The following describes HLL's league placement process. Placement is based on a player ranking system, which is determined from a combination of factors including: Evaluation Results, “Little League Age”, prior spring season’s Team Ranking, and prior spring season’s Age/League Ranking.
Placement does NOT incorporate the school grade of the player.
Evaluations for the spring season take place in the prior fall. Evaluations are used to evaluate a player’s ability to help with team/league placement in the following season. At each evaluation, players cycle through 4 stations – hitting, infielding, outfielding and pitching.
Little League Age is determined using the Little League International birthday cut-off dates, which are December 31 for softball and August 31 for baseball. More information on Little League Age determinations can be found here: https://www.littleleague.org/play-little-league/determine-league-age/
The method of ranking players is as follows:
A player can achieve a maximum value of 4 points, calculated by:
- Evaluation Results (up to 1 point) - Scored by Independent Evaluators
- Team Ranking (up to 0.50 points) - Scored by the Team's Coaches from the prior year
- “Little League Age” (up to 0.25 points) - Sliding scale with 12-year olds earning the most
- Age/League Ranking (up to 1 point) - Scored by the League's Head Coaches from the prior year
- League Points (up to 1.25 points) - Sliding scale with prior year's Majors/12U participants earning the most
Baseball League Ages and Placements
The above player ranking system is used for placement and draft order determination for the following BASEBALL leagues and ages:
- Majors – 12’s and 11’s
- Quad-A – 11’s and 10’s
- Triple-A – 10’s and 9’s
- Double-A – 9’s and 8’s
- Single-A – 8’s and 7’s (Rankings and evaluations used for placement of 8’s; but there are no drafts at this level. Evaluations are not required for 7’s.)
As noted above, each league level spans two age groups, i.e. baseball 11’s may be placed in either Quad A or Majors; baseball 10’s may be placed in either Triple A or Quad A; and so forth for all the levels. Players must have completed evaluations to be considered for placement in the higher level for their age group.
The following are “non-draft” leagues and placement is determined by baseball age (age as of August 31). Evaluations are not required.
- Instructional – 7’s and 6’s
- Co-Ed Tee-Ball – 5’s
Softball League Ages and Placements
The above player ranking system is used for placement and draft order determination for the following SOFTBALL leagues and ages:
- 12U – 12’s and 11’s with a small number of 10’s
- 10U – 10’s and 9’s with a small number of 8’s
For softball, all players softball age 11 and 12 are automatically placed in 12U and the ranking system is used for draft order determination. Depending on the number of players and the number of 12U teams, a small number of 10 year old players may be added to 12U to fill out the rosters. The 10U teams are then comprised of the remaining 9 year olds and 10 year olds, supplemented by a small number of 8 year olds as required to fill out those rosters.
Players must have completed evaluations to be considered for placement in the higher level for their age group. For example, 10 year olds who wish to be considered for 12U must complete evaluations.
The following are “non-draft” leagues and placement is determined by softball age (age as of December 31, except for Co-Ed Ball which is based on baseball age). Evaluations are not required.
- 8U – 8’s and 7’s, occasionally some 6’s considered on a limited, case-by-case basis
- 6U – 6’s and 5’s (girls age 5 with birthdays between September 1 and December 31 may choose either 6U softball or Co-Ed Tee-Ball)
- Co-Ed Tee-Ball – age 5’s (as of August 31, per baseball age cutoff)