Dear Lake Oswego Families,

We are thrilled to announce a new partnership between Lake Oswego Little League, Pacer Youth Baseball, and Lake Oswego Junior Baseball. This collaboration aims to enhance the youth baseball experience in our community through increased access to facilities, elevated levels of play, and reduced cost to families. We understand the importance of providing diverse options for your child’s development and enjoyment of baseball, and this partnership’s highest priority is keeping as many kids playing baseball for as long as possible.

Background: The City of Lake Oswego has three distinct youth baseball programs that serve Kindergarten through 8th grade:

a. Lake Oswego Little League (K-6th)

b. Lake Oswego Junior Baseball (7th-8th)

c. Pacer Youth Baseball (K-8th)

These programs were unified before 2003, however, over time, they have developed into separate entities providing overlapping services.

Scope of Partnership: Beginning this Fall (Fall Ball) and continuing through the Spring, the following changes will go into effect.

1. Lake Oswego Junior Baseball and Pacer Junior Baseball (a division under Pacer Youth Baseball) will combine into one chartered group for the 7^th and 8^th graders. The newly combined group will be rebranded to represent the entire community regardless of high school affiliation and will be operated by a Board that will govern Cal Ripken, JBO, and Babe Ruth divisions. The rebranding is underway and will be rolled out prior to the 2025 season.
   
   
2. Beginning in the Spring of 2025, all players in Kindergarten through 4th grade will consolidate into Lake Oswego Little League. This consolidation will streamline resources and provide a consistent and unified experience for our youngest players. We are assessing whether a Cal Ripken option will be provided for 3^rd and 4^th graders during the 2025 Spring and Summer seasons, with the intention of providing the best options for our community as possible.
   
   
3. Players from 5th through 6th grade will have options across both Cal Ripken and Little League. Within Little League, this age group plays on field with 60’ bases, 46’ pitching mound, and no leadoffs. Within Cal Ripken, this age group plays on a larger field; 70’ bases, 50’ pitching mound, and slightly different rules of play, i.e. leadoffs and balks. The Cal Ripken option will provide both a select team model (playing together Spring thru Summer with tryouts in the Fall of 2024) as well as a community rec model (no cuts) playing against Cal Ripken teams from the surrounding area in Spring. Some families and players may desire the Cal Ripken structure, and, for that reason, we will maintain a formal Cal Ripken community league in parallel to Little League. For many players, the larger field size may not be the best option and Little League would continue to be the best choice.

We know that there will be a lot of questions that need to be addressed and clarified as this new structure evolves. Please start with this Frequently Asked Questions Document we created and reach out to the LOLL and PYB Boards if there are additional questions.