Beech Tree News Network

Butler County Youth Baseball Association is ready to kick off another season and welcome back players to the ball fields.  This will be BCYBA’s second year playing under Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth Organization and the league organizers would like to build on the very successful inaugural year!

Last spring the league had approximately 200 children from ages 4 thru 15 register that made up a total of 18 teams! There were five Jr. Rookie teams, four Rookie teams, four Minor teams, three Major teams and for the first time since 2009 the league had a Babe Ruth team for the 13-15 year olds.
The league had some impressive on the field accomplishments.  Our rookie All-Star team got to play in the state tournament in Louisville.  Our minor All-Star team made it to district semi-finals and in the state tournament was knocked out by a Larue county team that made it to the state semi-finals.  Our major All-Star team battled hard in the state tournament and beat a good Owensboro team 3 to 2, lost to a team they were very familiar with in Bowling Green 5 to 3, and lost to the eventual state runner-up Elizabethtown 3 to 1.  Our Babe Ruth team played in the state tournament in Benton, KYand despite being young compared to the other teams earned the number 5 seed out of 11 teams and was knocked out by a good Breckinridge County team in the quarter finals.
The league had some other accomplishments as well.  Thanks to the tremendous support of our sponsors and volunteers the league was able to make some improvements to the baseball facilities at the park.  Some of the improvements included:
•    The addition of new scorer\storage buildings to the rookie and minor fields.
•    The addition of new safety barriers to the dugouts on the Babe Ruth field (former HS field).
•    Having a mural painted on the 1st Base dugout on the Babe Ruth Field.
•    The addition of a batting cage behind the Babe Ruth field.
•    Updating the fields and pitching mounds to accommodate both minor and major 50/70 divisions per Cal Ripken\Babe Ruth regulations.
In addition to the park improvements, the league was able to establish a website http://bcyouthbaseball.siplay.comthat was used to register players, maintain schedules, advertise the league sponsors, communicate with parents, and assist with record keeping.