UPDATED 11.12.24: 
Please Register for the 2025 O.L.Visitation Baseball Season starting November 15th
NOTE: 8U - 14U Registrations will open 11/15/24 - 12/8/24. Registrations received after 12/8/24 will be placed on a Waiting List & will NOT be guaranteed a roster spot.
NOTE: 5U, 7U & 15U Registration will open 11/15/24 - 1/31/25. Registrations received after 1/31/24 will be placed on a Waiting List & will NOT be guaranteed a roster spot.

Our baseball program is extremely unique in that we offer baseball for every level of skill and commitment while maintaining a sense of community through volunteerism from our parishioners. Our players have the opportunity to play with and compete with their friends and neighbors while receiving fantastic instruction and enjoying the fun of competition and teamwork. Players learn the value of teamwork & commitment to their school, religious values and parish while being active and learning the game of baseball. We encourage everyone to sign your boys up to play baseball at Our Lady of the Visitation; as it’s much more than a fun game for kids, it’s a great way to create friends and meet new families and an even better way to help serve our parish and Lord through volunteering and mentorship.

The goals of our baseball program are:

INCLUSION: We want to include and retain as many players as we can from year to year. We have a place for every player to have fun, learn & grow.

INSTRUCTION: We want to provide the highest level of coaching & instruction as we possibly can.
COMPETITION: We will strive to be the best competition others face and we will always seek opportunities to face better competition

IMPORTANT DATES FOR THE 2025 BASEBALL SEASON 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION REGARDING THE BASEBALL PROGRAM 

1. What are the levels available and age cut-offs? Please Note: Baseball is age-based so in many cases grade level is not applicable*

*By League Rules Players are allowed to play 1 age level up without prior league approval. This includes Try-Out level teams. 

2. What commitment should our family expect to make to play baseball at Visitation?

3. What is the difference between Try-Out Teams and General Sign-up teams?

Players who want to be considered for 2025 Try-Out teams needed to attend at least one of the Skill Evaluation Session held 7/8/24 &/or 7/22/24. PLEASE NOTE: ATTENDING A SKILL EVALUATION DOES NOT REGISTER YOU FOR BASEBALL. YOU MUST STILL REGISTER AT VACSPORTS.COM 11/8/24 - 12/8/24. Teams will be posted after registrations are complete. Players who attend skill evaluations but are not assigned to a team will be placed on a general sign-up team which will be posted in late January. Players who do not attend Skill Evaluations and register will also be placed on a general sign-up team. 

Try-Out teams will have some organized team activities to work on skills through the winter and will begin practicing as soon as the fields are playable in the spring. Once baseball season officially begins in the spring, players should not miss scheduled practices or games due to conflicts with other sports or activities. Try-Out teams will practice 2-3 times per week and will play approximately 22 – 35 games in a season; including 1 – 3 tournaments (Tournaments are around Greater Cincinnati). The game season runs from April thru June and because of low numbers per team players are expected to attend all the games. Teams are formalized in late summer/ early fall after Skill-Evaluations are completed. 

Younger players on Try-Out Teams (8U/9U/10U) should expect equal playing time and equal positional opportunity and teams almost always roster bat.  Older players on Try-Out Teams (11U/12U/13U) can expect more merit-based playing time and specialized positions and will sometimes only bat 9 with traditional substitution. Players will play a minimum of 2 innings defensively, but the goal will always be equal playing time. 

In comparison, General Sign-Up teams will practice 1-2 times per week and will play 12-16 games including 1 tournament. General Sign-Up teams are more recreational with most players participating in baseball and sharing their time with other activities like volleyball, spring soccer, indoor soccer, lacrosse, scouts, sports camps, track & field, and/or swim team. These teams are formed after sign-ups in December and January. Players will not sit out defensively more than 2 innings. Teams are required to roster bat.  

Please do not try-out if you do not intend to commit and play at Visitation. Try-Out level players should be committed to Visitation baseball as your focused sport. Missing games and practices for other sports should not occur for players on Try-Out Level Teams. Once teams are formed it is very difficult to make changes for players who were selected to teams but decide not to play. You take a spot from someone who truly wants to play. We are also posting teams after registrations in December because we had issues with players trying out, being assigned to a team, and then deciding not to register. This obviously causes major issues when filling out rosters and causes additional work for our volunteers. 

We field try-out teams at 8U, 9U, 10U, 11U, 12U, & 13U. Players are able to request/try out to play up one age level. In most cases, similarly, skilled players who are trying out at the correct age level will take precedent over a player choosing to "play up." Our goal is to try and keep the grades of players together as best as we can. 

4. How do we find out about game cancellations of weather issues related to try-outs, practices, or games?

Field updates can be found at www.vacsports.com for Visitation fields & at cincywbc.org for other fields. Coaches are responsible for alerting players and families for canceled practices. 

5. Why are try-outs so early?

We have try-outs early for several reasons. One, we think it is important that try-outs occur as close to the end of baseball season while players are in baseball “shape.” Two, most area youth programs hold try-outs for their teams in late summer and we try to synchronize with their timeline, to allow our parish players to commit to representing their school/parish baseball program. Three, if we wait too long, fall sports kick into gear, so player and field availability becomes an issue. Four, the fields are still in good shape for baseball evaluations. 

6. What is the Try-Out Process?

Admittedly the process of evaluating players is the most difficult portion of the baseball program to manage. We try year over year to improve it, but ultimately it’s a very inexact methodology and process. Our goal is to try and place players & teams where they have the best opportunity to compete, be challenged, and at the same time, taste some success.
The process is as follows:

• Players participate in one of the skill evaluation sessions.  These sessions will consist of multiple baseball drill stations ranging from fielding, hitting, pitching, base running etc..
  

• Players are divided by age level and stations are set up to age/skill appropriate levels.
• We seek volunteers to help run the stations. Volunteers can be Virtus trained Mom’s, Dad’s, older siblings, etc – they just need to be able to help with activities like registering  players, hit/field grounders, pitch batting practice, working a stopwatch etc. (Please contact Todd Zureick at [email protected] if you can help at any of the sessions.)
• We try and assign Virtus trained volunteer evaluators to each station who are not related or who do not know the players. In some cases, evaluators are from outside the parish but are connected to the CWBC or other programs. 
• In cases where we have a coach committed to coach an age level, the coach may shadow the age level he/she is coaching
  

•  A culmination of all this information is rolled up and the data is used to assist a combination of evaluators, Commissioners and head coaches to determine the teams.
• When necessary, head coaches from the previous season will be consulted or post-season evaluations will be issued.

NOTE: In the past we regularly have had players attend skill evaluations, get assigned to try-out team, and then ultimately decide not to play. This causes a large amount of volunteer time to re-adjust teams. Going forward, starting in the 2021 Season, we will release all teams after Registrations are closed. 

7. How can I get involved in the baseball program?

First & foremost all volunteers must complete the Archdiocese Safe Parish program; which includes fingerprinting, background checks, and attending a training class. If you need additional information, you can visit the following website: catholicaoc.org. For SAFE PARISH  questions/issues, contact Tracy Wagner at the Parish office: 513-347-2203 /  [email protected]. There are many ways to be involved with our baseball program. We need volunteers to help with coaching, assisting with field preparation; helping with equipment collection/inventory and concession stand duty as well as participating in our largest fundraiser by purchasing Kid Glove Game tickets to attend a Reds game. If you are interested in coaching and have already undergone SAFE PARISH training, please consider volunteering during the player registration process. 

8. Can I request my son/daughter be placed on a certain team? 

We typically field 25 teams with almost 300 players in the program, so it is very difficult to handle special requests for team assignments outside of siblings living in the same home. One way to ensure your son is on the team of choice is to coordinate with the family you'd like to play with to coach a team. I would also encourage families not to fret about "playing with people you know". Joining a baseball team is a great way for the kids to meet new friends and for parents to meet other parents within our parish community. 
 
9. Where can I find information about our leagues? 

Most of our teams play in the CWBC (Cincywbc.com) with other area organizations. You can visit cincywbc.com to find out league rules, game schedules, field directions, weather updates; in fact, you can even set up game alerts and share them with family and friends. Some teams also compete in SWOL & Nations Baseball. Please see links for additional information about Knothole Baseball | Knothole Baseball SWOL | Southwest Ohio League (leaguetime.com) & Nations Baseball | Home - Nations Baseball States (nations-baseball.com)

10. How do you decide what level of teams are formed? 

Our goal is to field a try-out level team at each age level, but in some cases numbers and interest do not allow for it. In keeping with our goal to be the best competition others face and we will always seek opportunities to face better competition...we strive to put players on teams where they have the correct amount of challenge and success. We try to field a try-out level team at each age level, but in some cases numbers/skill levels do not allow for it. It is not uncommon for teams to consist of players from both age levels. (i.e 12 & 13 year old players assigned 13U Try-Out Team). We also try to form as many teams as possible with kids who attend evaluations, but if your son is not assigned to a team, he will be assigned to a general sign-up team with "like-aged" kids after registrations in January. 

11. Why don't you hold skill evaluations for 14U & 15U?

Older teams are driven strictly by the number of kids sign up. Some years we have one team, others we have two and they are typically divided by grade level. In years past we have had a team of all 14U (8th graders) and all 15U (freshmen), but it is difficult to gauge until after registrations are complete. Depending on the number of players and interest level, we may increase the committed number of games for this level. Additional fees may apply to those interested. We also keep registrations open longer for 14U/15U so that freshmen can try-out for their respective High School Teams without worrying about losing a spot at Visitation. 

12. When are baseball sign-ups? 

Baseball sign-ups are typically opened up at vacsports.com in November/December/January. Teams are released after registrations are closed to ensure everyone who is committed to playing baseball is assigned on a team. If you register late, you will be placed on a waiting list and cannot be guaranteed a spot on a team. 

13. What is the Kid Glove Program? 
The Kid Glove Program is the largest fundraiser for the Visitation baseball and softball programs. Tickets can be purchased by visiting red.com/KidGlove 2024 Reds games. Tickets will be available for $12 in the View Level. $1 from each ticket sold will be contributed to the Kid Glove program and $9 will be donated back to our baseball/softball programs. This allows Visitation to purchase uniforms and equipment and to charge smaller fees than most local youth baseball and softball programs.

2025 Kid Glove Reds Games:
The Reds will be offering over 30 Kid Glove Games (including every home game in April). Visitation's offer code for Kids Glove Reds games is: Vikings This code allows you to purchase tickets directly & ensure that $2.00 for every ticket purchased is donated back to Visitation Softball & Baseball. For more information visit: Kid Glove Fundraising Program | RCF | Community | Cincinnati Reds (mlb.com)

14. How are teams formed?

1 - Try-Out Level Teams are formed as noted above in the Try-Out Process & posted to vacsports.com. We try to form as many try-out teams as numbers, skill level and interest allow.
2 - Upon completion of General Sign-Up Registrations we determine how many players are available to be assigned to teams to determine team count.
3 - For 5U, 7U & 9U we try to keep numbers as low as possible per team. Coaching commitments and the number of players registered factor in.
4 - For 11U - 15U we have to try and place a minimum of 12 players per team and try to stay below 15 per team. Coaching commitments and the number of players registered factor in.
5 - For 5U, 7U, & 9U we use average age to group players on a team as best as we can. Coaching commitments and the number of players registered factor in.
        A. The CWBC uses Average per Roster to create divisions (I.e. Of 48 9U Teams, the 12 youngest averaged age teams are 9U North, the next youngest 12 are 9U South etc.)
        B. Each team can name a head coach and two assistant coaches
        C. We take the average age of the coach's children and then assign the proper number of players closest to that average age. For Example, take a hypothetical 5U Team
i. The 3 coach's children have an average age of 5.0 . 
                        ii. We are assigning 9 per team 
                        iii. The team roster would be filled out with the 6 players closest to the average age of 5.0 (Most likely players with an avg age around 4.8 - 5.2)
                        iv. This ensures that the team most likely plays against like-aged players. 
                         v. This tries to prevent a player on the young side of the age spectrum from playing against players on the old side of the age spectrum. 

15. Can my son play up a level beyond his age group? 

League rules stipulate players cannot play up unless they are a year removed from next level. (I.e. 11 year old by age cannot play 13U unless they are 12 years of age by May 1st.) The rule helps maintain safety for players and to ensure volunteers are dealing with the aged kids they signed up for. There are two exceptions to the rule:

1 - Smaller organizations or organizations without enough players to field a team can move players up, but must receive League approval

2 - Organizational commissioner can allow players to "move up" with parental approval & oversight. At Visitation, we allow parents with siblings of younger players to play up because they are there watching & monitoring the safety of their own children. Example: The Viking Family has twins who are 7 years old and a 5-year-old player. Technically the 5-Year-old should play 5U and the 7-year-old children should play 7U, but we allow them all on the same 7U team because Mrs. Viking has volunteered as head coach and assumes responsibility for the under-aged player. This exception provides a better experience for our valued volunteers by allowing them to combine siblings when necessary. 

16. Why are baseball registrations so early? 

The league requires we submit team counts by mid-January & rosters by early February. The CWBC is one of the largest organizations of baseball in the area and is one of the few that still provide every team a schedule and game umpires. The league needs a definitive count of teams by February 1st to complete scheduling in time for the season and ensure we have enough umpires and fields secured.  

For additional information on any Visitation baseball-related matter please contact Todd Zureick at [email protected]