Historically, the Pioneer Valley Youth Baseball League has been organized by eight primary associations.  Those associations are located in Amherst, Dalton, Deerfield (Frontier), Greenfield, Northampton, Shelburne Falls  (West County), South Hadley, and Ware.   The associations organized teams for play in the Mickey Mantle and Connie Mack Divisions of the American Amateur Baseball Congress and its local affiliate, the Western Massachusetts Amateur Baseball Congress. 

However, the PVYBL will function independently of the AABC, this summer, like the league has since 2008.  The national championship schedule of the AABC requires that league activity conclude at the end of the  first week of July. Usually, the Massachusetts scholastic tournament prevents most Mantle teams from starting until the second week of June.   Hence, most teams would experience only a 20 day summer season under AABC arrangements.  

Consequently, the Directors of the PVYBL voted to forgo play in the AABC national championships and play a six week seasonal schedule and conclude activity with a week long double elimination tournament.  

This summer, the PVYBL will organize play for both Mickey Mantle  and Sandy Koufax divisions.  This will be the eighth consecutive year in which Koufax play will be organized by the PVYBL.

MICKEY MANTLE DIVISION

As always, the League will organize Mickey Mantle activity, this summer.  This division is for youngsters who are 15 and 16 years old at the start of the previous school year.  More specifically, the Mantle division is for youngsters who were aged 16 or younger on September 1, 2023.       

This summer, the Mantle Division will include teams from Brattleboro, Deerfield (Frontier), Northfield (Pioneer), Northampton, Shelburne Falls (West County), and Springfield.

SANDY KOUFAX DIVISION

Furthermore, the PVYBL organized a Sandy Koufax division for the first time in 2017.  This division is for youngsters aged 13 and 14 on September 1, 2023. 

This summer, the Koufax Division will include teams from Amherst, Brattleboro, Deerfield (Frontier), Northampton, and Shelburne Falls (West County). West County will form two Koufax teams.

LEAGUE SCHEDULE

Historically, each Koufax and Mantle team has played an 18 game seasonal schedule and, then, participated in a double elimination tournament.  The seasonal schedule has been played during a six week period.  The tournament has lasted a week.  That will be the case during 2024.

This summer, Koufax Division play will commence on June 3 and conclude during the weekend of July 21.  Mantle Division play will begin on June 10 and finish during the weekend of July 28.  That is, each division will play a six week regular season and, then, will conduct a double-elimination tournament during the final week of the season.

LEAGUE RULES

The Pioneer Valley Youth Baseball League observes the Rules of the National Federation of High Schools and some special PVYBL rules.  PVYBL game Rules and Procedures are listed on a separate page of this site.

TEAM AFFILIATIONS

A youngster who wishes to participate in PVYBL activity should contact the Commissioner or one of the Association Directors or team coaches in his area.  The Directors and Coaches are listed on other pages of this website.  Importantly, the organizational territories of PVYBL associations correspond to local high school districts.  Consequently, the composition of association teams is similar to that of local scholastic teams.  However, a youngster may choose to play in the area in which he resides, the area in which he attends school, or, via league waiver, for a team in another area.

LEAGUE COMMISSIONER

The Commissioner of the Pioneer Valley Youth Baseball League is Artie Burke.  He can be contacted at 413 863-2452 or AEBurke11@verizon.net.