle school in Holly Springs that took in Fuquay kids. Fuquay plays (or at least played at that time) under little league rules. It was a shame that at the middle school level the Fuquay kids had no idea how to take a lead and steal a base.
Yes, the rec program is funny like that but at the end of the day it's about having fun. The rec teams that my son played on, historically you have 4-5 solid players, a handful of marginal players and 2-3 automatic outs. But as parents we still need to support all of the players because it is "recreational" and should be fun.
Back to the OP, depending on where in Cary you live, you could also check out the recreational leagues in surrounding towns. For me the largest thing to look for is the Babe Ruth affiliation (or at least the adoption of the rules). Holly Springs used to be affiliated with Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken and although no longer affiliated they maintained the rules.
The reason this is important is that the base lengths and pitching distance move with every age group. My son went to a middle school in Holly Springs that took in Fuquay kids. Fuquay plays (or at least played at that time) under little league rules. It was a shame that at the middle school level the Fuquay kids had no idea how to take a lead and steal a base.
The rules point is a very good one. Ripken rules made the game a whole lot more interesting than little league rules where you couldnt take a lead. It also meant for more offense, as taking 2nd was almost automatic and 3rd was fairly easy.
Yes, the rec program is funny like that but at the end of the day it's about having fun. The rec teams that my son played on, historically you have 4-5 solid players, a handful of marginal players and 2-3 automatic outs. But as parents we still need to support all of the players because it is "recreational" and should be fun.
I agree, my only caveat is that many schools around here are so large and so competitive, that sometimes only the elite players make the school team (or the ones with connections to coaches). There are a large number of players below the elite level who are looking for somewhere local to play. It would be helpful if there were something in between Rec ball (where everyone gets a trophy) and Travel ball (and the time commitments involved). Of course, I guess this is why you see parents go off and form their own travel teams so they can control that.
Actually it's funny because even in the realm of travel ball there are the elite teams, the good teams, and the rec/rec all star level teams. The beauty of this area is you could put together a team of 15 rec type players and still play within a half hour travel every weekend. I assume you have or will have a baseball player in your home...we are very fortunate to live in this area.
As for a level between rec and travel...baseball has select. It still requires players to try out and make the team. In truth, it is mostly travelers on the teams but it is a level between.
As for a level between rec and travel...baseball has select. It still requires players to try out and make the team. In truth, it is mostly travelers on the teams but it is a level between.
I think every town does their select teams differently. Reading the rulebook I posted for Holly Springs it looks like they have changed the selection process.
It used to be that there was a "tryout" and all of the coaches in the league voted on who should play on the select team. The caveat was that a coach couldn't vote for any kid on his team. But shockingly every coach's kid made the select team. There was an unwritten "you vote for my kid and I'll vote for your kid" rule.
I'll break it down another way if it helps. How many days during the week do you want him playing? At 9, West Raleigh is 4 units a week, units being either games or practices depending on where on the calendar you are. Some kids and parents like or want 4 units, others not as much at that age. Two of the big differences between West Raleigh and town leagues are units per week and cost. Cary Residents pay around $40 for rec baseball, non residents around 90. Same but reversed in Apex. West Raleigh is over $300.
All the leagues talked about have competitive kids and parents, west raleigh having more of both probably, but having had exposure to all of the leagues discussed all leagues have some of the parents you are trying to avoid. Kids and parents overlap in a lot of those leagues. Cary is a very good league for a rec league, big town, plenty of talented kids. It is machine pitch at 9, their theory being it moves the game along, gives batters better pitches to hit more consistently, and gives fielders more of an opportunity to make plays because there are less walks. And the fields are generally really nice. Apex is kids pitch at 9, league is competitive enough, fields are mixed because they use some school fields that aren't great. West Raleigh plays at their own complex, full Cal Ripken rules. We moved here with 9 year olds one who was a pitcher so we double dipped in Apex and Cary. The league start dates were different so there weren't many conflicts and even with both leagues we were at no more than 3 units a week for the few weeks of overlap.
Regarding your desire to coach, not a guarantee in West Raleigh. There is a coaching application process you need to go through and there are no guarantees they will need you as a coach. Coaches who have already been through their system usually get priority. For both players and coaches their fall league is easier to get into than their spring league and its not always based on talent its based on how many spots are available. Nothing against their league, they develop a high quality player, but they do things a certain way and its a time and financial commitment. The Cary league is bigger so they are usually looking for coaches.
At my son's age group, West Raleigh's all star team won the Ripken national championship, the town of Cary all star team won the state parks and rec championship. Plenty of players from each league will play high school baseball and/or play together on travel teams. But if he plays and you coach in Cary, you will have some rec only players on your roster. That won't be the case in West Raleigh due to the cost and selection process.
If you live in Cary, I suggest the Town of Cary league. Sign up at least because if you don't and try out in West Raleigh and don't get selected it might be too late to get on a team in Cary and you will be placed on a waiting list. You could also look into Apex if you want pitching. And remember all the leagues also have fall ball so you can change it up then if you want.
To everyone who has replied, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! I apologize for not responding sooner, but right after I made the original post I was called away for work and have just now had the time to sit down and digest all of the responses.
To clarify my initial post, my son is a very good ballplayer who was chosen for the All Star and Summer Select teams before we left Richmond. I think my comments regarding "every parent thinking they were raising the next Mike Trout" were maybe more for my benefit/piece of mind. I managed my son's Spring team that won the Silver Cup Championship in CLL right before we left Richmond. They were a good little team and I adored all of my boys, but I think the parents had lost their collective minds (some of mine as well as many of the parents of boys on teams we were playing against). There was one game where I actually had to leave the field and go physically restrain one of our parents because he was about to get in to a fistfight with a parent from the opposing team! That to me is ridiculous and I hate that the boys are exposed to that. I'm not delusional, I know parents get emotional and they want their boys to win but that is WAY out of control in my humble opinion.
BoSox15-you mentioned the league that your son played in whooped the W Raleigh boys. Do you mind if I ask which league he was playing in?
rf22777-sound advice all around. The question that I have is my son left a "hybrid league" in Richmond (the first 3 innings were machine pitch-to make sure we gave the batters a chance to develop, the last 3 inning were kid pitch-so we had a chance to develop our "arms" and give the boys the opportunity to start seeing some live pitching). Do you think the town leagues would be taking a step back?
Once again, thank you to everyone for responding! We didn't have a link like this in VA and I think that it's a wonderful tool, especially for someone new to the area such as myself.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I apologize for not responding sooner, but right after I made the original post I was called away for work and have just now had the time to sit down and digest all of the responses. 
