The Rock Hill Youth Baseball Advisory Board decided the time is right to make changes that will give the city's programs wider appeal.
The board and members of the Rock Hill PRT Department will co-host a town meeting on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the Sullivan Middle School auditorium, where they will hold a question and answer session and announce changes for the upcoming season.
"We felt that in the past we just threw the kids out there and started playing," said Jody Hager, the board's vice chairman. "We have several new board members, and we feel we should inform the parents as to what is going get them more involved.
"We will answer questions and consider suggestions. We want to make our league the best possible, and we want to supply parents information that will give them the opportunity to decide if their kids play city or travel baseball."
The board is chaired by Tim Smith. Ted Cox is the treasurer. The board also includes Clay Goodyear, Tony Breeden, Paul Wilson and Michael Herndon.
They govern the three Dixie Baseball Association programs sponsored by the city: Youth (ages 9-10), Ozone (11-12), and Boys (13-14).
Along with the RHPRT, the board has adopted several major rules changes and others of a lesser nature.
The change that Hager spoke highly of is the way the player draft will be handled.
"The kids will try out and we will evaluate them according to skill level," he said. "They will be placed into several categories -- like 1, 2, 3 -- with hopes of making every team competitive when the rosters are filled. Our goal is to get away from one team having all the top-skilled players.''
A pitch-count rule is also in place. In past years, a pitcher could work a set number of innings per week. The new rule sets pitches per game and per week for each pitcher. Once those numbers are reached, said pitcher is finished for the week.
The numbers, Hager said, are lower for the Youth and slightly more for the older Ozone players. Dixie Boys teams have a pitch count in place, but the numbers have been lowered.
"This is a local thing and we'll reveal the numbers at our meeting," Hager said. "Another change this year that we like is all teams will start their season on March 24, a Saturday."
The meeting is open to the public. If you have a child either playing or interested in playing, you are urged to attend. Hager said he, the other board members and the RHPRT welcome any and all feedback.
