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Affiliation Change

By Webadmin, 01/28/23, 1:30PM CST

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The SMYBSA board voted to move the baseball operations of SMYBSA from Pony to Centex Baseball for the 2023 spring season. This move is on a trial basis, but the Board plans to continue with Centex for baseball if the new organization provides a better system for our baseball players and families.  

Q: Is this why the baseball age cutoff changed?

A: No. Pony also moved their age cutoff to April 31 for the 2023 season.

 

Q: What does this mean for our baseball season? 

A: It means very little for our regular season play. We will follow the same rules that we have been following. The only change that affects regular season play is the bat rules. [Rules (smybsa.org)]

 

Q: So, then what does this affect?

A: This mostly affects the all-star season. Centex all-star events take place in locations closer to San Marcos, and Centex restricts their all-star season to the month of June. The Centex all-star season is structured to take place over three weekends of pool play in the Central Texas area followed by a 4th Championship weekend, also located in Central Texas.

 

Note that Centex does have a rule that if a player plays in a a select tournament after March 1st they are ineligible to compete in all stars

If a player has played for an open, select or tournament team in a sanctioned tournament like Nations, Super Series, USSSA, Triple Crown, Centex Elite or other between March 1st 2022, and June 26th, 2022 they are not eligible to be placed on a Centex All Star team.

 

Q: What about softball?

A: Softball will run as it has during the regular season. However, recent Pony rule changes may cause the SMYBSA board to move our softball operations to Centex or another organization. This could happen during the regular season if a different all-star program will be better for our softball players and families. Keep in mind, therefore, that the All-Star Centex Baseball rules may apply to softball by the end of the season.