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Date: 4/9/2015
GREATER SPRINGFIELD – Softball has been an alternative for many baseball players but there’s nothing better than an adult baseball league to satisfy the appetite to “play ball.”
That’s right baseball – the real deal, hardball, nine innings, 90-foot bases, umpires, fast balls, curve balls, uniforms, stealing, rounding third and scoring.
The Valley Wheel Over-Thirty Baseball League is for players of all experience levels. Players range in experience from former college players to players who never played organized ball. Everyone else is somewhere in between.
All players improve in a competitive but friendly environment. Most players can catch up to a fastball so the most successful pitchers mix it up, changing speed and location. Players come from all parts of Western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut. Anyone can sign up.
“Imagine, I had to wait until I was 44 years old to be opening day starting pitcher,” Jim Nason of the Valley Wheel Baseball League, said. “The emphasis is not on winning, it’s really more a celebration of just being able to play baseball. It is more fun than you can imagine. It’s great to be part of a team and the camaraderie with a great bunch of guys”.
Valley Wheel Baseball League teams play around the Pioneer Calley in Springfield, Chicopee, West Springfield, Wilbraham and Agawam, as well as Enfield, CT.
Everyone must play at least four innings in the field and everyone bats. The league follows the major league baseball rulebook with some rules adapted with safety in mind. Practice takes place in April and a 15-game schedule is played on Sundays from May to August, excluding holiday weekends.
The league is now seeking new players to fill out open roster slots.
Enjoy the competition and camaraderie with a great group of guys who enjoy the game as much as you do. Stay in shape and make new friends. Be part of something that happens once a year, and with luck, win a championship that might be once in a lifetime.
Grab your glove and cleats and join a team for a great adventure. It’s not too late, don’t miss out; check the league website, ValleyWheelBaseball.com, and get your registration in.
For more information contact Nason at 433-4308.