Tempe South runs two Farm Divisions. Every year there are typically 5 to 7 teams in each division allowing 150-180 children between the ages of 6 & 9) the chance to play spring baseball.
Farm National:
For ages 6 & 7.
Farm National is a machine pitch league which focuses on teaching the fundamentals of baseball and the game itself. Players graduating from T-Ball move up to Farm National.
Farm National is an instructional league, where for the first time players will try to hit a ball moving through the air. The pitching machine is used to try and create some level of consistency for the player as they start to master the difficult timing of swinging a bat at a baseball flying through space.
Rules
- Bases are 60 feet apart
- No score is kept. All games end in a “tie”
- Coaches feed baseballs to the machine for their own team
- No umpires. Coaches from both teams are encouraged to cooperate and help make sure both teams have a positive experience
- In general, players are allowed more than 3 strikes (emphasis is on success) however, coaches are allowed to call their own players out to keep the game moving.
- Players who are “put out” by a defensive play leave the field and return to their own dugout.
- For time sake, each half inning (top and bottom) consists of roughly half the team batting, regardless of how many outs there are.
- Team sizes: 11-14
- Players may request coaches and friends.
- Only the batter may hold and swing a bat. No one else.
Safety is a top priority in all little league events
The Farm League Director will do their best to place friends together or with requested coaches, however it is not uncommon for a popular coach or player to have more then 20 friend requests making it impossible / impractical to put everyone together. With this in mind please understand the League Director will due their very best to balance personal requests with team and league needs.
Emphasis
The emphasis for Farm National is to teach some very basic fundamentals. Including
- The proper way to hold and throw a baseball
- How to catch a baseball
- How to field a grounder
- How to swing a bat and hit a ball
- The names of all the positions
- Base running (going to first on a hit)
- Making an “out”
In general, the goal of Farm National Coach is to keep the kids busy, engaged and (hopefully) having fun. Baseball is a difficult sport for this age because of how much standing around that can be involved. In reality, the practices, if setup properly can be much more fun than the games because properly setup many more kids can be active and involved at once. Lots of parental involvement is encouraged to help keep the kids engaged.
The drills section of the website will include more information on running a basic Farm National Practice and Game.
Farm American
For ages 8 & 9.
Farm American is a machine pitch league that begins to introduce the first elements of competitive play. The idea is to build upon fundamental concepts introduced in Farm National. Again, coaches should assume that this is the first time some of these players have played baseball. However, at this age Coaches will begin to see players who have been playing for several years and are quite passionate about the sport.
The difference in skills at this age can be dramatic, and it is one of the great (but rewarding) challenges for the Farm American Manager to balance the needs of the new player with the desire for the more experienced player to develop their baseball skills.
Rules
- Bases are 60 feet apart
- No score is kept. All games end in a “tie”, however there is now a run limit. If a team scores 5 runs the half inning is over and the other team may bat.
- Coaches feed baseballs to the machine for their own team
- No umpires. Coaches from both teams are encouraged to cooperate and help make sure both teams have a positive experience
- Players may now “strike out”. However, if both coaches agree it is in the best interest of the teams development, they may give a player extra pitches.
- Players who are “put out” by a defensive play leave the field and return to their own dugout. When the defense records 3 outs the inning is over.
- However, if the coaches agree (this often happens early in the season) for the first inning they may let both sides bat their complete side to give everyone a turn, then resort to 3 outs for all following innings
- Team sizes: 11-13
- Players may request coaches and friends.
- Only the batter may hold and swing a bat. No one else.
Emphasis
Farm American is the first level of introduction for players into baseballs competitive side with run limits, and recorded outs. At this age groups the players have the ability to begin to learn more fundamental skills and will learn through repetition. The goal is always to have fun, but now players can really “practice” as opposed to just being busy. They will learn rapidly as they are exposed to new skills, it will just take many repetitions for them to develop the neuro-muscular ability to execute what they are being taught.
Drills and skills should be built around giving as many players as many repetitions as possible in order to help the players build muscle memory. Some abstract concepts will be harder to convey – the reasoning behind certain rules (like why you can run through first but not second), or why some situations result in a force out but others require a tag out. However, at this age most 8 & 9 year olds are able to rapidly assimilate new physical skills through repetition and their ability to play catch and swing a bat to hit a ball will improve dramatically. Focus for the coach should be on encouraging and developing those fundamental skills.
- The proper way to hold and throw a baseball (4 seam grip)
- How to catch a baseball in all 4 Zones (forehand, backhand, above the belt, below the belt)
- How to field a grounder.
- How to catch a fly ball.
- Proper stance and mechanics for swinging a bat to hit a thrown ball.
- The names of all the positions
- Responsibilities for all the positions
- Intermediate base running (going to first on a hit) with fly balls, runners on base, outs.
- Making outs through force outs and tags.
The rest of this website will include more information and drills for the Farm American manager as we fill in and collect information from other coaches, but the goals here are to foster the enthusiasm the players already have for the sport. Much like Farm National, practices stand to be more fun than games because more kids can be involved at once. However, at this age it is appropriate to start to introduce fun competitions in practice (who can throw the farthest, how many catches without drops can each pair of players make in 60 seconds).
The goal of Farm American Division is to get players ready at the end of the season to move up to kid pitch Minors the following year. At the end of Farm American every player should feel confident in trying out for Minors. In Minors players will be drafted and there is a showcase where players will be evaluated on the following criteria
- How well they can catch a fly ball and throw it to a player on the in field
- How well they can field a grounder and throw it to first base
- How well they can hit a pitched baseball (thrown for their age and ability – the pitchers want the kids to hit)
- How well they run the bases
Players showcasing for Minors will also be given an opportunity to show how well they can pitch, and how well they can catch (player catcher and make the throw down to second base), even though these two skills are not taught or practiced in the Farm System.
