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Well-attended event teaching skills and drills for Baseball has one more session this Saturday, March 8, 9-11 a.m. at Salemwood School
By Steve Freker
The weather is changing from frigid to warmer, the days are getting longer and the first official day of Spring Season is a mere two weeks away from today. All of this means it’s time for Baseball!
Malden Youth Baseball/Cal Ripken League for players ages five to 12 and the Malden Recreation Department were the hosts of a well-attended instructional baseball clinic at the Sam Fishman Fieldhouse at the Salemwood K-8 School last Saturday, March 1. It was the first day of a two-day event that is being held on two consecutive Saturday mornings. The second Saturday will be held tomorrow morning, March 8, at the Salemwood School gym.
The event is free, open to boys and girls, and participants are encouraged to bring equipment, such as gloves and bats, if they have it; otherwise, it will be provided at the event. Check-in is at 8:30 a.m. at the Salemwood gym, 529 Salem St., and the clinic will be held from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.
Over 40 Malden kids participated in the free baseball event on Saturday, from all of that age range, where they either learned new baseball skills or refined the ones they already possessed. Malden Recreation provided the space at the Salemwood School and some of the equipment for the instructional event as well as some volunteer staff, which included some members of the Malden High School Baseball Team. The instruction and drills were led by a solid contingent of coaches and team managers from the Malden Cal Ripken Baseball League, led by League President Rob Marshall and Vice President Brendan Brett.
“It was a great turnout for players and by coaches from Malden Cal Ripken Baseball,” said Marshall, who is in his first year as league president. “We are grateful for all of the help from the volunteers and also to Malden Recreation and Director Joe Levine and the city of Malden for providing the use of the facility for this event.”
“We are happy to host this great baseball event for the youth of Malden and we support the Malden Youth Baseball organization and all youth sports groups in this city,” Malden Recreation’s Joe Levine said. “It was a very impressive turnout. The kids who participated and the adults and high school volunteers from Malden High all had a lot of fun.”
“We are expecting another great day of baseball this coming Saturday [March 8],” Levine said.
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Registration for the 2025 season is now underway
Registration is now underway for Malden Youth Baseball/Cal Ripken League.
“We are looking forward to another great season,” Vice President Brendan Brett said, noting that over 200 Malden kids participated in the four age levels of Baseball last season: T-Ball (4-6 years old), Farm League (7-8 years old), Minor Division (9-11 years old) and Major Division (10-12 years old).
Anyone wishing to register their child should go to the Malden Youth Baseball website: www.maldenyouthbaseball.org. Assistance with no-cost equipment, such as gloves and cleats, and financial assistance with registration costs is available, according to league officials.
Malden Youth Baseball/Cal Ripken League has programs for players ages 4-12 years old
Malden Youth Baseball is a nonprofit organization that develops and supervises any and all children wanting to play baseball.
Our goal is to ensure any child interested in playing baseball, ages four years old to 12 years old, will have the chance in an organized setting. The league’s board members work year round trying to provide for the children of Malden the best baseball program possible. There is no reward for this except seeing the smiling faces of the children when they get that first hit or catch the ball without any help from the coaches.
Following is a breakdown by age and experience of the four divisions of play
Major League (10 years old to 12 years old): This league provides a higher level of competition but is a continuation of the instructional leagues. A regulation baseball is used. Placement is determined by tryouts and player draft. Team records and league standings are kept. Trophies are awarded to the 1st place team. All-Stars are selected for tournament play.
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Minor League (9 years old to 12 years old): Transitional league with the introduction of competition. Tryouts are recommended for all players to enable coaches to evaluate and draft players. Regulation baseballs are used. Fundamentals of base stealing are introduced. Official games with umpires are scheduled two to three times a week. Team records and league standings are kept. Trophies are awarded to the 1st place team.
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Farm League: (7 years old and 8 years old): Instructional minor league for children to teach further the basic fundamentals of baseball. Coach pitch is used for the entire year with player pitch introduced ½ way in the season. In this league, the players continue to learn the basics of the field positions and learn how to play the game with others. The players are now being shown proper techniques on throwing, catching and how the game moves. Scores of games are not kept and there are no league standings. Games are scheduled till the end of June. The last week of June is the outdoor banquet for the kids.
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T Ball League (4 years old to 6 years old): Instructional league for children to teach the basic fundamentals of baseball. Players will learn to hit from a batting tee with the assistance of a coach. This is to allow the player the chance to learn proper swing and lineup for hitting the ball. The players also start to learn the different positions by name to better understand the field. But mostly the kids start to learn about being part of a team. This allows for low injury factor baseball for them to learn. Scores of games are not kept and there are no league standings. Games are scheduled till the end of June. The last week of June is the outdoor banquet for the kids.
